What's new

"It really hurt to miss out on the Champions Trophy" : Umar Akmal

A

Abdullah719

T20I Captain
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Runs
44,825
KARACHI: Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal, who was omitted from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) central contract list, has said he is working on his fitness in order to return to the national side.

Akmal last played an ODI in January against Australia, scoring a decent 46 off 40 balls, but has been making headlines for the all the wrong reasons since then. He was originally part of the Champions Trophy squad that eventually made history by winning the competition but Umar’s poor fitness meant he suffered the ignominy of being sent back home.

“It really hurt to miss out on the Champions Trophy, especially considering the importance of the tournament,” he said. “I have a lot of regret for not being part of a team that created history by bringing the prestigious trophy back to Pakistan, but at the same time I am very happy for the boys. I admit that I had fitness issues and am trying to fix those in order to make a comeback.”

Umar was also dropped for the tour of the West Indies in April for similar reason and was the only player out of 31 to fail the fitness test during a camp held at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in March.

The 27-year-old was to be part of the ongoing High Performance Camp organised by the PCB but pulled out of it due to a knee injury.

He informed the relevant officials — including NCA head coach Mushtaq Ahmed — and excused himself for five weeks, during which he intends to undergo rehabilitation with his private trainer in England.

“I have been working on my fitness here in England and my full focus is on cricket. I am putting in all my effort to fix this long-term issue,” he said. “I have been concentrating on all the things that have made me fail in the past and I believe that has helped me improve. However, I know there is still a long way to go for me.”

The Lahore-born highlighted his passion for the game. “I don’t have any other thing on my mind but to return to the national side. I want to return and make my parents and my country proud of me,” he said. “Cricket is everything for me. It feels bad to be out of the team and without a central contract but I have nobody to blame but myself.”

Umar was quick to refute the notion that he is out of the team for any other reason than the ones stated, saying that he has a good relation with the coach, the captain and the entire team.

The Lahore Qalandars star has been plagued by consistency issues but feels that he has to mend his game according to the situation. “All players want to score big in every match, but sometimes you have to accelerate and you risk your wicket when you go for quick runs,” he said. “I bat quite low down the order and that means I don’t have the luxury of building an innings or getting myself in.”

Umar was one of the names that came up during the spot-fixing scandal that plagued this year’s Pakistan Super League, but has since been cleared of all wrongdoing by the board. “I was being dragged into the fixing scandal but I appreciate the efforts of the PCB, who investigated the incident and found I had nothing to do with it.”

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1466288/umar-vows-return-stronger-ever/
 
Good. Hope this keeps killing you inside.

Don't see Umar making a comeback now anyway.
 
Serious waste of talent. Needs to have a mental coach work with him- has a complete lack of discipline.
 
Wow.He is putting blame on himself.That is something new.But he had to pull out "I bat low down the order" bit.He always does.

He needs to seriously mend his attitude towards his cricket.The fact that he had to be kicked out from the team on the basis of fitness shows the keenness and approach he has towards his cricket.

Hopefully,this knocks some sense into Chota but needs to earn his spot now as he won't be given a free ride and he knows that he isn't indispensable as Pakistan has won a tournament without him.But for now should be nowhere near to any format for Pakistan.
 
Hopefully he's learning but the guy always seems to mess something up so I don't have much faith in him returning with full fitness and form.
 
Most people seem to forget that even before fitness issues came into play, Umar the embarrassment was a pretty terrible batsman. I don't see why this fraudulent should be inducted into the team even if he manages to gets rid of his belly.
 
We dont need you, you messed yourself up with atitude issues and you were just bad in general when you had a promising career ahead of you
 
I'm afraid most Pakistan fans are delighted you missed out and have no sympathy for you whatsoever. For once you have chosen your words wisely. If you do end up making the Pakistan team and succeeding - you would have done very well. However, in my view, the chances of you making Pakistan fans proud are slim and none -and slim is out of town. We need to move on from the likes of you.
 
Well, at least him admitting he was going through fitness issues is a good start. This shows Mickey is a genius and knew Junior would not be able to hold up during the Champion Trophy.
 
“I bat quite low down the order and that means I don’t have the luxury of building an innings or getting myself in.”
Click to expand...

You were the captain in the Pakistan Cup and batted higher up the order but still failed !

Stop hiding behind batting position excuse.
 
If there was any pure definition of shameless....It has to be Umar Akmal.
Utter disgrace in the name of a cricketer.
He should never be recalled again.
 
I want him back in the team. His record proves that he was an asset to the team regardless of what the gaters say
 
Good interview and smart answers.

In a side note, funny to see how much hate umar Akmal get on this forum and all these
Members enjoying his pain of being out the team and wish nothing but bad to come to him. Some sad people with no life's.
 
I have no faith in what he says these days.

He has made many statements apologising, saying he will improve, he will mature but it's always back to square one with him.
 
Lol again with the excuse of his batting position. Absolutely sick of hearing UA hide behind this.


Being dropped from a major tournament would usually be a kick up the backside for most players but can't sadly you can't say the same with Umar.
 
he and shehzad will never ever be greats until they know their reality...which will take may be another 20 years for these two...
Superstar attitude for so less they have achieved has taken their careers downwards... Wasted talents...
 
People should stop labeling him as the greatest talent wasted and move on... Never heard of a news saying this guy works so hard and stays longest in the nets. "Hard working players" over "talented not so hard working players" any day. This guy is just talk no action, gave up on him long long time ago
 
Unfit and also lacks the mentality to play under pressure. Will never be fit no matter how hard he tries. Just not disciplined enough.
 
Don't know why people are being negative of him. He's clearly trying to get fitter, accepting the blame of his fitness on himself. Even if you look at his twitter pictures (only reason i checked it was the rumours), he looks fitter. Looks like a man who is serious about improving.

Wish him good luck. If he keeps carrying on like this, he'll be back in the team.
 
This is what I meant when I suggested those that missed the tournament [Akmal, Sharjeel etc] will regret they weren't part of the squad, a winning squad.

Can only mean a positive outcome for future players and their attitudes.
 
ads101 said:
Don't know why people are being negative of him. He's clearly trying to get fitter, accepting the blame of his fitness on himself. Even if you look at his twitter pictures (only reason i checked it was the rumours), he looks fitter. Looks like a man who is serious about improving.

Wish him good luck. If he keeps carrying on like this, he'll be back in the team.
Click to expand...

It wasn't the first time he was excluded from the final squad though. It wasn't the first time he failed the fitness test. He deserves whatever comes his way.

To even suggest he's working hard [now] is a sad point to make considering that is part-and-parcel of being a sportsmen and is a given. Only in Pakistan do we applaud and pat someone on their back for doing what the vast majority of players do.

He shouldn't be applauded, but castigated for not do more to be fit for a huge tournament when the coaches wanted him to.
 
Its unfortunate that this kind of talent has been wasted. He came to the scene with a bang but could no handle the success. While guys like Shoib Malik keep getting selected, we have wasted batters like Umer Akmal, Sharjeel Khan, Fawad Alam, and Salman Butt who should have been a permanent fixture in Pakistani team by now. I don't know who is responsible for waste of such talented guys.
 
He can still turn it around, needs to fully commit himself to domestic cricket and give himself atleast 2 years there.. maybe learn from Misbah who actually worked on all his deficiencies there and sorted himselves out... his time is not over but he has to be up for it, and not indulge in needless self promotion like he is doing here.

Or a recent example of Kami who turned it around as a player for himself by playing exceptionally in domestics... but his problem was he is not a ground fielder
 
waleed88 said:
He can still turn it around, needs to fully commit himself to domestic cricket and give himself atleast 2 years there.. maybe learn from Misbah who actually worked on all his deficiencies there and sorted himselves out... his time is not over but he has to be up for it, and not indulge in needless self promotion like he is doing here.

Or a recent example of Kami who turned it around as a player for himself by playing exceptionally in domestics... but his problem was he is not a ground fielder
Click to expand...

Lol Kami is not a fielder. Period.
 
Sherlock said:
It wasn't the first time he was excluded from the final squad though. It wasn't the first time he failed the fitness test. He deserves whatever comes his way.

To even suggest he's working hard [now] is a sad point to make considering that is part-and-parcel of being a sportsmen and is a given. Only in Pakistan do we applaud and pat someone on their back for doing what the vast majority of players do.

He shouldn't be applauded, but castigated for not do more to be fit for a huge tournament when the coaches wanted him to.
Click to expand...

Past is Past. He shouldn't be praised, but I don't think we should discourage him for ever trying to make the team again. There's no point bashing his attitude when it seems he's trying to change. And majority do think he has the talent to succeed in international cricket.

As I have said in the past, perhaps it's because he's mentally weak, but I think he let the comments of poor under pressure/throws his wicket and doesn't finish games etc. get the best of him. He was doing fine averaging 40 or so at 6, many in fact would take that past umar akmal back in the team as our lack of lower order.middle order options is evident. He was young and would have learnt with time potentially. Finishing isn't easy and only two players in our team can do it Malik and Sarfraz, both over 30 with the former having pretty much a run of poor form for a 6 year period or so that he's finally got over.

In some ways I think we should have embraced what umar akmal is rather than what he's not. He's a good hitter, rotates strike easily (which is something which has been less evident since he's gained weight which is why he needs to use it). Should have focused on that then worrying about not making big scores. Just focus scoring consistently and at a high strike rate to boost totals which is the role of the no.6 more often that not.

I'm really tempted if he regains fitness to slot him at 7. He seems a better bat than Imad, who I'd probably drop down to 8 and contend with Shadab for the specialist spinner slot. But I'd fear he'd just complain he's batting too low, then try and focus on the role he's been given. And of course if he impressed there he could earn the chance to move up, especially since you'd expect Hafeez and Malik (especially the former) time in international cricket is nearly up, probably 2 years max.
 
Afridi completely destroyed the development of Shehzad and Umar.

Umar needs to work hard in the gym and go back to 2012 physique. Have a good season where he is averaging 40+ in FC and LA.

Problem is he thinks he is T20 specialist and is using this as an excuse to slack off. He has regressed into a club level basher.

Anyhow we would mourn this had it been 2013 but now is 2017 and we have many more better players with highly tuned attitudes coming through.
 
Flat_Track_Bully said:
Afridi completely destroyed the development of Shehzad and Umar.

Umar needs to work hard in the gym and go back to 2012 physique. Have a good season where he is averaging 40+ in FC and LA.

Problem is he thinks he is T20 specialist and is using this as an excuse to slack off. He has regressed into a club level basher.

Anyhow we would mourn this had it been 2013 but now is 2017 and we have many more better players with highly tuned attitudes coming through.
Click to expand...

Its not entirely Afridi's fault. Both Umar and Shehzad used to circle around him when Afridi was captain and for no reason. They thought Afridi was captain for good and decided to butter up to him so he won't drop them
 
But it didn't hurt when abusing and not playing Junaid Khan in plenty of matches in Pakistan Cup while as captain. And then making excuses how junaid left.
 
Umar and shehzad are farhst and faisal iqbal of this decade!
 
Flat_Track_Bully said:
Afridi completely destroyed the development of Shehzad and Umar.

Umar needs to work hard in the gym and go back to 2012 physique. Have a good season where he is averaging 40+ in FC and LA.

Problem is he thinks he is T20 specialist and is using this as an excuse to slack off. He has regressed into a club level basher.

Anyhow we would mourn this had it been 2013 but now is 2017 and we have many more better players with highly tuned attitudes coming through.
Click to expand...

Disagree I don't think Afridi had that effect on him. T20 was just naturally his best format. Even in domestic it's his best format.

Think he got into the trap as many pakistani cricketers (even Sarfraz) did, get comfortable in the team and start neglecting your diet/fitness. With the criticism he got in the press, he took it to heart too much, and probably less motivated to perform as a result. Which reflects badly on him, shows he didn't want him enough.

This treatment of U Akmal should have been done a while ago, kick him out, let him focus on improving his fitness and working out technical deficiencies which have crept in. K akmal after being dropped worked on his keeping and his batting, wish we'd dropped him earlier, unfortunately we dropped him too late now he's past his sell bye date and we put up with his sub par performance for a decade). We'd always just drop Kamran for a month or two before recalling him and nothing changed when he should have been dropped for a year/years.
 
Shehzad for the life of me don't understand why he doesn't just go out and play aggressive. Even if it doesn't worked out, at least he tried and players can succeed with flaws (and does it in the domestic leagues pretty well). His style of playing isn't worth anything even if he stays in. Perhaps he just lacks the game for international cricket, but I'd like him to at least try and bat like he does in domestic whether or not he pulls it off or not.
 
ads101 said:
Past is Past. He shouldn't be praised, but I don't think we should discourage him for ever trying to make the team again. There's no point bashing his attitude when it seems he's trying to change. And majority do think he has the talent to succeed in international cricket.

As I have said in the past, perhaps it's because he's mentally weak, but I think he let the comments of poor under pressure/throws his wicket and doesn't finish games etc. get the best of him. He was doing fine averaging 40 or so at 6, many in fact would take that past umar akmal back in the team as our lack of lower order.middle order options is evident. He was young and would have learnt with time potentially. Finishing isn't easy and only two players in our team can do it Malik and Sarfraz, both over 30 with the former having pretty much a run of poor form for a 6 year period or so that he's finally got over.

In some ways I think we should have embraced what umar akmal is rather than what he's not. He's a good hitter, rotates strike easily (which is something which has been less evident since he's gained weight which is why he needs to use it). Should have focused on that then worrying about not making big scores. Just focus scoring consistently and at a high strike rate to boost totals which is the role of the no.6 more often that not.

I'm really tempted if he regains fitness to slot him at 7. He seems a better bat than Imad, who I'd probably drop down to 8 and contend with Shadab for the specialist spinner slot. But I'd fear he'd just complain he's batting too low, then try and focus on the role he's been given. And of course if he impressed there he could earn the chance to move up, especially since you'd expect Hafeez and Malik (especially the former) time in international cricket is nearly up, probably 2 years max.
Click to expand...

If he's easily discouraged by people on social media maybe he needs to toughen up and get mentally equipped, because his batting alone has shown he doesn't have the mental capacity to step up.
 
NoBallZombie said:
Lol Kami is not a fielder. Period.
Click to expand...

But he still made it back, thanks to persistence in domestics and an outstanding performance in the PSL.. what's stopping Umar? He can make it back in all 3 granted he has to show the hunger for it. This is coming from a guy who has never been an outright Akmals supporter
 
ads101 said:
Past is Past. He shouldn't be praised, but I don't think we should discourage him for ever trying to make the team again. There's no point bashing his attitude when it seems he's trying to change. And majority do think he has the talent to succeed in international cricket.
Click to expand...

Most of the criticism is perfectly valid- when there is a pattern of repeat behaviour you can't simply ignore it and say "the past is the past." UA knew he had fitness issues, and he knew what was expected of him, and he chose to ignore it. It's great to see that he is finally trying to change, but most posters have lost their patience with him. How many times does he need to be told?

Actions speak louder than words. It's wouldn't be the first time he has said the right thing but his actions do the exact opposite. Here's hoping he actually backs up his words with some genuine progress and dedication.

I do agree a minority of posters go overboard, but on the whole most of it is deserved criticism- he is wasting away his talent.
 
Man I miss Umar Akmal, loved seeing him in the team and hoped he would become a great player. I wish him all the best. Genuine guy and talented cricketer. :)
 
he is unfortunate to have narrowly missed out on two trophies. he made his debut only two months after we won the t20 world cup in 2009 even though he deserved to get selected and now he has missed out on the ct even though his replacement (haris) did not play a single game
 
Leo23 said:
he is unfortunate to have narrowly missed out on two trophies. he made his debut only two months after we won the t20 world cup in 2009 even though he deserved to get selected and now he has missed out on the ct even though his replacement (haris) did not play a single game
Click to expand...

Missing the CT was his own fault.
 
he has himself to blame~ however good luck to him if he s trying to change
Actions speak louder than words though and time is against him
 
Keep on feeling sad, you only have yourself and your stupidity/ego to blame. Looking at the current team, his comeback door is already closed.
 
Solid interview except the end. Still not accepting responsibility. ship has sailed. i am pretty sure now.
 
Leo23 said:
yes but his presence would not have made a difference. its not as if his replacement performed well. he did not even play.
Click to expand...

If he had been allowed to stay, it would have told him fitness and discipline was not important. It's about the wider picture.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ball Blazer
“There are players who seriously damaged Pakistan’s image and were punished for it, yet they are now key members of the national team": Umar Akmal
Replies
41
Views
1K
salman24
salman24
FearlessRoar
"I grabbed Mickey Arthur's collar and told him, 'Control your language; otherwise, I will slap your face'": Umar Akmal
2
Replies
88
Views
4K
Bewal Express
B
GoUgandaCranes
Next gen emerging players based on PSL
Replies
0
Views
366
GoUgandaCranes
GoUgandaCranes
The Bald Eagle
Race to the bottom, how can PCT snap out from its affinity for the minnow status?
Replies
41
Views
816
Boyka
B
ads101
Was it right to keep Sharjeel Khan out of the Champions One-day Cup 2024?
Replies
14
Views
947
mominsaigol
mominsaigol
Back
Top