Zaheer Abbas wants Umar Akmal to improve his shot selection – Cricket News Update
Former Pakistani batting legend, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 is a highly talented player, capable of winning matches for his side, but feels that the youngster still needs to work on his shot selection in order to maintain a permanent place in
the national team across all formats.
Widely regarded as one of the most exciting prospect to come out of the Men in Green in recent times, Akmal has failed to live up to his true potential. His temperament has always been called into question, while his shot selection leaves much to be desired.
This has potentially cost him his place in the Test squad, where many want him to work on his ability to bat for longer hours. For this reason, the 21-year-old was dropped from the Test squad after the team’s trip to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in September last year, while
was further ignored for the side’s subsequent bouts against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749.
Despite being a pivotal figure in the shorter versions, Akmal again was overlooked for the team’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, with many former players calling on him to work on his aggression in order to fulfill his talent.
“If Umar Akmal has been playing silly shots in Tests – in other words, playing T20 shots in Test matches then that’s to be expected as these are 2 different forms of the game! He has spoken to me before and I have explained this problem to him as well,”
said the Asian Bradman.
The right-handed batsman has played 16 Test matches so far, with an average of 35.82. He made his Test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at Dunedin, and scored his career best knock of 129 in the first innings, while added 75 in the second - impressing cricket experts
for his composure at a tender age of 19.
Many argue that Umar should be batting higher up the order, as compared to his customary no.6 position, which will allow the player to make better use of his skills. The youngster earlier himself spoke about this concern.
"It's a matter of the batting order that I'm not able to score a hundred. When I am batting down the order, sometimes I have to bat in a crisis when the top order has stumbled and sometimes I get fewer overs to bat otherwise I have the tendency to score
in three figures," said Umar.
The right handed batsman has also got an impressive record in limited-over game. He has played 62 One Day Internationals where he has scored 1830 at an average of 38.12, while in his 29 Twenty20, he has amassed 682, including four half centuries.
He will again be an important member of the shorter formats, but considering his batting prowess, one expects him to make a swift return to Test cricket.
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