Umar Akmal is a potential batting great

[The Outsider]

I watched his batting sporadically in the NZ series and was really impressed, specially in the first test when Bond was part of the attack. A counter attacking century followed by a more studied 75 were his returns. In this era of flat tracks it's quite possible for even mediocre batsmen to make such starts, but the guy has something special - for starters he reads the length of the ball impeccably, which has been the hallmark of all great batsman. Just yesterday, watching Watson reverse swinging the ball he immediately started stepping way out of his crease as a counter forcing Australia to adopt different tactics. When forced into a shell by some accurate bowling, he took Siddle to the cleaners with some wonderful backfoot shots. That's another aspect - the backfoot play. There aren't too many 19 year olds from the subcontinent I've seen with such a well developed backfoot game, which is always going to form the cornerstone for any long term success abroad. His reading of the bowling and match situations is exemplary for one so young. Moreover, he has shown different facets of batting for different circumstances. Yes, he has been guilty of throwing it away on a couple of occasions but with experience there is no reason he cannot tide over these shortcomings and find the right balance. One to watch out for and one batsman I'll be tuning in the stream in the immediate future, just to watch him bat.

[satishg]

Yes i had mentioned in the other thread as well that he was one of the brightest batting talents to have come out from Pakistan and right now the way he is batting all the hype around him looks justified. Hope he goes on to bigger things in his career and i will definitely love if he put these Australian bowlers to their rightful place. I seriously think Bollinger is the only good bowler in the Australian attack and as to how Umar tackles bollinger will be really fun to watch. Hope he scores big in this series

[Karan114]

Yep, fair is fair - Pakistan have found someone special here.

[cowboysfan]

too early for the label,but i like his attacking style,reminds me of someone.

[DravidDaBest]

Shwetabh, Too early for the verdict. Second season/year is the best time to evaluate a new comer (bowler or batsman). That's when all the weakness and technical defiencies are found out.

[Bumper]

I have not seen him bat live. Have seen him only in highlight clips. While he's got the shots, he also plays a lot of airy-fairy shots that are fairly risky. Based on his performances so far, he does make a case for being a very good batsman. Great ? No way! I dont reckon even YK or MoYo are worthy of that tag. Is Umar going to be as good as MoYo or YK ? Even that is too early to tell. I'll reserve my praise until he makes a few 100s in alien conditions against quality attacks. There have been many good players who have made Bradmanesque starts only to fizzle out later. Strauss, Hussey are two recent examples. Both still good players, but not what they promised in the early part of their careers Unfortunately Pakistani cricketing administration is weak. I can see Umar touted as the next Miandad & then promptly dumped if he makes a few single digit scores in a row in an important series. The way he is handled ofcourse will make a huge difference to the way he shapes up. But yeah, Pakistan has finally unearthed a long term prospect who will last the distance.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Bumper]

Waay too early ... but he is a good stroke maker ... although lacking in temperment IMHO. Will average around the 40-45 mark. The fact that he will play most of his career away will work against him. BTW "picking up length early" doesnt automatically make someone a great. Case in point : Inzi.

Boss, if you have time can you pull up a list of batsmen who started with a 50+ avg (min 6-7 tests with that avg) & show us where they ended up in their careers ? Something like Batsman, country, Avg for the initial cutoff, final avg would do.

[ludhianvi]

Martin Crowe labeled him as next Pakistan great. Today, he got hit on the helmet by Siddle to a delivery that did not rise much. After a couple of over, Siddle stated the over with a shorter one. Then Umar smashed Siddle for 4 consecutive boundaries. Another thing I've noticed is that when he is in trouble or getting bogged down, he counter-attacks and goes on the offensive to try to hit some boundaries.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[vvvslaxman]

I remember Bedi telling Mendis would get to 500 wickets before any realizes lol

[Guest BossBhai]

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[jusarrived]

A potential Pak gr8 without a doubt , but I wouldn't put him among the top 10 young batting talents in the world . too many flaws in his technique & dosen look the types capable of getting big scores ..cameos dont make good Test players ..he wont avg more than 45 !

[davidcooper]

lol the amount of hype on this lad is funny now he smacks the ball hard, but looks pretty ugly doing it for me the greatest players have a lot of time playing their shots, not sure umar akmal has that he will probably be a good player by "pakistani batting standards" but no way a great!!!

[jusarrived]

lol the amount of hype on this lad is funny now he smacks the ball hard, but looks pretty ugly doing it for me the greatest players have a lot of time playing their shots, not sure umar akmal has that he will probably be a good player by "pakistani batting standards" but no way a great!!!

nope

[Guest BossBhai]

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[achilles]

Lets not be typically subcontinental and give the lad some time to settle down. He is a good talent and if handled correctly, he will go a long way

[Bumper]

Some other things that will work against him .... 1. Playing alongside crappy Pak team 2. If he suceeds to any decent degree he will get the captaincy and then it will be a different ball game 3. Pakistan playing lot more ODI+T20 than test 4.And if everything else fails then there is the IPL :winky:

:haha: I think the #1 problem for all emerging Pak players is the selectors and their administration. These guys take knee-jerk reactions to the next level. Its almost as if everytime a batsman goes out to bat or bowler bowls an over, he is being judged for his place in the side. The batsman has to score big, score fast. If he does not do that, he has to show that he has potential by hitting boundaries and sixers. The bowlers have to go out & pick a 5fer every time. If not, they should bowl at 150k throughout the day. And if he gets injured in the process he is not fit and needs to lose weight. But the mother of all expectations is reserved for coaches and captains. "Did Waqar coach Aamer right ?" (Never mind he's just been around with the team for 8 friggin hours!), "Did Yusuf captain aggressively today ?". Its almost as if their fans think that coach has some kinda magic wand or a panacea if you will, that can cure all player problems. And the captain's role is to set aggressive fields, have men in catching positions & keep taking wickets at frenetic pace. The funny thing is that even their cricket administrators think this way. No wonder the team is a revolving door of players. :hysterical:

[kabira]

His basics are good. All he has to do is work hard and keep evolving. The 2nd year in the game is toughest. That seperates Man from Boys.

[Cricketics]

Shwetabh, I am glad you used the word "pottential" as thats what really define what you feel. Later people go on to bump threads with diff intention. Yes. The Guys has definate pottential to be a upcoming big batsman. Buzy player. Always waiting to run or hit boundaries. As boss mentioned above about his temperament, I think if he work on that a bit, he can become the real deal for Pakistan.