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Umar Akmal : Mega Discussion Thread

Dynamite.

You know those little "Patakha" that kids play with during Eid? Umer Akmal is not even that.
 
What do you expect him to do chasing 8 an over? Every time he comes to the crease we are in a crisis.

He is not selfish to play for his average like Misbah, YK, Shafiq and co. He plays to win.
 
Really Sad.

Little did we know 5 years ago that he did not possess the mindset of an international batsman. He plays his cricket like he is playing for his mohalla team , no responsibility at all. All the time looks for ugly hoicks and lofted drives.

RIP Umar the batsman.
 
Bullet Drive said:
What do you expect him to do chasing 8 an over? Every time he comes to the crease we are in a crisis.

He is not selfish to play for his average like Misbah, YK, Shafiq and co. He plays to win.
Click to expand...

I will surely give him that. He does not play for personal milestones like Misah or YK do. (wont include Shafiq in this list), Yet, the point is, the amount of hype he has received is totally unjustified.

He has no such thing as talent or dynamite power. Just a very, very low quality batsman who has absolutely no idea how to grow his game, how to develop a long innings, how to play mind games with the bowler and the fielders. Just a class A tulla, which is good for galli mohalla tape ball T20 games.
 
Once compared with Sachin and kohli now cant be compared with people in his team.

Some members on PP jump the gun too soon. He is good but not as good as he is made out to be, i would say there are many players like him in cricket right now, he doesnt stand out.
 
Dumb Thick Tank is categorically destroying Umar - he is been treated like Afridi or Anwar Ali. It's impossible for anyone (& I start from the best, Viv) to come every day, when you need 150+ at 8/over from ball 1.

I don't understand the strategy - either you play to see through the new ball & reach something like 150/1 in 35 overs & then go for 2 runs/ball OR you make a long batting line up & never allow RR to go down below 5. Today wicket is a bit slower - it was elementary that stroke makers should come earlier & get a head start.

I understand that most players are playing for their spot (& the blame should go entirely to management - they should have put performance as KPI, not just runs scored), but 1 boundary in first 23 overs, still 3 wickets down - ABSOLUTELY unacceptable. PAK seems to be spell bound to a strategy that won them WC 23 years back & this is very much predictable when you have WY as Head Coach.
 
Frequently, I hear that batting down the order is his problem. But his stats don't seem to justify that. Check for yourself.

Batting at 3 - 1 match - avg 28
Batting at 4 - 5 matches - avg 14
Batting at 5 - 27 matches - avg 35
Batting at 6 - 52 matches - avg 40
Batting at 7 - 5 matches - avg 16

He is obviously at his best at number six, followed by number five. Even in the matches played during the last two years, these stats remain essentially unchanged, though the sample size is smaller.
 
IndianWillow said:
Frequently, I hear that batting down the order is his problem. But his stats don't seem to justify that. Check for yourself.

Batting at 3 - 1 match - avg 28
Batting at 4 - 5 matches - avg 14
Batting at 5 - 27 matches - avg 35
Batting at 6 - 52 matches - avg 40
Batting at 7 - 5 matches - avg 16

He is obviously at his best at number six, followed by number five. Even in the matches played during the last two years, these stats remain essentially unchanged, though the sample size is smaller.
Click to expand...
The sample size is just so small to make a legitimate argument.

Umar has many problems mentally, but so many players have been consistent and long runs at different spots to succeed but he just hasn't.

He may end up getting dropped, he has himself to blame definitely, but mismanagement has been a huge issue as well. Such a sad story with Umar in terms of what he could have become and what he is.
 
This guy is finished, not mentally strong enough to play international Cricket. What use of all that Talent if you cannot fathom on the current situation in a match and play accordingly. There was a solid reason why he was dropped and now we can all see why.

UA along with Asad, Jamshed, YK, Sohail Tanvir and Anwar Ali should be shown the door without any hesitation at all. Having said that I would also keep Shehzad on a short lesh since whenever we need him to step it up in crunch games he plays a selfish 50 of 80 ball innings drowns the entire batting momentum of the game.
 
I don't have a problem with management backing players etc. But then you have to see it through to the bitter end.
Junior has played three matches here (or two?) with the run rate at 8 and a cummulative lack of confidence. He was not seen as a starter in odi series. People will rightly feel that he should have played ahead of Asad shafiq. The reality is that he was sacrificed for yk to play. Either way it doesn't matter for whom he was sacrificed, but by not playing him in half the series, the one thing that has been made clear to him is that he is not the first choice.
Yet for all his faults, most is expected from him. Sports is not just about punishing players it's also about giving confidence to your favorites
 
Pete Rose said:
I don't have a problem with management backing players etc. But then you have to see it through to the bitter end.
Junior has played three matches here (or two?) with the run rate at 8 and a cummulative lack of confidence. He was not seen as a starter in odi series. People will rightly feel that he should have played ahead of Asad shafiq. The reality is that he was sacrificed for yk to play. Either way it doesn't matter for whom he was sacrificed, but by not playing him in half the series, the one thing that has been made clear to him is that he is not the first choice.
Yet for all his faults, most is expected from him. Sports is not just about punishing players it's also about giving confidence to your favorites
Click to expand...

I actually completely agree. Well said.
 
Pete Rose said:
I don't have a problem with management backing players etc. But then you have to see it through to the bitter end.
Junior has played three matches here (or two?) with the run rate at 8 and a cummulative lack of confidence. He was not seen as a starter in odi series. People will rightly feel that he should have played ahead of Asad shafiq. The reality is that he was sacrificed for yk to play. Either way it doesn't matter for whom he was sacrificed, but by not playing him in half the series, the one thing that has been made clear to him is that he is not the first choice.
Yet for all his faults, most is expected from him. Sports is not just about punishing players it's also about giving confidence to your favorites
Click to expand...

This
 
Pete Rose said:
I don't have a problem with management backing players etc. But then you have to see it through to the bitter end.
Junior has played three matches here (or two?) with the run rate at 8 and a cummulative lack of confidence. He was not seen as a starter in odi series. People will rightly feel that he should have played ahead of Asad shafiq. The reality is that he was sacrificed for yk to play. Either way it doesn't matter for whom he was sacrificed, but by not playing him in half the series, the one thing that has been made clear to him is that he is not the first choice.
Yet for all his faults, most is expected from him. Sports is not just about punishing players it's also about giving confidence to your favorites
Click to expand...

just to elaborate further on the last line, you need to develop players. Even the punishments should fit in the large scheme of a development program. Over here, it seems players are discarded for simply being not good enough :(
 
Play him at #4. Why should he be forced to slog because the likes of Younis and Shafiq cannot bat at a decent SR?
 
As usual the excuses brigade for Umar Akmal start again.

Guy comes in needing 164 of 132 balls and still decides to hit 3 aerial balls in 10 balls he faces.

Tells you about the mindset of the little bloke?

No, it tells you guys that he must bat up the order.

Lmao.

Keep dreaming that one day he will be your version of mature batsmen.

You either have it, or you don't.

He hasn't got it.

That being said, he is a useful lower order slogger, and will occasionally come of and help Pakistan win a game or so lower down.
 
i think its a shame. i think he definitely had talent but hes been ruined by the pcb, and himself. they missmanaged him in terms of start stop selections, despite his perfomances, there were typically asinine comments from them about him batting irresponsibly when he was still top scoring for the side. added to that, they were never able to teach him any discipline and professionalism - his reputation for missplaced arrogance is well deserved.

at this point, it feels like he has regressed heavily. i would imagine he needs to go back to working hard to proving himself in the domestic scene before being given another chance, and he needs some sensible mature and professional advisors. if im right in all of that, its all too late and far to close to the wc for it to happen.

the pcb strikes again.
 
Enough is enough. Time to drop him and look at other options. We can't keep him in the team based on potential and talent.
 
Aisa Dynamite hai kay jab tak na chalain tu banda darta rehta hai per jaisay hi aag lagao tu sari asliyat samnay a jati hai
 
Really disappointed by his performance...

I know he has to be blamed for this... and I do blame him for this... but I would also go further and blame our management and coaching staff for this...

His shot selection has always been poor and he does not know how to construct a long innings...

But in 5 years... our coaching staff and team management have failed miserably in defining his role and teaching him how to construct a long innings...

Really poor stuff from all concerned...
 
He is like Lahore Sparkler at the moment. I remember the heady days when people used to brag about his 38 average and 85 S/R. his average is 34 now and in freefall. That pathetic shot vs the Aussies summed up his international career. Just no ability to construct an innings. He is just a slogger now. Will never be world class at best he can become a decent LOI late order slogger.
 
Its embarrasing people used to compare him and Kohli. They are like chalk n cheese now
 
He is not performing in ODIs and deserves to be dropped.

Try replacements and if they dont work out you can always come back to junior.
 
I really doubt if he is 24. Pakistani cricketers tend to inflate their age anyway. I believe that he's around 26, the same age as Kohli. Batsmen tend to peak between 26 and 30 and Junior's going nowhere
 
I was UA biggest supporter up to this WC because i wanted him to be exposed to WC pressure. He has proven to be another Joker( Shahid Afrid Part 2) and i am sure will never learn like his predecessor.

''Time to Drop him to Domestic"
 
The dynamite is a total and embarassing dud these days.

He has age on his side, but God knows if that's a good thing.
 
Adil_94 said:
Its embarrasing people used to compare him and Kohli. They are like chalk n cheese now
Click to expand...

He's more like Yousuf Pathan. Except that he's got to play a 100 games, and test matches as well.
 
Lahore dynamite se zada china bomb hai wo lol ! Needs to kick his ass out of team ASAP for years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Turned to be a Phuski bomb at the end

What a downfall to his career, he started off really well with an average of 39 and strike of 85+. I thought from there, he is only going to improves as he ages. He has only deteriorated, looks clueless in last two years. Needs to be dropped for a year and see if he learns his lesson, which I think will never happen.


He still can be a good lower order slogger for us
 
he will rebound just watch him.

Say what you want PCB will select him for Bangladesh tour and he will do phenomenally.
 
[MENTION=56866]Bullet Drive[/MENTION], you need to tell Umar to push for a spot to open the batting. That's the only place left for him where I truly believe he can perform. Start from the FBT20 tournament coming up and we'll see the results.
 
Only way he can save his career is to open in T20. May be he can start that in coming tournament. Never thought he was a good choice for No. 4 or 5, even 6 because those are middle overs - batsmen at these positions are likely to bat mostly between overs 11 to 35. Since he isn't keeping, batting at 7 as WK-batsman isn't an option for him any more, while in ODI one of Haris or Asad 'll play at 3 while in T20, almost certainly Maqsood 'll bat there. I see only option left is opener, that too in T20 first & if he performs, may be can force his way to ODI.

I hope those who were bashing selectors (& few like me supporting that idea) for dropping him from Test also understand that UAkmal has played his last Test couple of years back.
 
MMHS said:
Only way he can save his career is to open in T20. May be he can start that in coming tournament. Never thought he was a good choice for No. 4 or 5, even 6 because those are middle overs - batsmen at these positions are likely to bat mostly between overs 11 to 35. Since he isn't keeping, batting at 7 as WK-batsman isn't an option for him any more, while in ODI one of Haris or Asad 'll play at 3 while in T20, almost certainly Maqsood 'll bat there. I see only option left is opener, that too in T20 first & if he performs, may be can force his way to ODI.

I hope those who were bashing selectors (& few like me supporting that idea) for dropping him from Test also understand that UAkmal has played his last Test couple of years back.
Click to expand...
Bro, Shehzad & Sarfaraz are our t20 openers. Won't change. Second in line are the likes of Sharjeel & Zia.

Umar above 4 is way off sadly.
 
Boi said:
[MENTION=56866]Bullet Drive[/MENTION], you need to tell Umar to push for a spot to open the batting. That's the only place left for him where I truly believe he can perform. Start from the FBT20 tournament coming up and we'll see the results.
Click to expand...

If you (Bullet Drive) can convey that message to him that'd be great. I do see potential in him for an opener.
 
Lahore dynamite, more like sucide bomber!

Akmal is continuing to regress as a cricketer which is sad to see.
 
Bullet Drive said:
Bro, Shehzad & Sarfaraz are our t20 openers. Won't change. Second in line are the likes of Sharjeel & Zia.

Umar above 4 is way off sadly.
Click to expand...

He needs to take the mantle upon himself. Force himself to open Atleast in the domestic OD scene and when he performs there it will automatically put pressure on the management to use Umar as an opener in internationals.
 
Boi said:
[MENTION=56866]Bullet Drive[/MENTION], you need to tell Umar to push for a spot to open the batting. That's the only place left for him where I truly believe he can perform. Start from the FBT20 tournament coming up and we'll see the results.
Click to expand...

What is this non-sense of Umar Akmal and top order??? - He does not have technique or temperament to be top order player...

Did AB, Dhoni, Hassey complain that they cannot perform at 5/6/7?? - AB has 20 hundreds. If he had something you would see at no 5 as well.

He is a useless player, I don't want to see Shezad, Hafeez, Masqood, Umar near green shirt. They are useless, brainless players, no place in national team... No minnow will take them, why 200M Cricket mad country allow them to play??
 
Varun said:
He's more like Yousuf Pathan. Except that he's got to play a 100 games, and test matches as well.
Click to expand...
Pretty much he can only excel at T20s because slogging for 5-6 overs is his speciality now. In ODIS his average will continue to freefall.
 
Bullet Drive said:
Bro, Shehzad & Sarfaraz are our t20 openers. Won't change. Second in line are the likes of Sharjeel & Zia.

Umar above 4 is way off sadly.
Click to expand...

It has been always like that - even SRT was a makeshift opener for an on field injury to Sidhu. Umar has to open at domestics, has to perform admirably & has to show the intention that he is ready to play the "role" of opener. Still might not work, if other regulars also perform; but that's his only chance in proper way.
 
Almost 6 years has passed since I made this thread.

So where are we now Umar Akmal? Look at what other cricketers such as Amla, AB, Kohli, Dhoni, Raina etc have achieved during that time.

Umar hasn't improved a bit, infact he looked better when he started off.
 
Can we atleast get rid of the title Lahore Dynamite from this thread? Lol
 
IAJ said:
Almost 6 years has passed since I made this thread.

So where are we now Umar Akmal? Look at what other cricketers such as Amla, AB, Kohli, Dhoni, Raina etc have achieved during that time.

Umar hasn't improved a bit, infact he looked better when he started off.
Click to expand...

Makes you think, say he was banned when Amir was, we would have had a legion of fans on PP claiming we missed the Pakistani version of Sachin.

Sometimes, the reality is a little different to our envisaged 'what if' scenarios.
 
Reading the first few pages of the thread makes depressing reading

There were such great expectations from him and it seemed he was not only fulfilling them but doing even better.

Such a shame. We thought we had a real gem.
 
Saqs said:
Makes you think, say he was banned when Amir was, we would have had a legion of fans on PP claiming we missed the Pakistani version of Sachin.

Sometimes, the reality is a little different to our envisaged 'what if' scenarios.
Click to expand...

its pretty depressing honestly

and youre right about Amir. PPers and Pakistan fans act as if Amir will be running through squads as soon as he returns whereas there was always a good chance that he would fade away to become just an above average bowler rather than a world beater
 
I hope he works on his game in his time away.
The best thing that can happen for him and shehzad (and to a lesser extent Nasir jamshed) is to see Waqar's remaining tenure confirmed publically. It will extinguish any hope that they can bide their time until a new coach shows up.
The first step to redemption is acknowledging ones mistakes.
 
Mamoon said:
Well he was a genuine talent indeed.
Click to expand...

I wonder if it might make sense for UA fans to start calling him a untalented or mediocre cricketer, UA has been spoilt by the fact that he is the best talent in pakistan and thinks that 'kabhi na kabhi to mein team mein apne talent ke dumm par aa hi jaoonga.
Maybe if fans tell him that he isn't all that talented then it might make him work hard?
 
battler said:
I wonder if it might make sense for UA fans to start calling him a untalented or mediocre cricketer, UA has been spoilt by the fact that he is the best talent in pakistan and thinks that 'kabhi na kabhi to mein team mein apne talent ke dumm par aa hi jaoonga.
Maybe if fans tell him that he isn't all that talented then it might make him work hard?
Click to expand...

I don't think Umar thinks too highly of himself like Shehzad, for me he clearly lacks direction and guidance, and is not smart enough to apply himself better. It's a bit of both.

I would be surprised if he has decent IQ; to me, he comes across as genuinely dumb, honestly.
 
^Yea, he's pretty stupid. If there is any hope of him improving in the future, he'll have to be guided by a mentor.
 
Slog said:
Reading the first few pages of the thread makes depressing reading

There were such great expectations from him and it seemed he was not only fulfilling them but doing even better.

Such a shame. We thought we had a real gem.
Click to expand...
Just read through them, and yeah, pretty disappointing..

Back then, I wasn't as interested in cricket, and didn't know about his domestic heroics...

I just hope Babar Azam doesn't go the same way, I have great expectations from that kid, maybe I need to lower my expectations..
 
Mamoon said:
I don't think Umar thinks too highly of himself like Shehzad, for me he clearly lacks direction and guidance, and is not smart enough to apply himself better. It's a bit of both.

I would be surprised if he has decent IQ; to me, he comes across as genuinely dumb, honestly.
Click to expand...

Yes he definitely comes across as a bit thick headed and he definitely needs a lot of guidance and someone who will look over him if he has to become successful. I guess that is where education plays a huge role, it gives u the ability to think and analyze critically.
 
But I think you can also play this 'lack of guidance' card to a certain extent. Sure every player needs guidance to an extent, but many find their own way.

If every player was spoon-fed by the previous generation, I wonder how did the first generation succeed. You put Umar with Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman and he would still be nowhere near Kohli, while Kohli would have done a lot more for Pakistan in the same situation as Umar.
 
Mamoon said:
But I think you can also play this 'lack of guidance' card to a certain extent. Sure every player needs guidance to an extent, but many find their own way.

If every player was spoon-fed by the previous generation, I wonder how did the first generation succeed. You put Umar with Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman and he would still be nowhere near Kohli, while Kohli would have done a lot more for Pakistan in the same situation as Umar.
Click to expand...

I compare Umar to someone like Warner who had plenty of ability but just lacked guidance. The problem in Pakistan is a lack of mentors which Australia has in abundance.
 
Mamoon said:
I don't think Umar thinks too highly of himself like Shehzad, for me he clearly lacks direction and guidance, and is not smart enough to apply himself better. It's a bit of both.

I would be surprised if he has decent IQ; to me, he comes across as genuinely dumb, honestly.
Click to expand...

Its probably contrarian blasphemy now, but even for the average 15 balls innings he played in with world cup, he still looked more fluent than the rest of our batsmen. Pity about that pea-size brain.
 
Mamoon said:
But I think you can also play this 'lack of guidance' card to a certain extent. Sure every player needs guidance to an extent, but many find their own way.

If every player was spoon-fed by the previous generation, I wonder how did the first generation succeed. You put Umar with Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman and he would still be nowhere near Kohli, while Kohli would have done a lot more for Pakistan in the same situation as Umar.
Click to expand...

I don't think I totally agree with you there, Umar definitely has the ingredients to succeed as a batsman, he just needs someone with an intelligent cricketing brain to hold his hand and guide him. Remember Afridi - Woolmer?
 
Umar has natural ability. This is has been confirmed.

The challenge is making him being able to construct an innings.

Its more mental than anything. I rarely see him getting bowled, always a catch to fielder after getting too brave.

If a good coach can just guide him to the right path. I hope he gets county deal, the coaches there would be able to help Umar develop applied aggression and patience.
 
battler said:
I don't think I totally agree with you there, Umar definitely has the ingredients to succeed as a batsman, he just needs someone with an intelligent cricketing brain to hold his hand and guide him. Remember Afridi - Woolmer?
Click to expand...

I would put that down to a brief purple patch for Afridi, rather guidance of Woolmer. No one can guide Afridi, and if he reverted back to his old ways after Woolmer's death than what sort of guidance was it, it should help you evolve as a player not just temporarily.

Players like Younis genuinely benefited from Woolmer.
 
As a few said above, I believe the biggest hurdle in his way is to know how to construct an innings.

I really wish if he can play county cricket (beside some T20's), where coaches can help him learn how to control his emotions and don't get carried away, which usually happens.

For this very reason, I still believe that, it could be beneficial if he plays more first class and test cricket.
 
battler said:
I don't think I totally agree with you there, Umar definitely has the ingredients to succeed as a batsman, he just needs someone with an intelligent cricketing brain to hold his hand and guide him. Remember Afridi - Woolmer?
Click to expand...

And even if we agree that Afridi genuinely benefited from Woolmer's guidance, the fact that he lost his way again after his death shows that he was not capable of using that guidance to good affect.

Let's see we hire a batting coach under whom Umar performs, but then he leaves and Umar reverts back to his old ways? What will that prove? That he is someone who is incapable of applying himself.

At some point, you have to take things in your own hands.
 
Pete Rose said:
Its probably contrarian blasphemy now, but even for the average 15 balls innings he played in with world cup, he still looked more fluent than the rest of our batsmen. Pity about that pea-size brain.
Click to expand...

He is indeed a fluent player and a good strike rotator, but all that means nothing when your attention span is 20-25 deliveries.
 
Mamoon said:
I would put that down to a brief purple patch for Afridi, rather guidance of Woolmer. No one can guide Afridi, and if he reverted back to his old ways after Woolmer's death than what sort of guidance was it, it should help you evolve as a player not just temporarily.

Players like Younis genuinely benefited from Woolmer.
Click to expand...

Ok let me explain Umar and Afridi are not your everyday normal cricketers who actually use their brain while batting they play using their instincts or habits. I am sure you agree with me here.
What a coach needs to do is remove those instincts which are harming him and replace it with those which will benefit him, he has to develop his muscle memory in such a way that it ends up benefitting the team instead of being detrimental, maybe that's what woolmer did with afridi and once woolmer was gone there was no one to make him do that.
It is hard nut that's the only way you will improve such cricketers because they are never going to think on their own.
 
Still remember the 3 consecutive 50s he hit against Australia in T20Is in 2010.
 
Umar, if given a strong role in test cricket can deliver. keep him out of odi's for nnow. He has just got into a rut of mediocrity and is not being able to come out of it. Giving him responsibiity at test level will renew in him some confidence in his abilty.
Plus i genuinely believe that he will be more effective in the longer format as he he wouldn't hv to contend with defensive fielders that much and he very rarely gets dismissed behind the wicket.
 
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