UMAR AKMAL = choker in making

[Sooda]

Well they were q close, and Id actually say the future looks good for Pak. The bowling is in good hands- good variety there. The return of Younis will help no end and ONE decent opener will help immensely and then theyve got a reasonable batting lineup. In fact the current opening duo have been showing +ve signes of late which is encouraging Drop Kamran for good. If they held a few catches this test. Heck if KA had even held one of the few that came off Hussey then theyd be celebrating a win. Not that we can talk too much about fielding.

[Sachinism]

Well they were q close, and Id actually say the future looks good for Pak. The bowling is in good hands- good variety there. The return of Younis will help no end and ONE decent opener will help immensely and then theyve got a reasonable batting lineup. In fact the current opening duo have been showing +ve signes of late which is encouraging Drop Kamran for good. If they held a few catches this test. Heck if KA had even held one of the few that came off Hussey then theyd be celebrating a win. Not that we can talk too much about fielding.

Soods misses the point :wall:

[Sooda]

:dontknow: Im trying to be impartial

[The Outsider]

I love the irony and sarcasm of the thread, but with that out of the way what an incessant mess the guy finds himself in. His captain and vice captain/brother played some of the most horrendous cricket in his presence. What is he supposed to learn from morons like that in the team to grow as a cricketer!

[cowboysfan]

bakwaas thread,you cannot expect much from a 19 year old when the team always falls apart arund him.

[ucilite]

Let me just say this….you guys have been right on the money on your criticism of this retard team…please humiliate us like there is no tomorrow, because we have EARNED it!!!

[Tigers Wood]

bakwaas thread' date='you cannot expect much from a 19 year old when the team always falls apart arund him.[/quote'] Tongue in cheek thread for my money. Well deserved given the amount of needless Sachin bashing that happens for supposed 'chokes'. If Umar Akmal 'chokes' a fraction of the times that Sachin has supposedly 'choked', he would have had a pretty good career.

[Ram]

Love the sarcasm... In modern parlance, if someone gets out really close to a target, he is a choker, nevermind he had earlier managed to soak up all the pressure and shown great skill and mental toughness to bring his team close.

[Freedom]

He will learn with time. But the question is: Learn from who? All the seniors in the team throw their wickets away.

Where did you think SRT learnt it from? Did he have anyone to show how to bat and carry the hopes of a nation for 20 years? I'm just sulking in joy discussing this Topic. For all the Paks out there Umar Chokmal is already a fighter (already choked 4 times in a short career).....makes me laugh to see chokmal unable to finish the match by staying on the crease when his team needs him the most(imagine getting close to winning a test win in 15 years.......much much longer than 4 world cups). Time to give back :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Freedom]

Tongue in cheek thread for my money. Well deserved given the amount of needless Sachin bashing that happens for supposed 'chokes'. If Umar Akmal 'chokes' a fraction of the times that Sachin has supposedly 'choked'' date=' he would have had a pretty good career.[/quote'] Seems a decent bloke and shows good mental attitude. But According to all pakis he should be the next SRT in terms of choking :haha::haha::haha::haha:

[Aaku]

Umar Chokmallll ? aaaaahahahahahahahah :haha:

[yoda]

All the sarcasm aside, looking at this innings specifically, he had two choices: 1. Realizing that wickets were falling and target getting closer and still reachable, try a few bold strokes 2. Wickets falling, so play even more responsibly by rotating strike with the tail-enders and hope he doesn't run out of partners He went with approach #1, which I think was a mistake, cause once he was gone, it was pretty much sealed for Pakistan.

[The Outsider]

I think the shot was on - the field was in after 4 deliveries and would have got a boundary if it had come off. He was playing safe till Sami was there but let's face it Gul, Kaneria, and Asif are all number 11s.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[The Outsider]

Johnson was quite deep at mid-off ... he chose to hit it right there. Also you should see how he was trying to cut Hauritz on a pitch with plenty of bounce with 2 points in place ... he tried that time and again and was very lucky to get away with that. This guy has no temperment and patience like all Paki batsmen

BB, he was trying to hit it straighter and the ball took the outer half of the bat because of Bollinger's angle which he could not negate completely. Regarding the cut shot, he is good at it and was backing himself. Warne criticized it as dumb captaincy because it took out so many wicket taking opportunities. He scored quite a few runs there and pierced the two short point fielders once for a boundary. Is his temperament perfect? Obviously not, he has a long way to go, but I won't criticize him for yesterday's shot or innings. He had set the pussies among the Aussies.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[The Outsider]

Bollinger was feeding him those slanted deliveries time and again and had set the field perfectly for that ... and the guy fell for it hook line and sinker ... the least he could have done is play it along the ground.

True, but he was trying to hit it straight and was not able to cover the angle. As I said, he did not play the shot well, no doubt. But his intention and idea was right.

He did score there but the percentages were against him like Chappell said ... with that sort of agressive field setting you simply wait for a straighter delivery and put it away on the legside. What that tells you is that this guy already has a ego a-la Ponting w.r.t the short ball .... his ego commands him to go after it regardless of the match situation or field setting. Not a good sign IMHO.

See, but Ponting became pretty damn successful with that stroke. It has deserted him lately and his continued pulling and hooking is stupid. But till he was getting it right most of the time, it was one of his higher scoring shots. Umar should back himself to play the shot till it deserts him - he can shelve it after that. Again, I am not comparing him to the versatility of Tendulkar for example, but his continued success in cutting against the spin did throw Ponting off his game. It was pretty fun and audacious to watch. I think you are expecting too much from someone with 5 test matches.

[sreej]

1) Umar Akmal has admitted that he's actually 21 and not 19 2) He has seemed like the only batsman who knows how to hold a bat throughout the tour 3) I think he was right in playing that shot as he was running our of partners and knew they wouldn't get far if he just stuck around and didn't try to keep the scoreboard ticking. 4) Calling him a choker isn't fair seeing as how he's new to international cricket and has done much more than any other player in his team

[Guest BossBhai]

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[The Outsider]

Not only did he get it all wrong ... he chose the wrong ball to go after ... the length was just not right to try and hit it over the top. Moreover if he had just rotated the strike he would have been facing the spinner the next over and it would have been far more easier to go over the top to an offie.

Ponting had brought the field up after the fourth ball, so his options were to aim for a boundary or try to take a single - which might or might not have happened with the field up - failing which he would have exposed Gul for an entire over without scoring anything. It's a situation which many batsmen face and I've seen them take either approach. Yes, he failed which is not my argument. It's whether he decided to do the right thing.

but there is a big difference between playing a cut shot with about 5 fielders waiting to catch you than with 2 fielders for the pull shot that ponting plays as you can have only 2 behind square ... These are all things that go into the "temperment" / common sense aspect of batting. Once you see that the opposition has set a trap you shut up and start playing in other areas that have opened up on the legside. All this cannot be taught because in the heat of the moment the avg player goes by the gut instinct but the really great players play according to the situation and field settings.

There were 3 catching men - two short points and slip(which would have been there anyhow). I've seen Richards, Sehwag, Lara, Gilchrist and even Tendulkar fall into these kind of ego traps, because they back themselves on the stroke to come off more often than not. Players like Gavaskar, Dravid, Kallis, and the recent Tendulkar would adopt a more versatile and less audacious approach. Both have seen success. Heck, in the '01 series Lara repeatedly swept Murali against the turn, got out to the stroke a couple of times, but scored a zillion runs. I am not saying that Umar is at the same level as any of these, but to shun him off one of his most productive strokes when it is working for him over all does not make sense. He still has a lot to pick up, no doubt. If he will is another question, but I won't write him off.