Pakistan saw at least two vital and easy dismissals drop out of their hands thanks to shoddy wicket-keeping from Kamran Akmal. Andrew Strauss’s straightforward caught-behind chance in the fifth over could have proved much costlier than it did. The second chance that he missed was one of the easiest stumping opportunities one can recall. Here, Paul Collingwood had walked such a long way down the crease that had Kamran caught the ball in the second attempt, even then he would have been able to knock the bails off. However, it was not to be and so a vital chance to break England’s best partnership came and went. Collingwood was on 48 then and he is still batting on 77 while Pakistan continue their search for a breakthrough.
This is not the first time Kamran Akmal’s ‘keeping has cost Pakistan so heavily. Who doesn’t remember Sydney 2010? Is Kamran’s experience and batting prowess really so important for Pakistan that he cannot be replaced by another ‘keeper? Should he play as a specialist batsman? And if he is replaced then by who?
Pakistan need to find answers to these questions fast or the series will slip out of their hands…
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As an ardent admirer of cricket,i hate to say this guy Akmal is an Ahmak.
High time look to young sprited fellows who , least will put up a game.
Saleem Shah
Miami,usa
The problem with Pakistanis is that we always look for excuses and find people to lay blame on. This is cricket and that’s all there is to it. If Pak had scored 450 runs, no one would have remembered Kamran’s dopped catches. But the fact that every Pakistani batsman failed to deliver, instead of critcising them, we found Kamran Akmal. I am not defending his sloppy keeping, that was pathetic, granted, but lets be honest. We are playing against the English side who has beaten Aussies, so expect scores around 300-350. In my opinion, we need to accept the fact that we are not the best in the world, contrary to popular belief, and who ever plays better wins. And in this case, it’s the English side so far.
I think Kamran Akmal is best for one day and 20/20 while someone like Sarfarz Ahmed Or Zulqarnain should be given chance as a Keeper in test. Similarly Fawad Alam fit more for one day and test and he should be included in test cricket. In Srilanka tour, he was the highest run getter so I am not sure why he was dropped from test.
A second grade wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal fits in the mediocre Pakistan team like a gem in the ring. He along with Shoaib Malik cannot be dropped no matter what. Malik had a bowling average of 60 plus and a batting average in 30’s can occupy the all-rounder position then why cannot Kamran be the keeper?
After Pakistani team is purge and cleansed of batsmen with the best records in the history of Pakistan, only the mediocre men cannot do better than what they are doing right now. None of these players are in the class of Younus and Yousuf and they can only do as much as they are capable of.
In comparison Dhoni is number one batsman in the world rating, despite being a good WK and a much better captain Kamran can neither be selected as a test bat or a test WK in any other team in the world.
H.M, USA
Drop Kamran ASAP and bring a new specialist keeper .
it costs a lot dropping catches and MISSING stumping even i he scores hundreds and fifties
REPLACE HIM ASAP IN BEST INTEREST OF PAK CRICKET AND GOOD RESULTS FOR THIS SERIES.
Kamran not to be blamed, it is the administration and the selectors who maintain faith in Kamran Akmal, they should must be sacked togather with Mr.Butt. Incompitant bunch, can not manage simple selection process. Every time he drops a catch he looked so ordinary, then his batting slumps to prove he is no capable of either. Sydney test he lost single handedly, could not keep behind the wicket not he could bat, I also think his brother is over rated, only good on flat wickets and has no temprament of true world class Test Batsman
Surely, he won many matches against INDIA for his team & country, but stumping chance he missed in SYDNEY proved that he is ZERO in wicketkeeping.
He does not deserve to be on the national cricket team. It is an acknowledge fact that he is not wicketkeeper of international standard by any means. He is not a genuine batsman either. Just analyse current test match that how many runs opposition got because of his missed chances. He was not even worth, had he scored 50 odd runs because the runs scored by the english team would have ben three times higher than his score. He easily spoils the hard done by the bowlers. For the sake of saving the game in Pakistan, he immediately needs to be removed from the team. He is the worst keeper in the history of Pakistan cricket. I am positive Pakistan is going to loose this Test by a heavy margin. Thanks to Mr. Kamran Akmal.
We can say whatever we want, Kamran Akmal will still play for Pakistan , like Imran Farhat will always be our test opener and Ijaz Butt the PCB Chairman. Incompetence at the highest level always seeps to the bottom.
When was the last time Kamran Akmal saved us a test match with his batting abilities ? His last hundred was in Feb 2009 against Sri Lanka. So 10 test matches since his last hundred, coupled with numerous drop catches and missed stumpings . He sounds like a huge liability to me.
I think now its time to get rid of Kamran Akmal and give ample chance to other keepers like Sarfraz Ahmed to get little International experience and then we will see who is the best among them.
I actually like Kamran Akmal when his in form but unfortunately he is making blunders too often which is demoralising the team and costing Pakistan victory. I feel sorry for the bowlers and in particular Kaneria, I wonder how many chances of his bowling Kamran has missed. In this test match I have calculated that his keeping has cost nearly 190 runs (Strauss dropped when on 15 and went on to make 45; Morgan should have been out when 5 only if Kamran had been a yard forward, he went on to make 130 and lastly Collingwood when stumping missed he was on 48 and he went on to make 82) plus England batting escaped from being put under presssure. If these errors had not occured England’s score would have been similar to that of Pakistan’s first innings in which Kamran contributed nothing to the score. We definitely need to have a quality wicket keeper but in order to do this we have to make batting strong and rely on first six to score most of the runs although the tailenders must also learn to bat and contribute to the score on a constant basis as is the case with Australia and England. This can only be done if Yunus Khan and Mohammed Yusuf are included in the final XI and I will still persevere with Azhar Ali and Umar Amin. Additionally, Salman Butt who would be one of the openers should be relieved of the captaincy as it seems to be affecting his batting. For the sixth batting position it could be one off Imran Farhat, Yaseer Hameed, Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik.
Mr Ijaz Butt and PCB need to put aside their personal differences and select a team in the best interest of Pakistan and reinstate Yunus Khan captain as well. Everyone needs to unite in the interest of the country as PAKISTAN ALWAYS COMES FIRST.
Sorry my sixth batsman would be Umar Akmal.
Only if we were paying this much attention to our politicians.
Kamran should understnad this very clearly that
if he will do mistakes like he is for years it will not be tolerated any more, so either correct yourself (which is almost impossible for him as he was never a talent as keeper or batsman) or loose his position.
Kamram Bats well ineed. But as a wicket keeper I always have, not one but many doubts. Pakistan team always used to have word class wicket-keeprs. If pakistan has a choice for a specialist wicket-keeper, I believe that it’s going to benefit the team much….
Unless PCB work with honesty pakistan cricket will never florish. It is the most inconsistant and emotional cricket board i have ever seen and i don’t know what what has happen to their minds and heart. Pakistan should give Akmal brothers a long break and please bring a real batsman who has done alot for Pakistan like Yousaf. Younis has never played any match winning innings and i am not very keen to play in pakistan colour. Other than yousaf no one has played a match winning performance like Saleem Malik, Wasim, Waqar and legends like Zaheer Abbass, Miandad. PCB for God’s sake please think for your country and stop looking at dollars and pounds. How can you thing for pakistan cricket when you forget your staments every day and at the age of 75. Shame on you Mr. Ijaz Butt and Yarwar Seed. Leave this country alone and spend some time with your grand childeren.
The problem is there is no keeper available at the moment with good skills behind the wicket. Even if Sarfaraz replaces Akmal, we’ll lose a batsman (Sarfaraz is only as good as a number 10 or 11 batsman). It’s a difficult situation for the selectors, unless someone pops up with decent keeping and batting skills. It’s not 1970s where keepers used to be no. 11 batsmen.
Kamran Akmal should be dropped as wicketkeeper for the test matches.Keep him for 20/20 and One days.
Test matches need a specialist wicketkeeper and I do not think he fits into that category, its time to replace him with a younger player.
Selectors should create competition for Kamal Akmal to retain his position in the team, otherwise he will remain same…!, and for sure he needs rest too, question arise, in this long tour, who is standby wicket keeper..?
For sure there is no place for him as specialist batsman, and in my opinion, just on few performances media has given too much extra coverage to his younger brother (Umer Akmal) also, which has started creating problem for Umer Akmal himself.
We can go on saying that Kamran is not fit for the job but nothing seems to happen, his first job is wicket keeping and that is where he has to prove him self. Sadly his keeping has been a big worry yet he is always there in the team because we seem to bank on his batting which has not really been consistant. He is no Gilchrist or Dhoni and I think we are just fooling ourselves by banking on him to perform as a dependable batsman. Pakistan should now be looking for a dependable wicket keeper and let the batsmen do their job.
On the batting issue I think we need to bring in either Younis or Yousuf. If I were to choose between then It would be younis for he is a team man, a good fielder and a good batsman. He should be asked to come in at 2 down with Umar Akmal and Umer Amin to follow thus bringing about some experience in the line up. Malik should be relieved as he does not have the class in him, at best he is an average ODI player. The new comers are good but they will need an experience guy in the middle to see them through during the English summer. Playing cricket in Englad is not easy as there is a lot of seam movement and the ball swings much more than we ever see in Pakistan and our youngsters finding themselves all at sea facing the English bowlers.
if we can have two new batsmen in the middle order,y cant v have a new wicket keeper?…Does PCB still need any excuse to drop Kamran Akmal…
Kamran Akmal is simply not a Test player, he should be only part of a ODI & T 20 squad, we need genuine keeper to play in tests, His batting has been miserable for quite a long time now so whats the point of him being their as a batsman, The squad should be purely on form basis, He has been doing this for a long time and enough is enough, Let alone the catches and stumping, he even struggles to hold on simple deliveries, How on earth would you win with such a shitty keeper.
We should’nt be surprised that pakistani team is once again unable to get to 150; teams are not going to fold for 88 all the time. Our current batting line up is not test standard and we are unlikely to get lucky again with victory against a good batting side. The board is poorly run and deeply embroiled in politics; Umar Akmal supposedly the best batsman in the side has no clue how to deal with a swinging ball. Unless some set up allows for Younis and Yusuf to be back , this is going to be a white wash. As for Kamran, he does not deserve to be in the test side. His batting is well suited for T20 and one day, but certainly not for tests. However, nothing is likely to change with a corrupt board and guns like Mr. Yawar for higher. I hope that paranoid euphoria from the win against Australia is now over and may be some sanity can sink in somewhere.
Adam Gilchrist, the greatest wicketkeeper batsman of all time, retired voluntarily after he had dropped a couple of catches against India in 2006. And so did Shahid Afridi recently when he thought he wasn’t good enough. Our Muslim cricketers should learn some lessons in moral values and ethics from them and follow suit. And yes it applies to Kamran Akmal as well.
He should be dropped because even afters he drops catches he laughs about it. He does not seem to be serious. At least there should be some competition. Those who recommend him as specialist batsman should realize they are wrong because he is not a specialist batsman. He has not got the technique to be a specialist batsman.
The wicketkeeper is comparable to the goalie in football and extremely important to a team’s fortunes in cricket and esp. more so in the Test matches. Kamran’s failures with the gloves over the past 4 years (since the last England tour to be exact) have been well documented and discussed and now there should be no more chances. He should be replaced with immediate effect from the 2nd Test as his batting on the tour is equally appalling. And so was his judgment twice for going for the referrals and which were proved wrong and hence Pakistan were left with no referrals when they needed them on Day1. So much for his seniority and judgment behind the wicket.
Many people have mentioned Sarfaraz Ahmed as his replacement as he is the incumbent and the best wicketkeeper in the country. However the selection on this tour has been so blatantly biased that Sarfaraz despite possessing a higher first-class batting average (43 as compared to Zulqarnain’s 34), was not selected and Zulqarnain Haider was selected. Similarly, Fawwad Alam was not considered despite being the best batsman in domestic cricket for several years now. Younis Khan is just a phone call away playing country cricket, yet he is being ignored and there is the talk of Yousuf coming back although he hasn’t played any cricket in past 6 months. Are these double standards or not?
Some people also believe that Kamran is involved in spot-fixing. These are just baseless accusations (until prove so i.e.) that our public loves to spread. I think that Kamran is just incompetent, inconsistent, not physically fit and agile enough to be an international wicketkeeper. His batting in Test cricket has deteriorated considerably (can’t remember when he scored a century last time) and certainly does not alone warrant a place in the side. He is in the team just because of his so-called ‘seniority’.
Some suggestions: bring in Zulqarnain (unless Kamran scores a match winning century in the second innings) as well as Yasir Hameed and Younis Khan to bolster the fragile and inexperienced middle order.
As everyone agrees he is worst of the worst as a wicket keeper Pakistan ever had. His spills have been too costly for the Pakistan. Sydney was a terrible test and is still haunting the minds. He can be easily replaced by better options. we have thriving wicket keepers who if given chance can prove themselves. PCB and Salman Butt have to take this decision. Relying on Kamran is out of question now atleast at the test levels.