Umar Akmal

Profile

As far as explosive starts to one’s International careers are concerned, few can rival Umar Akmal. He announced himself with scores of 66 and 102* within his first three ODI innings at Sri Lanka in 2009; in addition to a 129 and 75 on Test debut at New Zealand. Those performances weren’t a surprise. At the first-class level, Akmal was renowned for his big scores amassed in quick time. Seven years prior to his debut, Umar’s elder brother Kamran had already gotten his taste of international cricket. By 2010, the siblings featured regularly in tandem for Pakistan.

As a fearless, middle-order batsman, throughout Pakistan’s disappointing spree of series losses against Sri Lanka in 2009 and later at Australia in early 2010, Umar’s ascendance was one of their few positives. But as the series in Australia progressed, complacency began to creep into his Test form, which started to dip. In ODIs though, a hundred and five fifties by his 18th outing maintained a steady average. It was enough to justify an inclusion in Pakistan’s 2010 World Twenty20 squad. He finished the tournament as Pakistan’s third highest-run getter towards their semi-final run.
While still protected as a batsman, featuring at three-down, in a side that lacks specialist batsmen with the temperament for all forms of the game, Umar Akmal is their most proven rookie to fill the void for the years to come.
 

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Career

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