Umar Akmal-Hero or Zero?

[weldone]

No comment on Umar Akmal is as prudent as what Zaheer Abbas said about him: "Each time he goes out there it seems that Umar Akmal wants to break the cricket ball into pieces by hitting it hard. Somebody should tell him that it's not about how hard you hit it but for how long you can keep hitting it."

 

[smash84]

haha.....well said

 

[Woodster]

He has vast amounts of talent yet there are numerous problems that seem to be holding him back, a number of those are natural just because of his age/inexperience. The others such as attitude are areas he really must improve, he must appreciate that when he goes to the middle he is batting for his team, not to show everyone what Umar Akmal can do with a few flashy strokes and the inevitable tame dismissal.

Of course this is part of being young. He believes he can just bat his way and that in itself will be enough for him to be successful, but he has to learn about the variety of situations he bats in and apply himself accordingly. He has a good variety of quality strokes that he can execute, he can change the tempo of an innings when required, but he has to find the right tempo throughout an innings in order to score match defining scores.

I think he can have a big impact in Test cricket, though there is part of me that thinks if things are not going as he would have hoped, then he'll just concentrate on earning money in T20 cricket and playing List A cricket. I want to see a real hunger from him to improve in the longer format and have a desire to be a successful Test cricketer for his country. He has the potential to average in excess of 45, it depends on how quickly he learns/grows up, if he does at all.

 

[Z-Man]

Hes still 21 people!

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Hes still 21 people!

I seriously doubt that.

 

[chicane]

You'd hope as a Pak fan he doesn't go the Yuvi way, would be damn annoying. His batting is awesome to watch and he hasn't looked troubled by anything particular in the bowling and pitches he's faced so far, unlike Yuvi.

Rohit Sharma's been similarly annoying, though Ukmal's got far worse attitude and other personality traits detrimental to fulfilling his potential.

 

[Xuhaib]

despite all the hoopla around atm he is the best odi bat in the country and has a good chanceto end as the best ever odi batsman for Pakistan.

 

[Prince EWS]

despite all the hoopla around atm he is the best odi bat in the country and has a good chanceto end as the best ever odi batsman for Pakistan.

If he finishes his career as a better ODI bat than Zaheer Abbas I'll convert to Islam.

 

[Xuhaib]

If he finishes his career as a better ODI bat than Zaheer Abbas I'll convert to Islam.

oh yeah forgot about Zaheer, despite him being not playing his potential his stats are pretty close to Inzi,Saeed and Yusuf if he does improve he's bound to have better stats then these 3 guys .

 

[Agent Nationaux]

If he finishes his career as a better ODI bat than Zaheer Abbas I'll convert to Islam.

I shall hold you to your oath.

 

[Prince EWS]

I shall hold you to your oath.

Well I'd pick Zaheer in my All-Time World XI for ODIs so he's going to have to be pretty damn good.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

One hell of a story. "Umar Akmal converts a cyborg into Islam".

 

[Jono]

I can understand the desire for Umar to become a better test player than Yuvraj, but let's be honest here, if Umar Akmal ever won Pakistan a World Cup (ODI or T20) like Yuvi did for India, most Pakistani fans would be pretty content.

He has a long way to go before ever replicating Yuvi's achievements, even if Yuvi is a test hack.

 

[Xuhaib]

or maybe he will replicate Inzi i:e win a world cup and be gun at test cricket.

 

[Jono]

Yeah and that'd be great.

Just think the idea that he'd have a Yuvraj type career wouldn't exactly be the worst thing to ever happen to Pakistani cricket. Obviously you want to aim high, but if that's the worst thing that could happen to him, it ain't that bad is it?

 

[Beleg]

oh yeah forgot about Zaheer, despite him being not playing his potential his stats are pretty close to Inzi,Saeed and Yusuf if he does improve he's bound to have better stats then these 3 guys .

if umar akmal ends up being a better ODI player than inzamam, zaheer, miandad and anwar than *I* might follow PEWS as well.

there's some serious underestimation going on here.

 

[Xuhaib]

Yuvraj despite his odi achievements has surely underachieved for a man of his talents imo he is the most talented left hander to debut after Lara and should have had a fruitful test career with a little bit more discipline.

If Umer does go the Yuvraj way it will not effect his star status in Pakistan look how Afridi is revered in Pakistan but like Yuvraj and Afridi a hardcore fan like me will regret that his talents have gone unfulfilled and he should have achieved more.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah if I was a Pakistan fan I wouldn't take a Yuvraj career from Umar if I was offered it right now. No way in hell. I'm certainly not what you'd call the average fan though when it comes to my priorities so I can see Jono's point.

 

[Xuhaib]

if umar akmal ends up being a better ODI player than inzamam, zaheer, miandad and anwar than *I* might follow PEWS as well.

there's some serious underestimation going on here.

Umer already has a better SR then both Inzi and Saeed with a similar average if Umer can maintain these stats over a longer period then why should he be rated lower then these 2 ?

 

[Prince EWS]

Umer already has a better SR then both Inzi and Saeed with a similar average if Umer can maintain these stats over a longer period then why should he be rated lower then these 2 ?

Well the others played in a different era where strike rates were lower across the board.