Talking batting positions - Babar Azam / Umar Akmal

[Saj]

Babar Azam "It doesn’t matter where I bat, I just want to make a contribution for the team."

Compare this with.

Umar Akmal's continuous whining about not being given a chance up the batting order.

 

[MenInG]

Babar Azam "It doesn’t matter where I bat, I just want to make a contribution for the team."

Compare this with.

Umar Akmal's continuous whining about not being given a chance up the batting order.

Plus a batting record to show for his talk also.

 

[Mamoon]

Azam genes have prevailed over the Akmal genes, thankfully.

 

[salman24]

I'm a fan of both players but let's be fair it's easier to say that when you are always given chances at 3 or 4. Akmal is always shuffelled up and down the order. If he got chances consistently at number 3 or 4 he would not be complaining. If Babar was sent in at 6 , he would not have played as well . I think this is unfair. Fans are usually unfair to Akmal in any case partly due to his own fault but at other times it's not his fault. I think this mentality needs to stop and we need to give him a break. Just saying.

 

[JibranAnsari]

I think we need to understand that akmal has Low IQ and stop bashing him.

 

[badsha001]

I call BS on this one. one only gets a chance at 3,4 and the other one gets a chance well below. Even though Akmal is to be blamed but its not 100% his fault for his downfall.

 

[Syed1]

Leave aside the statements in the media and constant whining about batting position, the one thing a professional cricketer can do is remain fit and agile so that whichever position he is played at he can atleast perform to an acceptable level.

Umar Akmal developing a pot belly and double chin is reprehensible.


Add to the fact that he has a grand total of ONE fifty in the last three years tells you how bad he has been. Other teams number 7,8,9,10s have more fifties than Mr. Akmal.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

still the opener slot is vacant for him...he can showcase his talent and fitness in the one day cup.... but he keeps whining..

UA -avg 35 player
KA - avg 25 player

Both of them good for domestics, fail in int'l... Fitness wise both have regressed to Sharjeel level...

 

[MRSN]

UA's case is totally different. He was averaging 38+ with a strike rate of 90 odd coming at 6 when we had our captain defending his 40 average at snail's pace of strike rate in the 60s. Some people just underestimate the quality of Umar Akmal and its a sad to see how he is systematically being removed from the all teams. It's only Pakistan's loss. We need him more than ever now that Sharjeel is also done.

 

[Hasan123]

As already mentioned Azams IQ seems to be higher than Akmals.

Batting in the correct position has helped Babar and batting in the incorrect position didn't help Umar but batting position wasn't the only reason for his downfall. His shocking attitude and inability to learn and improve did him no favours. I blame that more than his batting position or any coach he had in his career so far.

 

[Major]

To be fair.

In his intial days even umar akmal didnt complain. He started complaining afterwards he couldnt score and needed an excuse.

Will wait for babar

 

[MMHS]

I think, it's a bit harsh on Umar in this regard.

Babar can talk smart now, because he knows his boat is anchored - his Coach wants him at 3, his Captain won't mind that & his rival is someone as good as MoHa, therefore he can talk big. Just about a year back, he was batting at 4/5/6 & without Arthur, he could have ended at 7.

Umar, in that regard was played yo yo between 3 to 7 - not saying that, his downfall is only because of that, but it definitely disturbed his development. If I were in Umar's spot, at one point I would have definitely complained for being randomly shuffled to accommodate the likes of MoHa, Misbah, Fawad or Malik....... even Azhar Ali.

If I do a quick check - he has batted at

3 (1 time)
4 (5)
5 (31)
6 (61)
7 (6)
8 (1)

It's not possible quickly to figure out how many times he was shifted from his position without going innings by innings, but it must be close to world record for a career of around 100 innings. Only time he batted at 3 was when MoHa took 35 overs to reach 100 on a wicket where IND chased 329 in 47th overs (he actually scored 28 of 24) - very next match, his Captain sent YK at 3, kept himself at 4 & pushed Umar at 5). His only innings at 8 was when PAK chased 329 against BD at Mirpur, he scored 14* (9) & came to bat after Shehzad, MoHa, Misbah, Maqsood, Fawad, Abdur Rehman, Afridi - this incident should have been inquired by PAK's National Anti-corruption Agency.

It's not a fair comparison - had Arthur not been there, Babar would have been shuffled between 1 to 7 as per where Azhar, MoHa, Mian, Sarfu .... wants to bat. Without Arthur, from Mian Sharif to Inzi - entire PAK would have kept MoHa at 3 for his dynamic 88 & then comes the reality check - after 6 months time, we could have compared how Babar sounds.

 

[Major]

Azam genes have prevailed over the Akmal genes, thankfully.

Come on mamoon be real.

Yes babar is performing and has scored 5 centuries, but according to the law of pakistani batsmen in odi, any batsmens who starts his career with a bang, always ends up seeing his career fail badly.
Nsir jamshed, umar akmal, sohaib maqsood, haris sohail...

One way another we all know what will happen in the end.

 

[Finisher]

Doesn't have the game to play at 5-6.

 

[Gotham Cronie]

While Umar Akmal's whining has gotten old and actually some of his best performances have come lower down the order, this is like a millionaire saying that people shouldn't worry about money.

Babar's played 25 innings with 24 of then coming in the top 4.

Akmal's played 105 innings, with 6 of them coming in the top 4.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Not really a fair comparison. Umar's hardly been given chances up the order.

 

[Hamza_]

Not really a fair comparison. Umar's hardly been given chances up the order.

He is List A captain in OD Cup.

Let's see what excuses will be there now.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Babar Azam seems to be a dedicated player who isn't bothered by change of his batting position and tries his best wherever he bats unlike his cousin.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

He is List A captain in OD Cup.

Let's see what excuses will be there now.

I'm not excusing Umar's whining but this in particular isn't a fair comparison as Babar's only batted in the top order.

 

[Barragan]

Hafeez also said the same about batting down the order, but yet he still hasn't and may never bat down the order. It is easy to talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the talk - it is a tough pill to swallow and after batting once at no. 6, they'll most likely want an immediate move up the order again.

Also, Akmal has batted at no. 6 for most of his career and he didn't have a problem with it, until they just kept him there and didn't give him a run at his favoured positions of no. 3 or 4, despite breaching the top 10 rankings in ODI's and most of the guys batting above him not even in the top 30.

He also took up wicket-keeping duties and allowed the team to be more flexible with an extra batsman or bowler, but he still never got his opportunity for his unselfish act.

He has every right to be livid about his treatment and he should be more vocal about it.

 

[Pete Rose]

Too early to make these comparisons. Umar used to say the same, until his form tappered off completely and he was dropped multiple times

 

[Hamza_]

I'm not excusing Umar's whining but this in particular isn't a fair comparison as Babar's only batted in the top order.

Umar also has much inferior List A record.

I'm sure he would've got more chances there.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

So how many times has Azam batted at 6 7 again?

Oh.

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

One thing Azam has been smart about compared to Umar is that he's shown he's no quick scorer.

Akmal showed that early in his career and was pigeonholed as a lower order pinch hitter.

Azam has been way too slow to fulfill that role thus far.

He's got great potential but a bit too slow for my liking so far, esp Aus series.

 

[Big Mac]

Hafeez also said the same about batting down the order, but yet he still hasn't and may never bat down the order. It is easy to talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the talk - it is a tough pill to swallow and after batting once at no. 6, they'll most likely want an immediate move up the order again.

Also, Akmal has batted at no. 6 for most of his career and he didn't have a problem with it, until they just kept him there and didn't give him a run at his favoured positions of no. 3 or 4, despite breaching the top 10 rankings in ODI's and most of the guys batting above him not even in the top 30.

He also took up wicket-keeping duties and allowed the team to be more flexible with an extra batsman or bowler, but he still never got his opportunity for his unselfish act.

He has every right to be livid about his treatment and he should be more vocal about it.

Let's keep ignoring the fact that Umar's ODI record batting at 6 is better than when he bats higher in the order.

Let's also keep ignoring the fact that his batting record is better when he played as a keeper than when he played as a specialist batsmen.

Mustn't let the facts get in the way of a good old "Umar Akmal keeps being treated poorly" whinge session eh?

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Let's keep ignoring the fact that Umar's ODI record batting at 6 is better than when he bats higher in the order.

Let's also keep ignoring the fact that his batting record is better when he played as a keeper than when he played as a specialist batsmen.

Mustn't let the facts get in the way of a good old "Umar Akmal keeps being treated poorly" whinge session eh?

If you're going to make those arguments, then perhaps provide stats including number of innings and the amount of consecutive innings at that position.

 

[Big Mac]

If you're going to make those arguments, then perhaps provide stats including number of innings and the amount of consecutive innings at that position.

I didn't make any arguments, I stated facts.

I'm not surprised that you confused facts with an argument though, to be an Umar Akmal fan in 2017 requires an adversarial relationship with the truth.

 

[Canistani Hero]

Not fair, Babar was brought in as a middle order batsman. He was never made a slogger at 6. I wonder how Umar Akmal would have turned out had we left him at 3

 

[Bilal7]

Umar hasn't been treated well by the management. He was always a #3, #4 batsman but was turned into a finisher when he was clearly not suited for that role. He hasn't helped his case by getting unfit and having a terrible attitude but I still have hope that he can get his career back on track. Still 26 years old so there is time.

 

[Barragan]

Let's keep ignoring the fact that Umar's ODI record batting at 6 is better than when he bats higher in the order.

Let's also keep ignoring the fact that his batting record is better when he played as a keeper than when he played as a specialist batsmen.

Mustn't let the facts get in the way of a good old "Umar Akmal keeps being treated poorly" whinge session eh?

Because he didn't get chances at the top?

Because he had to perform, otherwise he wouldn't be in the team?

Did he reach top 5 in the ODI rankings?

Without the gloves, he was in the top 10 and only top 5 would mean better.