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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yes the akmal bros should be dropped from the team,as these bros are involved in gambling and rift in the
team, why it is happening the same way as its happens in sydney,this needs to be consider.
There is no doubt in the fact that a wicket-keeper in any form of cricket is the backbone of the team. Without him, a cricket team is rudderless. On top of that, not everybody could be a good wicket-keeper. Those of us who have played cricket know very well that special traits associated with wicket-keeping in cricket, in particular at the highest level, are God given. Nevertheless, with sheer hard-work, better coaching and extensive exposure of the game both domestically and at the global front, one can tremendously improve the wicket-keeping skills and can be instrumental in making a difference between an ordinary wicket-keeper and an excellent one.
As far as the current Pakistani team’s wicket-keeper is concerned, time and again, he has proved to fumble at crucial junctures especially in test cricket and crumbled when it mattered most. Maybe, he is a good batsman but that is not his ‘specialty’ for which he has been included in the team. Making runs in cricket for any wicket-keeper including Kamran Akmal is like a special ‘bonus’ for the team but not his fundamental duty and job requirement for which he has been included in the team.
All cricketers know that sometimes a vital stump or a caught behind can have severe consequences in the game of cricket and could eventually ‘make or break a team’ as we all saw yesterday during the first day of play in England.
Being a senior player who also happens to be the vice captain of the team, I expect Kamran Akmal to perform more professionally on and off the field and come up to the expectations of his team as well as the whole Pakistani nation. His coach, manager or even PCB chairman must be able to tell him that his main job is ‘behind the stumps’ and not to necessarily make runs. Therefore, if he can do his job right and even don’t make centuries, nobody will blame him for not performing well. Like if ‘Mohammad Asif’ does not score a century, I doubt anybody will be too concerned about his performance.
It’s high time and the right time for the team management to make it clear to Kamran Akmal that if he will persist with his bad performance as a wicket-keeper in the team, they will have no other option but to drop him from the team since nobody is bigger than the noble game of cricket especially, when someone is donning the color or representing a country at the highest level of the game.
You mean you want to give Kamran Akmal another chance behind the stumps? Is he a dumb-wit that he doesn’t know what is expected of him as a wicketkeeper.
Do you honestly think that the “team management” now needs “to make it clear to Kamran Akmal that if he will persist with his bad performance as a wicket-keeper in the team, they will have no other option but to drop him from the team since nobody is bigger than the noble game of cricket especially, when someone is donning the color or representing a country at the highest level of the game.”
How do you define persistence? We have seen his poor performance behind the stumps in the last 4 test matches, stasrting with Sydney. Why do we need to give him any more notice?
please dont play kamran akmal beause he negligence wicket keeper and batsman. He is a only t-20 good player please chance to the replacement wicket keeper and batsman Sarfarz Ahmed. I think so PCB only play to the Punjabi player not a Karachi player the big problem for Sarfraz Ahmed. best of luck Sarfraz Ahmed.
He needs to be dropped as a wicket keeper and can be a batsman of the team. Performance of both Akmal brothers is in question. We need a new wicket keeper.
Dear Friends
whatever you or I said, it does not matter the Board or the selection committee. Kamran should have been replaced earlier, but in Pakistan, they see experience not performance like the other countries. So there is
Zulqarnain Haider with the Team, he should be given a chance. This is not written that this people will always represent Pakistan, and if the young Akmal will not perform without his Brother, then he should be shown the door and then he will realize that I have done wrong. But all this in vain. I wish Pakistan best of luck in England. This current players in the team, they think without them Pakistan Cricket will not run.
We required wicket keeper not goal keeper
think everyone is being very harsh on him. agreed he’s been in poor form behind the wickets, but i believe we should stick with him. we must remember he’s a very useful batsman. and obviously he needs to work on his keeping. we have seen some expert batsman become useful keepers, he IS a keeper and can surely improve with the gloves.
At this level i dont agree with you Hamza……he has already been given a lot of chances we should give others a chance too…………..
Kamran Akmal should be made to realise than he is not indispensable.
kamran akmal always plays for the other team,yesterday’s headline was interesting saying “akmal and morgan dent pakistan bowling”, could not agree more, he must have a good backing that he is still in the team, he has been given enough chances and I think he should be dropped, there are very good specialist batsmen in pakistan and I am sure there is a good wicket keeper as well, atleast better than kamran ukmal.
Kamral Akmal should be dropped and replaced with Sarfaraz Ahmed. As for his batting he is not doing well lately anyways. If his brother threatens then drop him and replace him with Yousuf, Younus or Asim Kamal.
kamran akmal has been and will remain a liability on d team as far as wicket keeping is concerned, he is the worst wicketkeeper pakistan has ever had, i request the PCB that for god sake get a good wicket keeper atleat at test level bcoz we have already lost and ruined pakistans name by continuing with kamran inspite of his match loosing blunders….please send a good keeper batting is least imp when ur keeper starts to drop sitters….and dat destroys the team morale as it spills over to all the players……Mr butt if u want to do some good to pakistan cricket !) send some technically sound keeper to england @) please send mohammad yousuf so that the batting is bolstered….otherwise it will be too late….
His mind is elsewhere. Definately not in the game. I think Akmal brothers along with Malik are upto something. Perhaps he is dreaming of captaincy?
Could not agree more
One would be very interested in knowing how many catches Akmal has dropped in the test matches. if Akmal had taken half of the stumping chances and catches off Kaneria, the bowler would have reached 300 wickets milestone long ago. Drop him.
Yes. I think keepers & 1st slip makes a spinner great. MuthiahMurli & Jayawardane, Harbhajan & Dravid, Kaneria is unlucky that he has Kamran Akmal. When a spinner has no assurance that man behind the stumps will be helpful, his performance also drops.
Kaneria can win Pakistan matches if only kamran helpshim.
Kamran Akmal’s keeping has always been a matter for concern if you look his record he dropped many simple regulation catches at crucial times. He is technically most weak wicket keeper we have in recent years now it is high time to replace him with better wicket keeper!
he is the WORST WK ever to be seen at test level
Pakistan should let Kamran Akmal to play as a specialist batsman in test cricket. And should try some one who is a solid wicket keeper. Kamran Akmal should continue keeping in ODI and T20 Cricket. I thing its time to make some change.
Unfortunately if Kamran Akmal Drops then you will see another player suffering from injury
Junior Akmal because he feel’s creepy playing without his brother LOL.
come on its cricket and not some family based game.We cannt keep someone just for the reason that if we drop him, we will upset his brother.What about millions and millions of fans around the world.We shouldnt live in fear and worry about something which might not happen.Kamran akmal should leave for the sake of his brother and if he doesnt care about his brother why should we?
let both go….cause i heard that they have 1 more brother who is also a keeper..
These types of changes were also made in years of Moin Khan & Rashid Latif when Moin khan was fielding on Boundry & Rashid Latif was Wicket Keeper but it was not successful and was a big flop so let it go because already so many changes take place in this team and we are lack of batting already Dropping kamran and building a new wicket keeper from bottom is quite difficult.
I would like to know Kamran Akmal’s contribution lately even as a Test Batsman?
Both Him and his brother have dismal performances in this ongoing test and the one before!!!
Please give someone else the Wicket Keeping job and get over this notion that atleast he can bat” HE CAN’T”.
why take chances. its not a police department where one officer doesn’t deliver in one area replace him and send him somewhere else but don’t fire him. Kamran Akmal is not good period. Hes not even a batsman, hitting slops in first three overs of T20 doesn’t qualifies you batting in England wickets.
Right kamran is not a good batsman for test cricket even specialy on seaming wickets. Remember at the last stages of 2nd test against australia they him out almost twice at the same spot when we were only few runs away from victory.
Kamran Akmal cost us not only the Sydney match, but the whole series. The team’s morale sunk into depression after that loss and they lost rest of the matches in which the team simply rolled over and died. This further cost us Yousuf who was subsequently banned (purportedly due to whitewash)
Btw Yasir Hameed also used to keeps wickets so if we’re looking for a part-time keeper we might as well go with him. He has impressed in all his recent internationals – I really wonder why he is being kept out of the team.
True Farhan. Why not Yasir Hameed.
i dont have to say much, although i will be the last person to call younis khan as a batsman in the team. but he have the wicket keeping experience too. if we have to compare both, i will chose younis khan( although not the primary choice) but circumstances make the things hard
Kamran Akmal is a handy cricketer for one-day or T-20 but PCB firstly needs to give ample opportunities to some othe wicket keeper (like Sarfaraz Ahmed) & they also need to understand that test cricket is about specialists & not really about all-rounders. Continuing on the same point, I think a specialist batsman (like Yasir Hameed) should plsy in-place of Shoaib Malik in tests. Additionally, Kaneria has proven to be inaffective to say the least so that calls for Saeed Ajmal to be in the team.
I believe Kamran should be rested for a test or Two, Umer Amin should be sent home Packing, Shoaib Malik should Be brought up the order and should be given One last chance. ASIM KAMAL should be brought in, Zulqurnain ko kya Vilayat ghumanay le ker gaiy ho??? use him. Misbah, even though a lost cause could be recalled and Hassan raza should be given another chance if the decade is over ( he got a chance in 1996 and next in 2006 so I believe it is not over his next chance will be in 2016).
FOR THE LOVE OF COUNTRY AND GOD bring someone who understands rules like UDRS and D/L method.
If we gotta bring in some wkeeper inplace of Kamran,he shud have the same batting powress and gud keeping skills.Sarfaraz ahmad is not good enough.The youngsters coming in pakistan are always getting into defensive mode.Look at indian batsmen.You mite have a gud pace attack,but u can only win matches if ur batsmen provide them the support.I rate pakistan batsmen the worst and pak pace attack as best in the world.Bring in Younis and Yousuf for tests and odis.Bring in some great hitters for t20s.Country of 18 million population shud have abundant talent.
Last but not least.REMOVE AFRIDI FROM TESTS AND ODIS AND LET HIM PLAY ONLY ODIS.
it is very unfortunate that present board is totally affiliated a politics. if selections are made based on this criteria, this shall be disaster for pakistan, inclusive as wisket keeper, who have already sign of question in australia, auqqab javed comments are self explanatory to idenfify the issue, of kamral akmal, i once again appeal to concerned quarters of pakistani pl pl come forward to select persons on merit to save cricket
i 100% agree with Salman Ahmed further added that chief selector had shake down the confidence of Sarfraz Ahmed owing reason that he could able to place even Pakistan A and reserved wicket keeper i had heard views of the most prominent persons of Pakistan like Salauddin Saloo/Rashid Latif/Moin Khan/Sarfraz Nawaz/Amir Sohail they have already shown great concern ever the performance as wicket keeper akmal, if Pakistan wants to make further improvement in cricket there is mandatory to inclusive of sarfraz ahmed as a specialist wicket keeper in test matches. i
Shoaib Malik is ofcourse out of form but Yasir Hameed is a very experianced Test batsmen and yet his being sidelined.Kamran Akmal can never be a good W/Keeper in Test matches as he is a One day player.He is very good in One day only.We do have young good wicket keepers in the country,so let us bring them in and stop depending and experimenting with Kamran.Please PCB act now before we face another Australian tour debacle.
Playing internationally, representing your country and doing such blunders is just not acceptable, it’s a disgrace and shame. He needs to work very hard on his keeping and batting skills. People say he bats well but it doesn’t matter if you win one game for your country and cost them 6 by your poor keeping skills.
PCB need to find someone else and groom another wicket keeper batsman. Kamran should be allowed to keep wickets in T20 and ODI but not test matches. He should feel pressured to retain his spot in the team.
that`s what we are weeping for.i totally agree with you.they`re representing our homeland and let`s suppose by chance someday kamran get injure so what will p.c.b do? like batsmen,bowlers we also need new talented wicket keepers.so plz give youngsters oppertunity.
thanks
Kamran’s ethics are just as questionble as are his talent. The fact that on days he is competent (as we saw against Australia) and others awful; implies that the talent is there but the application is often missing, whether these off days are due to mental stress or other factors are also in play needs further investigation.
Just want to further expand the comments of Salman. Kamran Akmal behind the wickets is good for nothing. He has few days where he performs well but in overall scheme of the things, he definitely has buttered fingers and has serious flaws in his wicket keeping ability.
We can surely find a keeper who can keep well enough as compare to Kamran Akmal and as far as batting is concern, even if that person doesn’t bat that well, I believe that that he would be compensating that with the runs he would save by not letting batsmen second or third chances.
Just look at the example of Sri Lankan wicket keeper. He is not a good batsman but his wicket keeping abilities are such that Sangakarra who himself is a decent keeper play as a batsman and allows someone to stand behind the stumps with much more ability.
We are in the phase of re-building our team and I think its high time that the wicket keeping issue should also be sorted out before its gets really ugly (if it already hasn’t).
Kamran Akmal plays as a wicket keeper in the team and on plus side he can bat as well. But if you look at his performances as a keeper he does not deserve his place in the Pakistan team. He hardly had any flawless performance behind the stumps especially against spinners.
First priority will be to get good keeper who can be trusted and then batting should be secondary option.
yup.coz we`ve more batsmen in our team but unfortunatly only one poor wicket keeper. it`s so sad to watch kamran akmal playing irresponsibly.