Is Umar Akmal heading toward decline?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
In the world of cricket Pakistan has produced many great cricketers who developed themselves into legends of class of their own. But with the passage of time they left a void wide open to be filled in by someone of their likes. Over the past couple of years Pakistan introduced several fresh faces but none of them filled in that gap as good as sensational Umar Akmal did.
This diminutive youngster managed to break new grounds not only for him but also in projecting the country’s soft image high. But unfortunately for over the last couple of matches his performance has slid down with the same speed he touched the heights of fame.
Umar is one of the best talents Pakistan has produced in a decade or so and is the one who fits in all the three formats of the game. He came a long way in to fill in the big shoes of former captain Inzamamul Haq and on and off was doing the work of some of the senior batsmen like Muhammad Yousuf and Younus Khan.
Umar made his way into the national team after a successful tour of Australia with the Pakistan A team. Having carried the test average of 45, he matured with his maiden test hundred against New Zealand on debut.
With this debut century he gave a glimpse of hope to a rather bleak future of the Pakistan cricket, which lingers on an improper domestic structure to depend upon. He also played some wonderful ODI innings during the tour of Sri Lanka. At the start of his career, it was being expected that he would set new marks for Pakistan. But unfortunately his form has gradually started fall and the batsman who was being considered a useful commodity in the middle order is becoming a burden on the team. He, however, is one of those renowned players who got to the height of fame too early in their career.
In his aggressively style against almost every team, Umar instead of gaining maturity started to breach the line of discipline. Following his elder brother Kamran Akmal, Umar stood away from the team feigning injury during the tour of Australia. The Pakistan Cricket Board though fined the batsman but later coming under pressure took back its decision but that did not make him realise his mistake.
As of now particularly in the backdrop of the innings he played against Australia, he seems to have been taking his career lightly and is not getting serious to overcome his batting and mantle flaws. Instead of turning himself into a match-winner, he is caving in to the internal team politics. He is continuously showing callous attitude during batting and even his ranking is dwindled. He now stands at just around the test average of 35, a first step towards decline.
His failure has started to overcome him before he would have tasted the joys of fame. Looking at his batting abilities, he is technically inept against an in-swinging ball, which he counters in a wrong manner. The in-swinging ball he has played in all the innings in England deceived him because he goes for every ball in a hurry without realising that test cricket is a different ball game and requires temperament. He also leaves a wide gap in between the bat and pad that’s why an in-swinger makes him a victim of an LBW.
He does not seem to have any problem in his batting other than these and his careless approach on occasions. Sadly to that he throws his wicket because of these foolishnesses. If he would not be able to control his temperament and behaviour he is prone to lose his place in the team. And to prolong his stint with Pakistan he should avoid indulging into any controversies and instead concentrate on to remove his technical flaws and made the country proud rather than setting zealous examples.
Labels: Players
posted @ 1:51 PM,
2 Comments:
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At September 24, 2010 at 1:01 AM,
yasirbaloch said...
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ho umar bhai mae be cricket kelna chata hn plz mara kch karo nam yasir aur address SG39 MALIR HALT KARACHI,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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At September 24, 2010 at 1:02 AM,
yasirbaloch said...
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plz umair bhai............
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