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Should Umar Akmal be tried as an opener in LOIs?

Abdullah719 said:
Where exactly would His Highness be best suited in the line-up?

I don't think there are any chances for Hafeez and Babar to be removed from 3 and 4. Therefore Umar should open.
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#4 is ideal for him
 
Has he ever opened before? His cousin should be opening the batting and Akmal should bat #4.

Hafeez
Babar
Haris
Akmal

^ This is a very good ODI top four. Dynamic players who are good against pace and spin, possessing the ability to bat for long periods of time at a healthy strike rate.
 
Now he has made the case for a top order trial. Think they will open with Hafeez and Shehzad now with Umar at 3 and Shobby at 4 for t20s.
 
Bilal7 said:
Has he ever opened before? His cousin should be opening the batting and Akmal should bat #4.

Hafeez
Babar
Haris
Akmal

^ This is a very good ODI top four. Dynamic players who are good against pace and spin, possessing the ability to bat for long periods of time at a healthy strike rate.
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He is not an odi batsman , lets keep him to t20.

He used to bwol offspin at u19 level , if he starts bowling that again then he can replace imad waseem at number 7/8.
 
JibranAnsari said:
He is not an odi batsman , lets keep him to t20.

He used to bwol offspin at u19 level , if he starts bowling that again then he can replace imad waseem at number 7/8.
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He averages 36 at a SR of 85 in ODIs. Those are decent numbers and he's not even 28 yet. He can definitely make a comeback in ODIs seeing how badly our team needs a couple of dynamic batsmen.
 
Bilal7 said:
He averages 36 at a SR of 85 in ODIs. Those are decent numbers and he's not even 28 yet. He can definitely make a comeback in ODIs seeing how badly our team needs a couple of dynamic batsmen.
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Averaging 29 in the last three years , his habit of throwing away wicket deems him unfit for ODI cricket.
 
Bilal7 said:
He averages 36 at a SR of 85 in ODIs. Those are decent numbers and he's not even 28 yet. He can definitely make a comeback in ODIs seeing how badly our team needs a couple of dynamic batsmen.
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How many centuries has he scored in ODIs? How many times has he carried the team over the line?
 
HaiderAbbasRizvi said:
How many centuries has he scored in ODIs? How many times has he carried the team over the line?
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Does he have to be a Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni to get in the Pakistani team?

JibranAnsari said:
Averaging 29 in the last three years , his habit of throwing away wicket deems him unfit for ODI cricket.
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All modern Pakistani batsmen throw their wickets away. Akmal is certainly good enough to get in the team ahead of Azhar, Shehzad, Maqsood, etc.
 
Bilal7 said:
Does he have to be a Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni to get in the Pakistani team?



All modern Pakistani batsmen throw their wickets away. Akmal is certainly good enough to get in the team ahead of Azhar, Shehzad, Maqsood, etc.
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Ahead of maqsood yes but he is not competing with azhar and shehzad.

Thing is he should have developed into a reliable batsman by now after playing for 5 years of international cricket. But he buckles unders under pressure , can not wait for the right ball to hit. After all these years i think that the investment went in vain.
 
aliasad1998 said:
Hafeez can open and Umar can come to his place at 3 with Babar at 4. This was a very important innings for his future
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Would love to watch Babar Azam & Umar Akmal bat at 3 & 4.

Two dynamic batsman.

Hope Islamabad united play Babar tommorow and selectors do not drop him based upon first two PSL games.

I rejember last interview of Waqar. He had Babar in his scheme fie things for Asia cup & World T20. Do you remember his comments ?
 
JibranAnsari said:
Ahead of maqsood yes but he is not competing with azhar and shehzad.

Thing is he should have developed into a reliable batsman by now after playing for 5 years of international cricket. But he buckles unders under pressure , can not wait for the right ball to hit. After all these years i think that the investment went in vain.
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We can't just give up on a 25 year old who has solid numbers at the international stage and looks to be getting back in form. Azhar and Shehzad are not good enough openers; Hafeez and Babar are. IMHO, our top order in ODIs should be:

1) Hafeez
2) Babar
3) Haris
4) Akmal
 
Bilal7 said:
We can't just give up on a 25 year old who has solid numbers at the international stage and looks to be getting back in form. Azhar and Shehzad are not good enough openers; Hafeez and Babar are. IMHO, our top order in ODIs should be:

1) Hafeez
2) Babar
3) Haris
4) Akmal
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He failed to score runs in the FC season , didn't play the national ODi cup. He can't be back in the odi team based on t20 knocks. He was dropped because he was failing consistently in odi cricket and there is nothing to suggest that he has improved. He needs to score in the next fc season and then the ODi national cup to get selected again for odis. I dont want to see him scoring pretty 20s at number 4.
 
Totally agree with you, umar has himself stated that he wants to bat at 3. Frankly our team couldn't get worse than it is currently, it's high time we start experimenting a bit. Secondly all teams all over the world have their best players either as openers or one down, kane Williamson, kohli, Joe root, Steve Smith. In terms of talent and technique umar is our best player, in my opinion he should be at number 3. Before he came into the national team, he played most of his cricket at 3 and he was very successful. If I remember correctly he scored 190 something against Australia A in Australia batting at 3. Hafeez can open but umar should come at 3


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U Akmal has to bat at number 3, the guy can change a game, period. I really hope our management team can think outside the box for a change.
 
Umar Akmal has never opened in ODI. He barely played at 3 and 4 too.
Still no harm in trying him in top order. It worked for Sehwag , Rohit Sharma and Tendulkar.
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What Misbah did with Umar is to use him as finisher in last 10-15 overs since he had nobody else rather than developing him as 3/4 no batsmen...

He is clearly more well rounded batsman then Afridi/Razaq of last generation, limiting him to this role was bad strategy, more of a selfish move by think tank...they were keep saying, he has to prove himself, where as he was 2nd most run getter for 2/3 years at much better strike rate...This is how you ruin young guys [emoji84][emoji84][emoji84]

In T20 many times he has played blinder innings at 3/4, I remember few against Auses, against whom nobody else can bat....


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He is still the best talent Pakistan has

Maybe this is the year where he kick starts his career.
 
He looks a changed player. Rubbish gets into our ODI team. This guy deserves to play in the ODI top order
 
Has looked really good coming in at number 3 this tournament.
 
Umar has looked brilliant in this PSL, a contender for player for the tournament. However, this format is tailor-made for him so I won't get my hopes up just yet.

Nonetheless, only a matter of time before he gets called up to the ODI squad again.
 
Umar Akmal supporters have been saying he should be given a consistent run up the order for years. Many top international commentators have also questioned why he's been consistently played so low down the order.

However, Waqar and Misbah had different ideas. Guys like Misbah preferred slow "stable" players up the order and then use Akmal to try to up the RR lower down the order rather than playing him a bit higher up. Top international teams don't follow this strange strategy.

Umar was then also played inconsistently - sometimes in, sometimes out of the team - and made to wicket-keep in order to retain his place.

Pathetic management and the sooner Waqar is gone the better. Lots of haters on this site of Akmal as well who suddenly change their tune when he does well.
 
I think this should be our ODI lineup:

1. Azhar Ali
2. Hafeez
3. Babar Azam
4. Umar Akmal
5. Malik
6. Rizwan
7. Sarfaraz Ahmed
8. Imad Wasim
9. Wahab Riaz
10. Amir
11. Sohail Khan

Reserves: Junaid Khan, Zafar Gohar, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam
 
Open With Umar Akmal In LOIs. Who Knows He May Click.

Such a simple common sense thing.

Yet Pakistan won't even try it.

Bangladesh is the best Asian side when it comes to ODI batting strategy (top 7 explosive bats which is a NECESSITY in today's times).

All the other Asian sides have dumb batting strategies.

Pakistan has a dumb strategy + inferior talent in batting.

So might as well try everything out to see what's possible.

Rohit, Dilshan, Mahela all became 2X more effective when they opened.

This is the PERFECT ERA for stroke makers to open (trend started in 90s).

I don't think Akmal has a lot of intelligence or clutchness in him but when he opens he doesn't have to take in incredible pressure and can motor along to get crucial runs even in important games. The other Pak bats can deal with pressure situations.

So worth a try.
 
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Sounds like Donald Trump's outreach to black voters
'What the hell have you got lose anyway?'

I actually thought that for a while before he showed at the World Cup that he is not international standard.
Considering he was benched to play a full season of domestic, I would prefer he does that before coming back to try his luck again.
Having said that, whenever he comes, he should be given a lot confidence and chances since we are asking him to bat in an unnatural position
 
I think it's worth a try. Have a feeling sami asalam and umar akmal would make a good partnership
 
aliasad1998 said:
He looks a changed player. Rubbish gets into our ODI team. This guy deserves to play in the ODI top order
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1. Umar Akmal
2. Sharjeel Khan
3. Haris
4. Babar (c)
5. Sarfaraz(wk)(c)
6. Yamin
7. Amad Butt/Nawaz depending on pitch
8. Hassan Ali
9. Amir
10.Wahab
11. Usama Mir

What do you think about this Pak ODI line up brother ?
 
Apologies for my lack of knowledge, but where are U.Akmal and H.Sohail? Why aren't they playing? Injuries? Form?
Thanks in advance.
 
I would be very happy if this happens but no one in our set up thinks out of the box.
 
This can be perfect 11 if u wanna try him but certainly not as an opener

1.Sami
2.Babar
3.Haris/Imam
4.Saud
5.Sarfraz * +
6.Umar
7.Imad/Yamin
8.Hassan
9.Amir
10.Wahab
11.Asghar
 
akmal fans will try anything to get the guy in the team. keeper, opener, finisher you name it.

Soon there will be a thread saying: since Imad has failed at bowling offspin why not try Umer Akmal. Surely he couldn't bowl worse than Imad and will score more runs. :facepalm:
 
totally agree with this. Umar should be tried as an opener, and this is what I mentioned in another post aswell... What I've noticed about the Pakistanis, especially in this forum is that, when they support someone, they support them regardless of how bad they perform, and when they hate someone, it's so unconditional that any suggestion of improving or making use of that player is discarded with no disdain.
 
Definitely..Umar needs to be drafted in.. He definitely is a world class batsman.. Played match winning knock in CPL.. As an Indian I like watching him bat.. But needs to change his attitude
 
Umar does not have the technique to play the new ball! Besides we already have Sharjeel there who is much better than him at the top of the order. Both are likely to average in the mid-thirties anyway, and Sharjeel at a superior strike rate with far less drama.
 
Why are people making Umar Akmal as if he will be our savior. He had enough chances to show his worth, if he couldnt score with the old ball what makes you think he will succeed against the new swinging ball. Opening the batting is a skill not everyone has. Infact Umar Akmal was proven to be the most brainless cricketer trying to slog everything so much so that he was called a part of Pak tail.
 
arehaan said:
Why are people making Umar Akmal as if he will be our savior. He had enough chances to show his worth, if he couldnt score with the old ball what makes you think he will succeed against the new swinging ball. Opening the batting is a skill not everyone has. Infact Umar Akmal was proven to be the most brainless cricketer trying to slog everything so much so that he was called a part of Pak tail.
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Ppl said the same abt Sehwag when he made his debut.. No technique, slogger, flat footed blah blah... But we all know what he became.. There is no harm in trying Akmal as an opener
 
Not a bad ploy for a batsman who isn't intelligent enough to bat in crunch situations.

Umar Akmal is at its best when he can play his game without any pressure.


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Prince of Pakistan said:
Not a bad ploy for a batsman who isn't intelligent enough to bat in crunch situations.

Umar Akmal is at its best when he can play his game without any pressure.


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Click to expand...

1. Umar Akmal
2. Sharjeel Khan
3. Haris
4. Babar (vc)
5. Sarfaraz (c)(wk)
6. Yamin
7. Amad Butt/Nawaz depending on pitch
8. Hassan Ali
9. Amir
10.Wahab
11. Usama Mir

what do you think ?
 
You don't put two sloggers together, If Umar is to be tried, then pair him with Sami Aslam or some other quasi attacking opener.
 
He should be given a shot even in cpl he was tried as an opener he didn't do that badly
 
sl-fan-of-pak said:
You don't put two sloggers together, If Umar is to be tried, then pair him with Sami Aslam or some other quasi attacking opener.
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Umar Akmal isn't even a slogger, he can hit them big but isn't an out and out hack like Sharjeel. Also strike rotation comes naturally to him.
 
mz123 said:
1. Umar Akmal
2. Sharjeel Khan
3. Haris
4. Babar (vc)
5. Sarfaraz (c)(wk)
6. Yamin
7. Amad Butt/Nawaz depending on pitch
8. Hassan Ali
9. Amir
10.Wahab
11. Usama Mir

what do you think ?
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Much better team than current lot. However, few adjustments can make it even better -

1. May be Umar & Sharjeel as opener can make it too much hit or miss pair as they are not inclined to run much. I'll put Umar at 3 & open with Babar, dropping Haris at 4. Even, Sarfu can play at 4 dropping Haris at 5. Haris is a quality shot maker who can rotate strike and hit big, can play the Raina role. Also, you need one quality player in late middle order, as a double check of any collapse.

2. From, 6 on wards, it's too many all-rounders. And, it's too much pace dependent squad. These days, teams are not that good against spin, therefore 20 overs of spin should be there. One of Imad/Nawaz should be at 7. I like Imad more, but not much in it. Yamin at No. 6, I am not sure he is that good - I'll keep MoHa or Malik for the time being, at least till CT2017 - batting is too inexperience already.

3. One of Hasan or Aamad should play, not both. Hasan's batting doesn't give the confidence that he is good to bat at 8; rather, he should compete with Wahab at 9/10

4. One leggi should play, if Usama is the guy fine, but I am open in this spot.
 
I feel this move just might end up making him technically tighter and sounder against the new ball. It just might help make a strong case for being recalled for test matches as well.

Its not just about individual contribution, its about impact and confidence. A quick fire 50, 40's, 30's and maybe a few hundreds as well will massively help the team which is struggling to keep up with modern needs.

India felt Rohit was useless until they opened the batting with him. Sri Lanka had no use for Dilshan till they opened the innings with him. Opening the innings transformed Jayasuriya's career. You should check out Teenda's stats prior to opening the innings and after opening the innings.
 
Syed1 said:
Umar Akmal isn't even a slogger, he can hit them big but isn't an out and out hack like Sharjeel. Also strike rotation comes naturally to him.
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look at him nowadays.. he is terrible to watch...this should have been tried in 2014...he is not hitting form in domestics at the moment,.. wrong time to try this experiment... Im very sure he will fail....
 
I think it would be a good idea and allow for Akmal to play some shots on the powerplay. Sharjeel is also closer to a hack and should be limited to T20's.

Aslam
Akmal
Haris
Babar
Zaman (he should be given a shot imo)
Sarfraz
Imad/Nawaz/Amad Butt/Yamin
Hassan Ali
Wahab
Amir
Gohar

I'd like to see that team given a shot to see what they can do.
 
MY Line up

Sami Aslam
Umer Akmal ( not a fan of his but i will give him 15 matches there if he doens't perform then discard him)
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Sarfraz Ahmed
Amir Yamin
Kamran Ghulam / Mohammed Nawaz/ Imad Wasim only one of them should play. Potental wise Kamran Ghulam is the best excclent fielder too)
Amad Butt
Hasan Ali
Zafar gohar / Mohammed asghar / Usama Mir
Mohammed Amir

Reserves
Usama Mir
Saud Shakeel
Mohammed Rizwan
Imam Ul haq

This Team gives you strike bowlers in Amir, Hasan and Amad Butt. Also you have an excellent spinner who can take wickets. 8 bowling options including haris sohail and saud shakeel. You have a solid top order as well as solid middle order also hard hitting all rounders in Amir yamin, Amad Butt and kamran ghulam. Plus the side bats till 11. The is the best line up avaiable at the moment.

We need to move on from so called seniors they are useless for a start and are not good enough. We should say good bye to hafeez, malik, Azhar, Sharjeel, Wahab. It's time to look for the future which every country is doing apart from us (Dilshan was persuaded to retire becuase they want to bulid for the next world cup while we are recalling gul, irfan and wasting money on passing Hafeez's bowling test).

Forgot to mention one thing only 1 person is over 30 in that lineup majority of them are under 25 so they can serve you for good 10 years.
 
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Syed1 said:
Umar Akmal isn't even a slogger, he can hit them big but isn't an out and out hack like Sharjeel. Also strike rotation comes naturally to him.
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Not against spin bowling. See his performance vs NZ in the WT20.
 
Either you areva relative of him or antiPakistani. The reason why I say that is because this kid has had multiple come backs and always failed in a pressure situation to perform. He will perform when the situation is ideal for him to play his aggressive cricket and most of the time he scores. But the problem is the class is seen when you play and take yourbteam not just out of tough situation but ratherscore enough that the opposite team starts to feeel the pressure.I know this kid he will fail miserably and then start complaining that "I was never a opener to begin with I just did it for Pakistan and what do I get Drop from my team". He is talent whichbis short of international standard please let him play league cricket and leave Pakistani cricket to some new comer. I would rathet see a new comer failing with the hope that he might just click. Umer Akmal is a finished chapter after so many failed come backs, if he had in him he would have proved long time ago.
Just because currently we are not performing does not mean one substandard should replaced with anothet substandard player. Umer Akmal is experienced but has experience to flop in trying situations and we all have seen that time and again.

Next time when team failsplease bring out a name of a player who was dropped because he was injured or only got 1 or 2 chances abd definitely needs support to get back in the team. Umer Akmal always got dropped because he did not play good and most imp consistent good cricket. To top it off hr also has attitude whic also does not help Pak crickey so Forget UmerAkmal and Ahmed Shehzaad.
 
MMHS said:
Much better team than current lot. However, few adjustments can make it even better -

1. May be Umar & Sharjeel as opener can make it too much hit or miss pair as they are not inclined to run much. I'll put Umar at 3 & open with Babar, dropping Haris at 4. Even, Sarfu can play at 4 dropping Haris at 5. Haris is a quality shot maker who can rotate strike and hit big, can play the Raina role. Also, you need one quality player in late middle order, as a double check of any collapse.

2. From, 6 on wards, it's too many all-rounders. And, it's too much pace dependent squad. These days, teams are not that good against spin, therefore 20 overs of spin should be there. One of Imad/Nawaz should be at 7. I like Imad more, but not much in it. Yamin at No. 6, I am not sure he is that good - I'll keep MoHa or Malik for the time being, at least till CT2017 - batting is too inexperience already.

3. One of Hasan or Aamad should play, not both. Hasan's batting doesn't give the confidence that he is good to bat at 8; rather, he should compete with Wahab at 9/10

4. One leggi should play, if Usama is the guy fine, but I am open in this spot.
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Given that Azhar Ali wont be dropped, because he seems to be in the good books of Mickey

OPENERS :

1. Sami Aslam/Shehzad/Hafeez or someone in that mold
2. Umar Akmal/Sharjeel

MIDDLE ORDER :

3 - Babar
4 - Azhar Ali
5 - Harris Sohail
6 - Sarfaraz
7 - Shoaib Malik
8 - FAST BOWLING ALL ROUNDER

TAIL ENDERS :

9 - Wicket taking Leggie or Containing Offie
10 - Amir
11 - New ball partner of Amir who can stem the flow of runs. Not necessarily express.
 
arehaan said:
Why are people making Umar Akmal as if he will be our savior. He had enough chances to show his worth, if he couldnt score with the old ball what makes you think he will succeed against the new swinging ball. Opening the batting is a skill not everyone has. Infact Umar Akmal was proven to be the most brainless cricketer trying to slog everything so much so that he was called a part of Pak tail.
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not sure how he didn't show his worth ... avg. of 35 at a SR of 85+ mostly playing at #6 and his avg. jumps to 37 at a SR of 88 at #6 specifically ... He is the only guy capable of taking on the genuine fast bowlers outside of Sharjeel & Babar in the current team and may even be the best at it as he has shown in the past on many occassions.

Don't let your negative bias blind you to facts.
 
I've wanted Umar to bat in the top order for last 6 years or so and would be totally open to him opening alongside Sharjeel ... could prove to be a master stroke ... However, I personally feel he'd be best suited at #3 with Sharjeel & Sami opening. But yeah no harm in trying since we are looking for best possible combination of playing XI and building a team for WC 2019 and beyond.

Have to start looking at long term goals instead of short term ones.
 
syedahsan said:
Either you areva relative of him or antiPakistani. The reason why I say that is because this kid has had multiple come backs and always failed in a pressure situation to perform. He will perform when the situation is ideal for him to play his aggressive cricket and most of the time he scores. But the problem is the class is seen when you play and take yourbteam not just out of tough situation but ratherscore enough that the opposite team starts to feeel the pressure.I know this kid he will fail miserably and then start complaining that "I was never a opener to begin with I just did it for Pakistan and what do I get Drop from my team". He is talent whichbis short of international standard please let him play league cricket and leave Pakistani cricket to some new comer. I would rathet see a new comer failing with the hope that he might just click. Umer Akmal is a finished chapter after so many failed come backs, if he had in him he would have proved long time ago.
Just because currently we are not performing does not mean one substandard should replaced with anothet substandard player. Umer Akmal is experienced but has experience to flop in trying situations and we all have seen that time and again.

Next time when team failsplease bring out a name of a player who was dropped because he was injured or only got 1 or 2 chances abd definitely needs support to get back in the team. Umer Akmal always got dropped because he did not play good and most imp consistent good cricket. To top it off hr also has attitude whic also does not help Pak crickey so Forget UmerAkmal and Ahmed Shehzaad.
Click to expand...



I definitely am not his relative, neither anti Pakistani; but I beg to differ here.

What is the strategic intent if Umar were to open? To me, it's about impact - give a quick start to the team. Anyone can understand that, if you go aggressive as opener, you become more vulnerable. There is a lack of understanding in PAK ranks regarding Umar's role, in fact what in impact in an ODI since start of this millennium.

I give a classic example from a similar game - Baseball. In Baseball, a batsman has 3 major stats - hits (calculates into average), Home Run (clearing the fence in one arial shot) & RBI (basically contribution of a batsman in a run). And there is a negative stat - Strike Out (unable to touch a ball in 3 strikes). Now, in Baseball, batting team needs 2 to 4 hits to compete a run, BUT, one Home Run with all bases loaded can earn 4 Runs, in a game that produces average 10 runs/game in 9 innings each. So, one can understand what's the value of a Home Run.

Now, in recent times, there are few notorious batters in Base Ball - these guys have very poor average, they have embarrassingly higher K (Strike Outs), but these players (Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujol, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire & few others) are the highest paid batters, because they can hit Home runs & win the match. Once, Alex Rod said that, I could have batted at 50% better average, had I not been used as a pinch hitter.

The game is all about tactics & how you can better utilize the resources that you have - that can only be achieved, if you know what is the limit of a player & what's are his strengths. Obviously, Umar is not Tendulakar or Amla that, if he is sent to open, he can hit a hundred in every 15 innings or a 50+ score in every 7/8 - that's a flawed KPI for him - imposed on him to force a failure every time. What he can do is a quick start - a Sehwag like impact start. One has to be patient with him - he is not costing team with an Azhar or MoHa like innings, but, in every Series, if he plays just once for 35 overs, PAK'll have to play really bad to lose the match - that's potential.

Hypothetically, PAK can open with Umar in a 7 match Series and expect him to score 319 at 46/85 stats - he'll fail every time. But, in contemporary cricket, I don't mind him having a series of 3 (7), 13 (15), 114 (94), 0 (1), 18 (18), 2 (4), 58 (48) = 208 (187). That's a series of ~30/111 stats. He is winning a match, setting another one & more importantly, he is not costing any match. Innings like 23 (35) are the killer innings - it doesn't give the momentum, it doesn't leave enough balls for later batsmen to settle down & put a score. Yesterday PAK posted 251 from 2/3, only because Sami & Azhar got out quickly - had it been 35/3, I can bet PAK would have ended at 240/7.

For India, Umar would have made 200+ appearances as LO openers by now, or would have been totally out of scenario - but they won't have ever tried players like Umar or Afridi at 6/7 when the game is extremely calculative. PAK's thought process of finishing game is once in blue moon strategy - someone would come & bang, bang few sixes; every other team actually uses the most calculative players at the finishing end - players that are great improviser, very good runner, mentally tough & very good thinkers, who can calculate balls, asking rate, bowling chart (how many overs of which bowlers), field position - they target few overs to hit & keep closing on by rotation & running. Recently, BD has done something, which any PAK think Tank won't do even in 2050 - Hathura has put Sabbir at 3, because he is clean striker of the ball & Mahmood at 7, because he can rotate strike at will & in between take big shots. In olden days, PAK players were a bit idiot for their County experience - hence even in 70s & 80s, Mazid Khan & Zaheer Abbas batted in top 3, while Asif Iqbal batted at 6 & Javed at 4. I bet my house on this - current PAK THINK TANK 'll play Mazid at 5 & Zaheer at 6, because they can bang SIX.

I wrote before Test series that Arthur will make Azhar to Open & Asad at 3, it took 3 Tests - if he is given full freedom - he'll make Umar & Babar bat in top 3 in ODI & drop Azhar, by next AUS tour.
 
MMHS said:
I definitely am not his relative, neither anti Pakistani; but I beg to differ here.

What is the strategic intent if Umar were to open? To me, it's about impact - give a quick start to the team. Anyone can understand that, if you go aggressive as opener, you become more vulnerable. There is a lack of understanding in PAK ranks regarding Umar's role, in fact what in impact in an ODI since start of this millennium.

I give a classic example from a similar game - Baseball. In Baseball, a batsman has 3 major stats - hits (calculates into average), Home Run (clearing the fence in one arial shot) & RBI (basically contribution of a batsman in a run). And there is a negative stat - Strike Out (unable to touch a ball in 3 strikes). Now, in Baseball, batting team needs 2 to 4 hits to compete a run, BUT, one Home Run with all bases loaded can earn 4 Runs, in a game that produces average 10 runs/game in 9 innings each. So, one can understand what's the value of a Home Run.

Now, in recent times, there are few notorious batters in Base Ball - these guys have very poor average, they have embarrassingly higher K (Strike Outs), but these players (Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujol, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire & few others) are the highest paid batters, because they can hit Home runs & win the match. Once, Alex Rod said that, I could have batted at 50% better average, had I not been used as a pinch hitter.

The game is all about tactics & how you can better utilize the resources that you have - that can only be achieved, if you know what is the limit of a player & what's are his strengths. Obviously, Umar is not Tendulakar or Amla that, if he is sent to open, he can hit a hundred in every 15 innings or a 50+ score in every 7/8 - that's a flawed KPI for him - imposed on him to force a failure every time. What he can do is a quick start - a Sehwag like impact start. One has to be patient with him - he is not costing team with an Azhar or MoHa like innings, but, in every Series, if he plays just once for 35 overs, PAK'll have to play really bad to lose the match - that's potential.

Hypothetically, PAK can open with Umar in a 7 match Series and expect him to score 319 at 46/85 stats - he'll fail every time. But, in contemporary cricket, I don't mind him having a series of 3 (7), 13 (15), 114 (94), 0 (1), 18 (18), 2 (4), 58 (48) = 208 (187). That's a series of ~30/111 stats. He is winning a match, setting another one & more importantly, he is not costing any match. Innings like 23 (35) are the killer innings - it doesn't give the momentum, it doesn't leave enough balls for later batsmen to settle down & put a score. Yesterday PAK posted 251 from 2/3, only because Sami & Azhar got out quickly - had it been 35/3, I can bet PAK would have ended at 240/7.

For India, Umar would have made 200+ appearances as LO openers by now, or would have been totally out of scenario - but they won't have ever tried players like Umar or Afridi at 6/7 when the game is extremely calculative. PAK's thought process of finishing game is once in blue moon strategy - someone would come & bang, bang few sixes; every other team actually uses the most calculative players at the finishing end - players that are great improviser, very good runner, mentally tough & very good thinkers, who can calculate balls, asking rate, bowling chart (how many overs of which bowlers), field position - they target few overs to hit & keep closing on by rotation & running. Recently, BD has done something, which any PAK think Tank won't do even in 2050 - Hathura has put Sabbir at 3, because he is clean striker of the ball & Mahmood at 7, because he can rotate strike at will & in between take big shots. In olden days, PAK players were a bit idiot for their County experience - hence even in 70s & 80s, Mazid Khan & Zaheer Abbas batted in top 3, while Asif Iqbal batted at 6 & Javed at 4. I bet my house on this - current PAK THINK TANK 'll play Mazid at 5 & Zaheer at 6, because they can bang SIX.

I wrote before Test series that Arthur will make Azhar to Open & Asad at 3, it took 3 Tests - if he is given full freedom - he'll make Umar & Babar bat in top 3 in ODI & drop Azhar, by next AUS tour.
Click to expand...

Question is will he get the freedom to put Babar Azam and Umar in the top 3?
 
Hasan123 said:
Question is will he get the freedom to put Babar Azam and Umar in the top 3?
Click to expand...

Good question - not as long as Azhar is Captain (It's like cutting the base of the brunch, which he is hanging with). But, if there is a change of Captaincy, I think, Mickey'll implement his strategy.
 
MMHS said:
Good question - not as long as Azhar is Captain (It's like cutting the base of the brunch, which he is hanging with). But, if there is a change of Captaincy, I think, Mickey'll implement his strategy.
Click to expand...

So it will have to be pcb who gets rid of Azhar than
 
boomboom6 said:
not sure how he didn't show his worth ... avg. of 35 at a SR of 85+ mostly playing at #6 and his avg. jumps to 37 at a SR of 88 at #6 specifically ... He is the only guy capable of taking on the genuine fast bowlers outside of Sharjeel & Babar in the current team and may even be the best at it as he has shown in the past on many occassions.

Don't let your negative bias blind you to facts.
Click to expand...

So an average of 35 at no 6 with a SR of 85+ makes him cut to open. Get over your dream team scenarios if this guy was good enough he would have succeeded at no 6. He has had his fair share of chances already.
 
Umar Akmal has to open with Sharjeel Khan in ODIs

Enough of these Shehzad clones. Sami Salam on 12 from 31 balls looking awful against pace. We know how bad Azhar is in Odis. Umar Akmal, Sharjeel and Babar Azam are the only modern ODI bats we have. Both should bat in the top 3 with Sarfraz at 4 and Rizwan at 5.
 
We all love to bash Umar including me but we can't have these test players playing Odis
 
uberkoen said:
So your idea is to replace one rubbish player with another?

Brilliant.
Click to expand...

Look at the shameful cowardly test batting going on right now. Akmal may be idiotic but he won't do this
 
Last edited by a moderator:
we dont need fawad alam type players, sami aslam looks like a player who only knows how to do nudging! we need stroke makers!
we are ranked 9th so nothing to lose, we should rather play one dimensional hacks like sharjeel than sami/azhar/babar
 
aliasad1998 said:
Look at the shameful cowardly test batting going on right now. Akmal may be idiotic but he won't do this
Click to expand...

Scoring a quickfire 20 won't help much either. What difference does it make if you end up with 250 all out after 50 overs or end up with 200 all out in 20 overs? Both are a losing cause. Akmal adds nothing to the team.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
uberkoen said:
Scoring a quickfire 20 won't help much either. What difference does it make if you end up with 250 all out after 50 overs or end up with 200 all out in 20 overs? Both are a losing cause. Akmal adds nothing to the team.
Click to expand...

Not true.

200 all out in 20 overs >>>> 250 all out in 50 overs.

The first one has more chances of winning the game when it clicks.

The second one is only good for respectable losses. Maybe not even that.
 
Look at these limited players batting. As someone said we are number 9 so have nothing to lose
 
Umar Akmal against non-minnows since the start of 2014 averages a meagre 21.

I'm sure he'll make PPers feel better about our SR problem but he wasn't contributing at all before his dropping.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
Not true.

200 all out in 20 overs >>>> 250 all out in 50 overs.

The first one has more chances of winning the game when it clicks.

The second one is only good for respectable losses. Maybe not even that.
Click to expand...

Neither is good. Both are equally bad.

Akmal is not the answer to the our problems.
 
I have always said Akmal should be tried opening , I wont be surprised if he has a Rohit Sharma kind of turnaround ...Opening is perfect for strokemakers who fail under pressure .
 
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