Solution to Pakistan's power hitting problem

[iPakistani]

UMAR AKMAL.

Yes he's drowned in controversies but this could be the man that can help Pakistan win the WC19. With Asif Ali unable to perform there doesn't look to be any other player to fill that spot within the next 5-6 months.

With Umar Akmal accustomed to International cricket coming back into the team won't be difficult for him to perform in. Not only this, if the team is struggling he can perform an anchor role too whilst maintaining a good strike rate, a trait not many of our players currently have.

In his last 7 List A matches he has scored:
371 runs
Average: 53
Strike Rate: Around 130

He is a better batsman than Asif Ali and a better fielder it is an obvious choice.

The lads struggling a bit with his fitness but he can work on this within the next 5-6 months and become a very crucial part of our World Cup team.

If not Umar Akmal, who do you guys think we should go with for the World Cup next year?

 

[Madplayer]

Umar akmal should join sumo wrestling now if they allow such a heavy person there.

 

[Rana]

I feel that he wasn’t lying about his body type and putting weight on with ease.

Surely the guy tries his best to look and feel physically fit enough to play sport professionally

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Look, we don’t need players who are capable of smashing 50 off 20 balls against the best oppositions, Umar Akmal doesn’t show heart so he should be kept away from the side. Pakistan are over flooded with talented batsmen who have proven themselves on the world stage that they belong on the international stage.

 

[PakSarZameen]

Good to know Umar Akmal is finally performing in domestic cricket. Had he done that, like Shehzad did, he would have been back much earlier.

But let's be honest, 7 games is not a large enough sample size. He has to perform in the whole season for the selectors to take him seriously again.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Umar Akmal isn't the solution to anything. In fact, he is a problem himself.

 

[coy0607]

In a vacuum Umar Akmal is a good possible solution

But reality is that he brings a lot of baggage with him, he would be cancerous to the chemistry of this team

Don't want him anywhere near Babar, Hassan, Shadab, Fakhar, Shaheen and co

 

[Fahdi]

Dear God look at the fat on his body! He used to be the among the most fit and agile players at one point.

 

[TeymurBlake]

He has a WHOLE lot more to do. He needs to work on his fitness, temperament and dedication.

 

[Hasan123]

He needs to keep on performing for him to be selected . If he is selected , it should only be in T20s for now.

 

[IMMY69]

Akmal should be captain, chief selector and PCB chairman all in one.

Oh and also team nutritionist

 

[aloo paratha]

Stopped reading after the first 2 words.

 

[Bilal7]

I agree. He would be a good fit for the #6 spot and going by his numbers, he seems to have started taking his game seriously. I don't care about his weight, this is not soccer. Put him at slips if he's suddenly become a bad fielder.

I always hoped that Akmal would get his career back on track. This just might be it.

 

[Kashmirilion]

Look, we don’t need players who are capable of smashing 50 off 20 balls against the best oppositions, Umar Akmal doesn’t show heart so he should be kept away from the side. Pakistan are over flooded with talented batsmen who have proven themselves on the world stage that they belong on the international stage.

Huh your post makes no sense

 

[Savak]

I am shocked the guy has still not addresses his weight and fitness even though he was told twice. He looked so fit and lean during his early years.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

UMAR AKMAL.

Yes he's drowned in controversies but this could be the man that can help Pakistan win the WC19. With Asif Ali unable to perform there doesn't look to be any other player to fill that spot within the next 5-6 months.

With Umar Akmal accustomed to International cricket coming back into the team won't be difficult for him to perform in. Not only this, if the team is struggling he can perform an anchor role too whilst maintaining a good strike rate, a trait not many of our players currently have.

In his last 7 List A matches he has scored:
371 runs
Average: 53
Strike Rate: Around 130

He is a better batsman than Asif Ali and a better fielder it is an obvious choice. View attachment 85240

The lads struggling a bit with his fitness but he can work on this within the next 5-6 months and become a very crucial part of our World Cup team.

If not Umar Akmal, who do you guys think we should go with for the World Cup next year?

Respectfully, no thanks, I'd rather have the problem.

Also someone ban his water please.

 

[The Viper]

Quite a bit of Akmal threads recently. If he wants to return he needs to sort out his fitness.

 

[Hawkeye]

Wow.

50 average at 130 strike rate is amazing.

If he's performing and in form, should be drafted in for SA series. No questions asked.

Has the talent. Need application.

 

[AFM]

Maybe a comparison thread of the current U Akmal with the old U Akmal will revatise his international career?

Either way, lad needs to monitor that water intake

 

[Bhaijaan]

Pakistani fans felicitating OP for this wonderful solution!

 

[gazza619]

Well the only thing i can say is that when Hafeez can make a comeback and look a million dollars at the age of 38 then why cant Umar Akmal. Though only one person can force this selection and that is Umar Akmal himself. He will need to score tons and tons of runs in domestic cricket

 

[Hawkeye]

People blindly hating on him lol.

Everyone knows he's a great talent. Was at the top of his game for a good number of years.

Dropped for good reason.

And can and will come back for good reason too.

As long as he does well in domestics, he should and will be called back.

Don't be so venomous.

 

[MMHS]

Umar Akmal is the best back foot player from PAK since Inzamam - fact
Umar Akmal is the best player of fast bowling in PAK since MoYo - fact
Umar Akmal is the most dynamic player from PAK since Saeed - fact
Umar Akmal is the most misunderstood player from PAK since Shoaib - fact
Umar Akmal is the last dominating match winner from PAK - fact

Umar Akmal is the most disturbing player in PAK since 1947 - fact
Umar Akmal is the most self destructive character in PAK cricket since Asif - fact
Umar Akmal is the fatest cricketer in PAK since Sarfraz scored 18.2 - fact

A player in the mold of Umar Akmal at 4 is what’s burning need for PAK team going to SAF & UK - fact

Now the king makers have to find a solution to make the best out of all these facts.

 

[CricketDon]

Huh your post makes no sense

He don’t want a 50 off 20 balls against the best teams but he wants heart with 20 of 50 balls LOOOL. Some posters have no sense or logic.

 

[Hawkeye]

He don’t want a 50 off 20 balls against the best teams but he wants heart with 20 of 50 balls LOOOL. Some posters have no sense or logic.

[MENTION=147214]YousafTheBeast[/MENTION] was being sarcastic.

 

[Hawkeye]

Umar Akmal is the best back foot player from PAK since Inzamam - fact
Umar Akmal is the best player of fast bowling in PAK since MoYo - fact
Umar Akmal is the most dynamic player from PAK since Saeed - fact
Umar Akmal is the most misunderstood player from PAK since Shoaib - fact
Umar Akmal is the last dominating match winner from PAK - fact

Umar Akmal is the most disturbing player in PAK since 1947 - fact
Umar Akmal is the most self destructive character in PAK cricket since Asif - fact
Umar Akmal is the fatest cricketer in PAK since Sarfraz scored 18.2 - fact

A player in the mold of Umar Akmal at 4 is what’s burning need for PAK team going to SAF & UK - fact

Now the king makers have to find a solution to make the best out of all these facts.

Excellent post.

OP posted some darn good stats of his last few list A matches.

Hoping for a return with good form.

 

[MMHS]

People blindly hating on him lol.

Everyone knows he's a great talent. Was at the top of his game for a good number of years.

Dropped for good reason.

And can and will come back for good reason too.

As long as he does well in domestics, he should and will be called back.

Don't be so venomous.

After watching this 38, sorry 31 years old 5’6” fast bowler on debut, I guess Umar can safely start 2nd career after 2019 WC, when a mass scale clear out of stable will be done (read will be required). Before that, I don’t think he has any chance when everyone including himself is against him.

 

[iPakistani]

Pakistani fans felicitating OP for this wonderful solution!

Most of these fans were probably against Hafeez being re-selected. Computer chair experts .

 

[Savak]

Umar Akmal's hitting abilities are over rated. We all saw what he did against NZ in the 2016 T-20 WC when he had the perfect platform to come in and hit out but he couldn't hit anything of the middle of the bat.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Umar Akmal's hitting abilities are over rated. We all saw what he did against NZ in the 2016 T-20 WC when he had the perfect platform to come in and hit out but he couldn't hit anything of the middle of the bat.

Not to forget his usual brainfade in the QF against Australia in WC15. He is a mentally weak player, who has regressed alaramingly.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Umar Akmal has a 34.59 average with a 85.94 SR in 105 innings (and a whopping 2 hundreds!). One of the most overrated and overhyped players in Pakistan. Once in a blue moon, he'll have a great knock but we have enough of a sample size to suggest he is nothing more than a mediocre batsmen.

For a batsmen with supposedly elite skills to hit the ball, his SR is nothing special especially when you consider he has mostly batted at 5/6. Even his T20 SR is just 122.90 in 77 innings is nothing special.

People just need to move on with him. He has shown time and time again that he is simply not very good.

 

[Darkrai]

He will be playing under Sarfraz in PSL, lets see how that works out.

 

[New Yorker]

Umar Akmal is the best back foot player from PAK since Inzamam - fact
Umar Akmal is the best player of fast bowling in PAK since MoYo - fact
Umar Akmal is the most dynamic player from PAK since Saeed - fact
Umar Akmal is the most misunderstood player from PAK since Shoaib - fact
Umar Akmal is the last dominating match winner from PAK - fact

Umar Akmal is the most disturbing player in PAK since 1947 - fact
Umar Akmal is the most self destructive character in PAK cricket since Asif - fact
Umar Akmal is the fatest cricketer in PAK since Sarfraz scored 18.2 - fact

A player in the mold of Umar Akmal at 4 is what’s burning need for PAK team going to SAF & UK - fact

Now the king makers have to find a solution to make the best out of all these facts.

Not quite.

If by dynamic we mean actual SR in LOIs, Sarfraz is better in both T20s and ODIs.

If by dynamism we mean hitting spectacular 4's and 6s and then getting out cheaply to an ill considered swipe, then Ukmal all the way, yes.

It is a case of more speed and less haste.

The problem for Umar Akmal is that he has never been good enough, his flashiness aside.

He briefly looked good against in Aus a decade ago and because PP fans have a complex about playing pace, he gets disproportionate credit for this.

Just how many matches he has won or dominated is not clear. Again, people confuse big hitting with domination. They are not the same thing.

Babar has been more dominant in T20s than Ukmal could ever hope to be, because he has been so consistent.

But has never convinced as a quality player, and his stats are evidence of that. He has not been awful, but also not great, and it is surely worthwhile to invest in youth like Saud Shakeel instead, for example.

 

[IMMY69]

It’s funny how the ones who show complete lack of cricketing knowledge on various match threads are also the supporters of Akmal (Umar and/or Kamran).

 

[IMMY69]

Not quite.

If by dynamic we mean actual SR in LOIs, Sarfraz is better in both T20s and ODIs.

If by dynamism we mean hitting spectacular 4's and 6s and then getting out cheaply to an ill considered swipe, then Ukmal all the way, yes.

It is a case of more speed and less haste.

The problem for Umar Akmal is that he has never been good enough, his flashiness aside.

He briefly looked good against in Aus a decade ago and because PP fans have a complex about playing pace, he gets disproportionate credit for this.

Just how many matches he has won or dominated is not clear. Again, people confuse big hitting with domination. They are not the same thing.

Babar has been more dominant in T20s than Ukmal could ever hope to be, because he has been so consistent.

But has never convinced as a quality player, and his stats are evidence of that. He has not been awful, but also not great, and it is surely worthwhile to invest in youth like Saud Shakeel instead, for example.

10 years ago in Australia? You mean when the poor guy had a back spasm just when he was asked to keep which would have kept his older brother out.

 

[Justcrazy]

He is a huge underachiever , of pakistan cricket.

 

[MMHS]

Not quite.

If by dynamic we mean actual SR in LOIs, Sarfraz is better in both T20s and ODIs.

If by dynamism we mean hitting spectacular 4's and 6s and then getting out cheaply to an ill considered swipe, then Ukmal all the way, yes.

It is a case of more speed and less haste.

The problem for Umar Akmal is that he has never been good enough, his flashiness aside.

He briefly looked good against in Aus a decade ago and because PP fans have a complex about playing pace, he gets disproportionate credit for this.

Just how many matches he has won or dominated is not clear. Again, people confuse big hitting with domination. They are not the same thing.

Babar has been more dominant in T20s than Ukmal could ever hope to be, because he has been so consistent.

But has never convinced as a quality player, and his stats are evidence of that. He has not been awful, but also not great, and it is surely worthwhile to invest in youth like Saud Shakeel instead, for example.

I do look at stats, but beyond that as well. This is what I wrote in another thread : http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...e-bad-investments/page2&p=9966449#post9966449

I am pasting the posts here together (with few unnecessary lines taken out):

Umar was under invested.

He still holds a stats of 36/65 in 30+ Test career, almost entirely played in AUS, ENG, NZ & WIN; and played last of his Tests probably 7+ years back at 21. He still holds a FC career of 43/75 stats for over 6K runs (should be 48/80 in QeA), in an era when <35/50 sort of FC stats have earned few others almost a decade long career.

His ODI stats are still like 35/86, mostly from No. 6/5, and these sats are not built in last 3-4 years when the ODI stats had been artificially inflated by 10-12% at least. That ODI stats should be like diamond for this PAK side, considering "Josh Buttler" role-play by Asif Ali these days. His ICC events' stats are like 50/90; his stats in tournament Final & SF is like 45/100. He took PAK to 2009 CT SF (would have taken to Final as well had one more batsman could have shown some guts or had YK not dropped a sitter), was instrumental to beat AUS in a WC game after 12 years in 2011.

In last 3 years, he has played 5 ODI games for a stats of 33/83 from 6 - and these 5 innings are in AUS. ABOVE ALL, I can categorically say that Umar Akmal has been floated around the batting order more than any one I can recall in cricket, for such a short career - but some how they managed to give him a grand total of 1 innings (28@116) SR, at No. 3 (& 6 at No. 7, 1 at No. 8), and never opened. On top of that, guy has kept wicket in ODI to give a good balance in XI.

He holds 27/123 stats in T20, sometimes as WK and still has three of the most clutch innings played by PAK batsmen in T20 - 94 (AUS) at Dhaka, 64 at Cape Town & 64 (AUS) at Birmingham. His stats at No. 3 is 58/118 for 5 innings with 1 MoM (similar stats has made Babar No. 1 ranked player in T20 in a much higher scoring era) - and his stats includes a 35/135 career in 20 ICC World Cup games, which to me is the major indicator of capability - these Jason Mo led WIN or World XI or that triangular in ZIM are basically distractions, availing some false bravado for fan base.

Most people don't like UA, partially because of his own issues (which had been over blown by few people including Waquar), partially for the grudge from his brother's W keeping ( ) and a big chunk of passionate Bhakts here are threatened by him for Sarfraz, who'll never be a cricketer, remotely close to Umar. Had he been Indian, by now would have been one of the greats of contemporary cricket - regular in 3 formats. For this generation of PAK team, he should have been the MVP of the side : a special A+ category for central contract, and the best all-rounder of LO game for PAK in 2010s.

I missed another one - his 43* against SAF was instrumental to take PAK to 2012 T20 WC SF.

He won an effective QF against SAF in 2010 WC (in WIN), from No. 5; next game (SF, which Ajmal blew to Hussey), he was sent at 3 (for a 56* of 35 - was destined to win MoM, but for Hussey) ........ very next game, 3 months later, he was sent at 6 against same AUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He has issues, but one should handle precious but fragile masterpieces with care - PCB & it's think tank played goli danda with that fragile thing; what do you expect, it'll get tempered & stronger?



Bring the stats book now in context to the game & result (don't care much about scoring 120 in a 330 per game) - we can discuss. Remember, Last of Umar Akmal was in WC 2015, when he was not even 25 officially - these stats are 90% from his age below 25 and in a time when LO batting stats were at least 10-12% lower in similar comparison now.

 

[Shaka81]

OP did you mean the solution to Pakistan's Man v Food team's power eating problem. He certainly looks like he's been training to enter a food eating competition!
He can never be a professional international cricketer again with that kind of belly.....