Jos Buttler is what Umar Akmal could have been...

[Titan24]

Umar can blame others, but the reality is that he himself is largely to blame for being sat at home and watching the World Cup from his living room and not being out here in England.

I was speaking with a former coach of Umar's recently and he was saying it's such a shame that Umar's career has gone the way it has, because when it came to ability, there were not many better than him.

Exactly, he himself is to be blamed. Its always disappointing to see a talent like him not being able to fulfill his promise.

 

[Ab Fan]

This thread should transform Buttler into an ODI legend of the game.

 

[Titan24]

Let's not demean butlers talent and skill by comparing him with Umar akmal. Comparisons with yousuf pathan is more apt

Don’t remember Yousuf Pathan scoring a test century in NZ against the likes of Shane Bond and Vittori and that too at a SR of 80. Umar showed a lot of promise when he was young your comparison isnt apt.

 

[DRsohail]

OP is good poster and always come up with good points, If only umar was mentally sound , he could have been a good crickter, not in the leagues of Butler which is rare and no country have that except England.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Pakistan learnt their lesson from Umar akmal and that’s why we have babar Azam

 

[Savak]

Umar can blame others, but the reality is that he himself is largely to blame for being sat at home and watching the World Cup from his living room and not being out here in England.

I was speaking with a former coach of Umar's recently and he was saying it's such a shame that Umar's career has gone the way it has, because when it came to ability, there were not many better than him.

His ability was over rated. Yes it was better than some Pakistani players but he wasn't world class. The expectations didn't help. And to be fair he did perform in domestic cricket and the PSL this year and his recall to the team was justified. It was a tad unfair to be dropped after just one series into a recall.

 

[Hasan123]

Buttler shot placement, timing, and game sense has always been leagues above Umar Akmal. Absolute 0 comparison.

 

[delpiero10]

More than Umar Akmal, Jesse Ryder had the potential to be NZ’s version of Jos Buttler. Such a naturally clean striker of the ball, it’s a shame his demons got the better of him.

 

[Obaidd]

UAkmal was given his latest chance in UAE but his lack of understanding of match situation was repulsive.

 

[Nado_]

Lol at people making fun at the thread without taking their time to read the points made. The only debate should be on Umars talent ability when he first came to international scene. And my opinion is that he most certainly did, but as I said previously, his mental game ie shot selection along with indiscipline and no desire to improve caused a big time downfall. I also feel he was unfairly dropped from test AT THE TIME, not saying he would have gone on to become Ricky Ponting just saying it was wrong decision at the time.

 

[ExplicitAI]

Number 6 was a perfect spot for him, he was never good enough to bat at the top order, I get sick and tired of his mindless slogs towards cow corner.

 

[Mamoon]

I think one of the major reasons for his downfall was that he didn’t work on his keeping skills.

He had all the opportunities in the world to cement himself as Pakistan’s first-choice Limited Overs WK for many, many years, but he was never smart enough to read the writing on the wall and didn’t receive proper guidance either.

He was brought back into the team late in 2013 as a WK, and he donned the gloves more often than not right until the 2015 World Cup, but during these 12-15 months, he showed no passion for his role and thus hardly improved his keeping skills.

 

[Titan24]

OP is good poster and always come up with good points, If only umar was mentally sound , he could have been a good crickter, not in the leagues of Butler which is rare and no country have that except England.

Thanks, really appreciate it.

 

[Titan24]

I think one of the major reasons for his downfall was that he didn’t work on his keeping skills.

He had all the opportunities in the world to cement himself as Pakistan’s first-choice Limited Overs WK for many, many years, but he was never smart enough to read the writing on the wall and didn’t receive proper guidance either.

He was brought back into the team late in 2013 as a WK, and he donned the gloves more often than not right until the 2015 World Cup, but during these 12-15 months, he showed no passion for his role and thus hardly improved his keeping skills.

True. He was a pretty decent keeper with safe hands in his limited stint, he should have taken it more seriously.

 

[Titan24]

Buttler shot placement, timing, and game sense has always been leagues above Umar Akmal. Absolute 0 comparison.

This thread should be in the comedy section. UAkmal was given his latest chance in UAE but his lack of understanding of match situation was repulsive.

Again guys as [MENTION=136048]Nado_[/MENTION] has mentioned too, please read the thread title and the opening post. Not comparing both as obviously in current point of time Buttler is miles ahead. Buttler being the epitome of a middle order and lower middle order batting who can take the game away with his ability and stroke play, I was just referring to him as the standard what Umar Akmal could have achieved as not many batsmen around can play shots all around the ground and also with a fearless approach.

Obviously he couldnt achieve that due to the points I have mentioned in the opening post and many other posters have mentioned as well. My point was that if everything would have aligned, with the ability Umer had he could have been a batsmen to watch out for just like Buttler is.

 

[Haripotter]

I never understood, Akmal was a top 10 ODI batsman and had a Test average of 37 outside Asia, but he was never promoted to no. 4 or 3 (considering younis with a far worse record was persisted with) and was never given a chance in Asia for Tests to prove his worth.

It is very frustrating, when you look back at it.

Blame misbah

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

For a long time, Akmal was Pakistan's highest ranked ODI batsman. People are forgetting that.

Yes, way above Misbah's tuk tuk and YK and the rest.

But he was actually punished for being able to hit the ball - by being designated the team's slogger down the order.

 

[Captain caveman]

For a long time, Akmal was Pakistan's highest ranked ODI batsman. People are forgetting that.

Yes, way above Misbah's tuk tuk and YK and the rest.

But he was actually punished for being able to hit the ball - by being designated the team's slogger down the order.

At last someone with actual knowledge and not just someone rejugating cliches.
You are 100% correct sir.
Must also add that misbah was hugely responsible for destroying potentially the best batsman pakistan will ever produce! All because misbah needed someone to up the run rate after his tuk tuk!

 

[Obaidd]

At last someone with actual knowledge and not just someone rejugating cliches.
You are 100% correct sir.
Must also add that misbah was hugely responsible for destroying potentially the best batsman pakistan will ever produce! All because misbah needed someone to up the run rate after his tuk tuk!

Misbah killed Pakistan’s ODI batting. However, he was good at defending low totals by not letting the opposition take easy singles and creating pressure. This is something that Sarfaraz does not seem to apply.

 

[Captain caveman]

Misbah killed Pakistan’s ODI batting. However, he was good at defending low totals by not letting the opposition take easy singles and creating pressure. This is something that Sarfaraz does not seem to apply.

Safaraz is even worse than misbah.
That doesn't make things better for pakistan!

 

[MMHS]

The PAK batsmen (two so far) that are named with Buttler here in PP tells me that Josh Buttler is quite underrated among PAK fan base.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

If someone wants to write a thesis to analyze Umar Akmal, it can be done.

The truth is, he came into the team as a dasher. However, Pakistan team was prone to collapses and Umar was way too young to curb his attacking instincts. Usually when team Misbah collapsed, Umar was a part of the procession and it wasn't much like he "hung around" while others collapsed around him. He also usually fell to the ugly "cross batted shots".

At that time, a batting coach might have told him he was "talented enough" to play "his natural game plus take the singles and twos on offer" but the Pakistani batting camp was having way too many collapses for Misbah's team to tolerate him.

It was a pity, because he didn't realize that "aggression" is only valued when a team has a stable middle or lower order. He was pushed lower and lower down because he didn't "put value on his wicket". Finally he became renowned as a "lower order slogger".

In a more stable team, he might have learned that "cricket is not about playing all balls to the leg side" and probably developed his career more.

As good as Buttler? Not likely. Because despite his ability and talent he had a severe limitation which was "ability to think outside the box, or to analyze and read game situations". This limitation was even visible in the current ODI series when even though he was basically given "5 games to book his ticket to the World Cup, he struggled to overcome the same mental approach".

Umar Akmal was initially lost by the system.

But by the time he tried to make a comeback, his deeply ingrained habits of "not being able to cope with the mental pressure of international cricket" were far too established for him to ever be the batsmen fans hoped to be.

I blame the system 30 percent but at the end of the day the same system churned out Babar and others, so 70 percent of the blame goes to person for not realizing their worth.

He is still a good T20 and league player. But that's all he will ever be.

Don't want to write a lot on Umar, but he could never have been as good as Buttler. Perhaps as good as Alec Stewart wk/batsmen.

 

[Obaidd]

Again guys as [MENTION=136048]Nado_[/MENTION] has mentioned too, please read the thread title and the opening post. Not comparing both as obviously in current point of time Buttler is miles ahead. Buttler being the epitome of a middle order and lower middle order batting who can take the game away with his ability and stroke play, I was just referring to him as the standard what Umar Akmal could have achieved as not many batsmen around can play shots all around the ground and also with a fearless approach.

Obviously he couldnt achieve that due to the points I have mentioned in the opening post and many other posters have mentioned as well. My point was that if everything would have aligned, with the ability Umer had he could have been a batsmen to watch out for just like Buttler is.

As you said Buttler, in his current form, is the epitome of lower middle order batsmen and the gold standard that someone may be compared to.

 

[Captain caveman]

If someone wants to write a thesis to analyze Umar Akmal, it can be done.

The truth is, he came into the team as a dasher. However, Pakistan team was prone to collapses and Umar was way too young to curb his attacking instincts. Usually when team Misbah collapsed, Umar was a part of the procession and it wasn't much like he "hung around" while others collapsed around him. He also usually fell to the ugly "cross batted shots".

At that time, a batting coach might have told him he was "talented enough" to play "his natural game plus take the singles and twos on offer" but the Pakistani batting camp was having way too many collapses for Misbah's team to tolerate him.

It was a pity, because he didn't realize that "aggression" is only valued when a team has a stable middle or lower order. He was pushed lower and lower down because he didn't "put value on his wicket". Finally he became renowned as a "lower order slogger".

In a more stable team, he might have learned that "cricket is not about playing all balls to the leg side" and probably developed his career more.

As good as Buttler? Not likely. Because despite his ability and talent he had a severe limitation which was "ability to think outside the box, or to analyze and read game situations". This limitation was even visible in the current ODI series when even though he was basically given "5 games to book his ticket to the World Cup, he struggled to overcome the same mental approach".

Umar Akmal was initially lost by the system.

But by the time he tried to make a comeback, his deeply ingrained habits of "not being able to cope with the mental pressure of international cricket" were far too established for him to ever be the batsmen fans hoped to be.

I blame the system 30 percent but at the end of the day the same system churned out Babar and others, so 70 percent of the blame goes to person for not realizing their worth.

He is still a good T20 and league player. But that's all he will ever be.

Don't want to write a lot on Umar, but he could never have been as good as Buttler. Perhaps as good as Alec Stewart wk/batsmen.

Just more fallacy!
Umar did not start as a dasher, he was a proper batsman, even ian chapell commented on umar being unlike your typical pakistani batsman and saying how for a 19 year old, he batted with such maturity, in the aussie away series.
Umar was destroyed by a broken, unprofessional system. Removed unjustly from the test team, which meant he never developed as an international batsman. And being made to play at 6 as a power hitter in odis, to make up for the rest of the tuk tuk batsman in the team. The years of playing in a broken system has broken umar and unfortunately, he is a shadow of the player he was at 19.
Babbar is playing under arthur, an international coach, who is allowing him to develop naturally. Arthur could not help umar because of his own personal grudges, that he expected umar to win games for him, as he was a senior batsman by the time arthur was coach. What arthur doesn't realis, just like you is that umar was a broken

 

[Cric1234]

The PAK batsmen (two so far) that are named with Buttler here in PP tells me that Josh Buttler is quite underrated among PAK fan base.

As a lower order hitter Butler is better but Akmal is a better test batsman and should be given a long term spot in the top order he can do better with more license to hit and less pressure.
Also Butler is playing nowadays on mostly flat wickets where 350 plus is common if he plays on 250 par score wickets will he be as good unlikely a great hitter but the flat tracks can be attributed to his success aswell.

 

[Titan24]

The PAK batsmen (two so far) that are named with Buttler here in PP tells me that Josh Buttler is quite underrated among PAK fan base.

It isnt a comparison thread as you can see from the title of the thread and the opening post. I am using Buttler as a benchmark considering he is the epitome of the style of batting in the middle order which Umar could have developed and become if things would have alligned.

 

[shah_1]

Replace Maxwell with Umar Akmal, and this thread would make sense.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

To reach Jos Buttler's level Umar Akmal will have to play couple of seasons in the IPL.

 

[Mr.Q]

I somewhat agree with the OP’s views. I’ve said this many times before, he had amazing balance while hitting the ball. It’s the key to becoming a great batsman. He definitely was or is a great talent but he threw everything away.

 

[Barragan]

Blame misbah

It was around 2011, but he wasn't the captain of the ODI side at that time.

Imagine it, a top 10 ODI batsman batting below guys who aren't even in the top 30. )

 

[from_da_lost_dim3nsion]

Bass kerdo bhaii. Kohli se Jos buttler. Aise chalta raha to jos drop hoojayee ga aur bas Butler reh jayee ga

 

[Zaz]

Umar only has himself to blame

The fact is his poor attitude, lack of batting intelligence and poor work ethic meant he is where he is now The best players arent always the most talented More than half the game is about shot selection than anything else

Yes he had all the shots in the book but if you dont know when to use them then you have nothing

He shouldve been a better version of babar azam Look at buttler for eg He has the intelligence understand the importance of himself for the team lower down the order He doesnt need to keep but sees that as a positive role He understands that you cant slog every ball for 6 U dont have to if your good enough Youve got to give urself a chance and play calculated low risk shots That you can place the ball in the gaps and still go along at a strike rate of 100

The fact is akmal always had this victim mentality Why have i been dropped from rhe test team Why am i batting low down the order? Why are they making me keep? He took it all negatively When you arent taking up challenges, u arent taking advice on board and arent channeling that in a positive way by working hard and improving yourself then this is the end result

If only he could curb his instincts and had a decent head on his shoulders he couldve been the next superstar