Umar Akmal is a potential batting great

[Bumper]

I think by Pakistani standards Umar is a very good batsman. But I am unsure about his temperament for the longer version. Having seen him in highlight clips I got the impression that he ends up playing too many airy-phary shots & gets out. I think Umar will go on to become a modern Saleem Malik (i mean as a batsman :-)) This is what i wrote about him back in December and I have not changed my impression of him till date.

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 being 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.

[Serani]

People are so fickle, I love how on "PP" they are all saying he is useless and should even be sent home with his brother [not to sure why Kamrans droppings should result in Umar having to follow him home but hey] despite saying he was awesome until the tests started. Anyway, if he scores a ton in the next innings it will be back to "omg Umar is so good, easily going to average 50." Just give the youth some time to settle.

[Mamu]

I think he is a decently good player. Is he is a talented dude -- seems like so. But you need much more than talent to succeed at the highest level (I mean at the test level), qualities which you can develop over time. Questions is can he develop and sustain those qualities over a period of time. Only time will tell.

[veer]

best new comer I see at this time is E.Morgan.. the guy is a run machine in all three formats.

[f.b.m]

^ Agreed. I thought that he'd become a test class player when I saw a random domestic one day game where he scored 160 in no time. Lots of time to play the ball and an unusual calmness at the crease.

[jusarrived]

Umar once realizes his limitations , can be a decent batsmen ...like I have been saying , if he works hard on his technique should avg ~40 which is very good by pak standards ...but an & exceptional talent hes not , there are a dozen batsmen with more talent & better technique than him . & hes very cocky for an avg player too

[Zap_Brannigan]

First time i am commenting on this thread, basically because i wanted to wait. All i have to say is , you can be proclaimed a prodigy but if you dont score, it fking means ****.

[EnterTheVoid]

Oh hai Shwetabh :shot:

[King]

Umar looks ok to me. He may not be technically correct but he's certainly a better Pakistani batsman of recent times. I reckon he's better than the rest of the Pakistani batsman but he needs a lot of time to develop into a good player on all surfaces. Certainly not among the better ones in comparison to the batsmen from India, Aussie, South Africa, Sri Lanka or England. He's certainly a better batsman to come out of Pakistan in recent times. I reckon he needs plenty of experience to turn out into a good test player. Perhaps they should look to only play him in ODIs and then ease him into test cricket.

[Precambrian]

I'd pick him as the best young batsman in the world right now. Can't wait to see the upcoming two Test matches of Pak going against Australia.

Hahahahaha

[ensd2]

3yyswrw7FSs :woot:

thanks now I understand why he will never be a world class batsmen B->B->B->B->

[ZodiaC]

mindless slogs & luckily hes connecting most of them now , not a test class batsmen by any stretch . I will rate him once he starts playing authentic cricketing shots , as of now his offside game is almost non existent .

THIS. I have no idea why some rate him so highly, he's not at all test quality, but has potential to be a good limited overs batsman.

[vvvslaxman]

Fit for slogathan cricket. Not a test match material.

[Clayton Bigsby]

Poor Man's Shadab Kabir.

[Rajan]

for some one who is averaging in mid 30's, he has fallen from the lofty expectations of Paki fans. they were comparing him with Sachin a few months back. now they r trying for reasons to claim Umar Akmal is atleast equal to Tamim Iqbal. sadly BD fans do not agree and they may be correct!

[Manny_Pacquiao]

this guy is complete trash. that batting average is going to be around 30 once the series is over. i guess thats okay by paki standards.

[Bublu Bhuyan]

The big problem with this lad is that now he's starting to feel the pressure. When he made his debut, he didn't have this extra burden of responsibility and expectations over his shoulders. At that time he could simply go on playing his shots not caring of the consequences. Now things are different. He knows that his team now has the maximum expectations from him, admist all the rest of the batsmen. That has resulted in him not being able to play his natural game, and hence the results. Even Umar Gul scored 60 odd runs the other day. How? He knew the team didn't have any sort of expectations from him with the bat, and he could go around playing his shots without fearing of the consequences.

[Lord]

^ i dont think so,hes just been exposed wen the conditions r not batting friendly,the big probem is he plays to entertain,not for his team.he has a Afridi like temperament where he doesnt care for his team's situation n just wants to play his shots n look heroic,that may work on flat tracks or wen hes in form, but not in English conditions.theresno doubt hes talented,but unless hes got the right,he wont go far. as for Gul,tailenders often tend to miss good balls by a week. n bowling also relaxes a little

[mnmaria20]

this is a very nice site. this is very clear site according the newses about the cricket fans. in sub contenant number of people like cricket not any thing else. so about the umer akmal if i say he is a nice player but not big. but kamran akmal is better than umer.

[Lord]

^:WTF: