Kamran Akmals topic is over. We should fix the opening now. And theres an abundance of middle order players now which makes Shoaib Malik redundant, He must open the innings with Butt.

i was shocked when he dropped the catch first ball i think shoaib akhtar was may be telling himself i can't ball like that and kamran akmal i don't remember when the last time he scored more than 20 come on pcb gotta think its time to change the wicket keeper i don't understand everybody knows pak vs ind its a really big serious why they didn't give a chance to any other keeper in serious vs southafrica akmal need to go

Finally PCB (though still half heartedly) is sending in another keeper. Sarfraz Ahamed or who ever is coming in will be be having a baptism by fire. The series is poised and more titled towards India. so the new keeper will be starting under pressure. Let us how much the seniors is going to help the cause. The PCB should have been trying this in the home series against South Africa. Anyway hope this works for Pakistan Cricket.

Kamran Akmal needs to work with some nice wicket keeper and correct his techniques. Time being he needs to forget about his batting. Let him correct his basic flaws in his original role and prove himself worthy enough to be back.

Being said that, I am not seeing any replacement for Mohammed Asif till now. Along with the new wicket keeper send in Abdul Razzak or a good all rounder (for heavens sake not a spinner who can bat).

My true belief is that, it will be great if Fawad Alam (replacing Abdul Rehman from the Kanpur playing 11) can open with Salman Butt.

Also if someone knows Mr.Rameez Raja personally, please pass this message to him. 'Sir, you known no nothing about managing a team or making a team strategies. So will please SHUT UP."

Further, it was sad to see Shahid Afridi got entangled in a row with Gautham Gambhir at Kanpur. Aggression should be done with your game. Not with your mouth and body. Even if others says something, please only retaliate through your game. Always aggression has worked against Pakistan. Kanpur also was no exception. Afridi lost his cool and It ruined the day for Afridi and Pakistan. So please play with cool mind, head and approach.

Let us hope that Pakistan returns to winning ways in Gwalior.

It was sad to watch Kamral Akmal's short lived 2-ball innings, and I couldn't help but wonder if he would've been a better keeper had PCB given him some time off after his awful performance in England last year.
It's PCB's reluctance to give Pakistan's former players (in this case wicket keepers) any chance to make an impact that's hurting the current Pakistani team the most right now. You've got two of the most talented and accomplished wicket keepers of their time in the form of Rashid Latif and Moin Khan, why not have at least one of them groom your current and upcoming wicket-keeping talent? Waqar and Wasim were two of THE ODI bowlers of their time, why not pay them a little for their services? Umar Gul and Asif reached their best form when Waqar was the bowling coach and we all know what PCB did to Waqar. Shoaib Malik is slowly learning the making critical decisions on the field, but couldn't PCB have arrange a couple of meetings with him and Wasim Akram who isarguably our best ODI captain, atleast the most aggressive. I understand Malik learned most of his captaincy knowledge from Inzimam but he was as defensive a captain anyone can be, and we all know how that worked out for Pakistan Cricket.
Look at Dhoni's field changes today, he basically out-foxed Afridi and Younis by changing the field after every ball making them think more about fielders than the next delivery. It was brilliant to watch even as Pakistani supporter, I couldnt help but admire how two innocous deliveries got two of our top batsmen out. I dont blame today's loss on our captain, or our bowlers or our batsmen, I think Dhoni won the match for his team today, and he did that by listening to one of the most shrewd cricket mind; Sachin Tendulkar.

The question for Geoff Lawson (because Malik doesn't have the noodle in his skull) is this: Has Pakistan ever had a star wicketkeeper? I would venture to say that, with the exception of Moeen Khan for a brief period, the answer is a big, resounding No. While spirited sides build their fielding strength around this pivotal position, Pakistanis have always ignored it due to their preoccupation with 100 mph bowlers and slog-hitting showboaters. Gilchrist, Boucher, Sangakara, and Dhoni are all big names in current-day cricket. PCB, on the other hand, never bothered to invest anything into making a star wicketkeeper, because that would require glorifying work ethics and professionalism - not exactly a hallmark of desi society. And when they did, they put their money on the wrong horse.

The primary mistake was to take just one keeper for the tour sending a message of complete job security to Akmal. And now this feigned injury to call up a reserve only adds to their reputation of utter disregard for the rules and of cheap haram-topi. I bet you, no Pakistani fan would ever give it a second thought that a reserve keeper is called by flouting the rules. Lack of form, mind you, is no excuse for getting replacements on tour.

I better get out of here before Jaidee A. Khan aaff Mantriyaal, Can-da, starts to empty his bowels here. Jaidee Bhaiyya, bathroom aa raha hai buhut zor ka......

good for pakistani cricket. they atleast got rid of one major problem of their team

Kamran i agree with you. Akmal should be given rest for some time. Replacement should be called sooner than later. I am 100% confident, that the day PCB adopt Australian system, the percentage of the Pakistan wins will rise exponentially.

We have been doing well enough in one-days without a full-time keeper in the team. Perhaps we should try Yasir Hameed or Imran Nazir as one-day keepers, both of them have experience in domestic cricket as keepers.

Shaoib is on learning process but Kamran Akmal place is seriously questioned by his poor keeping & lacklustre batting, it is now the right time to try alternative keeper otherwise Akthar, Guls efforts are in vain & frustrating because of repeated failiures of Keeper.

yes i agree kamran got to go .he needs rest so that he can concentrate .. to fight back .. to improve .. and comeback in the team

If Akmal can still play with such horrible form, trust me I can perform better than him.....why not me???

Kamran, i was waiting for your piece on Kamram Akmal and was only amazed when he was initally selected for the Indian tour without a back-up keeper. During the last 3 ODI it seemed that Pakistan was playing vs India and Kamran Akmal..... give the guy a break we cannot afford to drop sitters in every game.

CHAK DE INDIA !!! A fascinating win at Kanpur. Too bad, you forgot to mention it, Mr. Abbasi. Any way, time to go for the kill and wrap up the series. Akmal might like watching it from the dressing room though.

I saw Akmal get a hundred at the Gabba a couple of years ago, and his keeping looked pretty good too. But now, he seems to be dropping regulation catches almost every time he plays, and his batting form is ordinary... What went wrong?

Give Sarfraz a go, certainly. But if he is obviously brought in as a stop-gap measure, it will damage his confidence no end. I suggest team Pakistan drop Akmal and give Sarfraz an extended run in both forms. Get some competition back into the selection process.

I think that Kamran has enough time to make a comeback, but certainly he needs rest now (Probably for long time), If Sarfraz proves to be a safe hand just like Rashid Latif, then Pakistan cricket can face the same problem as in the nineties with Rashid and Moin. One is valuable in batting and the other in the keeping.
Lets hope that Pakistan gets some better prospect in terms of wicketkeeping in the form of Sarfraz Ahmed.
Wathing ot the first class record of Sarfarz, its not that impressive.

I think this is one of the best moves Pakistan has ever made. Akmal needed a break and Sarfraz is the best replacement at the moment. Maybe Moin Khan should come out of retirement!

The old adage 'if it aint broke dont mend it' has been taken to a new level by the Cricket management in Pakistan. They perhaps believe that if it aint totally wrecked dont mend it. Kamran Akmal is being allowed to wreck himself as a confident cricketer and the performance of all those around him as he spills catches, misses stumpings and bats like a tailender. Salman Butt as the reigning vice-captain sat out a major portion of the 20-20 and the South Africa series and that seems to have worked for him. If the cricket gurus in our country were more proactive than reactive Sarfaraz would have been part of the initial package leaving for India instead of Kamran having to prove again that all his not well with his game at the moment. We also need to decide whether we need a wicketkeeper who can bat or a batsman who can keep. I think that wicketkeeping is a specialist job and even India gave up the Dravid experiment after a while. They have been luck with finding Dhoni as a replacement but the credit goes to them for getting him into the main side at the right time. I totally agree with you that Sarfaraz should be in the playing eleven straight away and no excuses about injuries etc are required. He is being dropped on form and that is alright as it happens to the best of them. Example Dravid cant make into the Indian one day side at the moment, Pollock is out of the SA test side etc. And if injury is going to be sited as the reason Sarfaraz should be playing the next one day anyway!

I believe it is a very good dicision to bring sarfaraz ahmed to give some rest to kamran akmal he drop the catch on very first ball and it make upset the bowlers we need to have two options like moin and latif so they have competition with each other so they will perform better.

We need a wicket keeper how should be hardhitting batsman who can come in late overs to give quick runs because we have good middle order like yousaf,younis and misbah i guess shoaib should open the innings with butt so he can give good start to team.

I want to make your attention in one point that soahil tanveer should open the bowling attack so right and left hand combination will make problems for batsman and for this series put your best bowlers when dhoni and uvraj batting.

Agreed, Mr. Abbasi! Akmal's poor form “embarrassing” has cost us few games. If your wicket keeper has started dropping catches, then he should be out. I think PCB reacted little late but it is good that they did it finally. The move is not only good for the team but also for Akmal. He simply has lost his confidence with gloves!!!

I just wish I could say some curse words here! I dont once blame Kamran Akmal for this. The PCB is to blame for not listening to critics the world over that Kamran Akmal needs a rest. Why does the PCB react to situations as opposed to acting to prevent the situation in the first place.

Kamran Akmal is over rated by his captain and some PCB board officials.
Shoaib Malik is a good friend of Kamarn Akmal.
And every one knows how IQRIBA PARVERI works in our system.

Sarfarz Ahmed, Amin-ur-Rehman and Salman are the best choice for the wicket keeper.
Sarfraz Ahmed is youngest and already won under 19 world cup for us as a Captain.
We can see bright future from him.

Please remember Kamran Akmal has a highest drop catch rates amongst all time wicket keepers in the world, who played at least 20 matches.
He is not a wicket keeper.

I amazed to see comments from Shoaib Malik about Kamran Akmal after losing third one day.
He still thinks he is the best wicket keeper in the country.
Board should take his comments seriously.
Shoaib Malik wants to create his own lobby in the team.
He is favoring another friend Misba too; whose average is 17 in test.
PCB should bring Asim Kamal for the test series.

Dawar
LA USA

Agree with you!.. Its been long overdue... give someone a go... on form he does not deserve to be in the team - it is killing him and the team!...

I think Kamran Akmal needs a rest and we should come up with a back up keeper. We always had someone waiting in the wings. So its time to bleed a yongster in.

As an Indian supporter it is dissappointing to know that beloved Kamran bhai might not be part of the playing XI and it might hurt a bit for the Indian Xi not to have the contribution of a 'critical' player ;).

Jokes apart, Kamran is a good talent and it would help to give him a break to rediscover himself. A recent example is Parthiv Patel who went through a similiar experience but now is back with a bang knocking for selection with fantastic performances infront of and behind the stumps.

Yes I totally agree with you Mr. Kamran. The dropped catch of Ganguly in the last ODI off the first ball of the match was a real costly mistake. If he had held on to that catch India would have been on the back foot right from the start and probably would have made 30-40 runs less than what they managed. Moin Khan and Rashid Latif have had lapses with the bat through poor form but I can't recall any of them dropping dollys like Karam did. He clearly needs a break and sort out his poor batting performances aswell. At the moment Pakistan always seem to be 1 wicket down with next to nothing on the score board. A replacement would surely boost the batting as well as help Shoaib get the early breakthroughs.

Kamran Abbasi Saheb I agree with you 100% (or 110% as Musharaf, Inzy, many others in Pakistan say). Please replace this bloke with ANYONE as anyone would be better. Good luck new kid on the block - Sarfaraz.

Its was inevitable that we had to bring someone to push Akmal for the keeper role, and someone we can put in to spell him. I hope Kamran will be able to recover his form with the glove and continue his heroics with the bat. Must say with was most bizarre the Shoaib tinkered with the batting line up after have completed as amazing chase with a duplicate condition in the 3rd game. Everyone watching the game with me had the same question and continued to dwell on it as the game progressed. Would like to see Fawad Alam be given a chance after having been taking for the 20/20 WC and other tours, he just has not been give a fair shot. He is a delightful and agressive batsman from what I can see, and a competent spinner probably in the mold of an Asif Mujtaba. He would be worth trying instead of Abdur Rehman. Its not like our best bowling combinations have been able to hold India back, so what's the risk...that we'll give them another 300 total, so what. At least will have the additional batting to chase it down.

Well said Kamran Bhai, I am also in favour of playing Sarfraz instead of a kamran who is down in confidence and form. Cricket is a game of confidence and wicketkeeper is a main charter in confidence building of a team. How can a team perform well when a bowler is bowling with a mindset that if I get an edge it might be dropped and then he starts to think differently and tries to get batsman out in other ways.
Its better to give Kamran a rest and bring in the inform mate Sarfraz who has impressed everyone. I think the PCB selector have picked Kamran on basis of his previous two centuries against India (one in Mohali and one in Karachi) but it is also important to see his current form. You cant expect him to do the same having seen his current form with bat and gloves. On Indian wickets if you drop sachin, dravid or gangualy they will make you pay and it also can cost Pakistan the match. So it is worth to give way to new guy.

The PCB is sending a 'backup keeper' for Akmal as he is injured...
so I would conclude from this that had akmal not injured himself....the Genius's who run the PCB would have let this abysmal player continue...
that is amazing...
why cant they say that Amkal is just not good enough and we are sending a new keeper who will play the last 2 ODI's...
Just how does akmal go back into that same dressing room match after match after match and explain himself to Shoaib, Gul and just about every bowler that Pakistan has.....

kamran you are right !! pakistan cricket board has been doing that for a long time and they have killed lot of talent because of their favoritism . Once again PCB has proved that no matter what happens they would not give a chance to other players if they dont have enough support (sifarish) or if they are not from punjab. i guess you would be kidding if you dont believe that. Kamran Akmal WAS a good player but he is not anymore but how many chances he has been given ?? everyone knows that , it is so shameful that our system rolles on this criteria .. finally Sarfraz ahmad is given the opportunity and hopefully he is gonna be heck alot better than Mr Akmal.I really wish him Best of luck and pray that disease akmal stay out of pakistan cricket other than PCB (punjab cricket board) apply their policy again and bring him back and kill our countrys talent as they have done before !!

I am relieved that the PCB is finally showing some sense. Sarfaraz must be given te rest of the tour to prove himself.

I, and a lot of other people, have been questioning Akmal's place in the team for ages. He needs some time to rediscover his form in the domestic game. Age is on his side, and I hope he gets back soon.

As far as the match goes, I am truly baffled why Afridi opened the innings. Did we learn nothing from the 2nd ODI. One just wonders what may have been if Afridi was coming in Akmal's place in the death overs.

Salman Butt is finally beginning to deliver the goods now, and I hope he continues to do so.

i was waiting for your blog on kamran akmal.i cant forget the way kamran akmal took away the test from india at mohali and in pakistan after pathan had shattered them to shreds.but even then as is true a keeper must do his job first and then comes batting.but excuse me i think he must be given the chance to complete this indian tour given he is physically fit.on a tour every team needs to back their players.and india had almost paid the price by keeping pathan out though he has come back but his prodigious swing has gone and now he is just bowlig like other bowlers sooner or later every team is going to find that.so please dont follow the same with akmal .i like his batting,his fearlessness ,dont disrupt that.at least give him the chance to complete the whole tour, who knows he might be able to win test matches this time as well.

Thank God, finally Pakistan Selectors have given importance to the brain than the heart in cricket. Sarfraz is a good keeper and should be selected to play the next couple of oney dayer.

"Australia would have done with the same problem? My guess is that the answer would be based on ruthlessness not sentimentality."

I don't agree with the above. In recent times I have seen the australian giving chance based on past performance on not on merit. I'll quote 2 examples.

01. Giving preference to Brad Hodge instead of Brad Haddin in India. In the first couple of matches Haddin was simply superb and Hodge was far from his best, yet they selected Hodge based on his World Cup performance ahead of the in form Haddin.

02. Selecting Macgill instead of Brad Hodd in the omgoing series against Sri Lanka. A week before the match started Macgill was torn apart by a state side and Hogg bowled is side to victory with a 10 wicket haul, yet theypicked Macgill. Even in the concluded test match Macgill took 2 wicket and he didn't make and impact.

Why should we always follow the Aussies. If teams in 80's had the followed the West Indies by having 4 fast bowlers and no spinners they will be nowhere now.

"By following the best you can the only equal him anf not beat him." - A saying by Me, Irshad the Great

SPOT ON Mr. ABBASI!!! I think Kamran Akmal should have been given the shaft when he dropped Jacque Kallis. Pakistan has such a rich history of amazing wicket keepers (rashid latiff, moin khan, wasim bari, etc). I understand that we are all human, and make mistakes but for a wicket keeper to drop simple catches justify immediate exclusion from the team. A Wicket keeper who drops catches is like a cancer infected body. The more time you allow it, the more damage it will do. Pakistan's recent fielding fiascoes is a clear cut example of that. Bring on the rookie. I would rather have a rookie behind the stumps than a seasoned pro who drops sitters.

Kamran Abbasi - in context of "Aussy Mentality" the time to change arrived not weeks or months ago, it was more than a year ago in England. When he was kept in the team by Inzi despite early signs that he is having some technical flaws. Rashid Latif offered his help, to play a couple of side matches to give Kamran Akmal some rest. But Mr. Akmal would not let that happen as he thought that this way he will lose his place in the team. He kept playing and Inzi kept him on the team and only if he had taken 80% of those dropped catches/stumping opportunities, that test series would have been Pakistan's. Yes, I am convinced, if you are not, look at the numbers and see how much Cook, Peitersen, Collingwood and maybe Bell scored after their catches were dropped.

My estimate: Akmal has dropped at least 50 international catches (tests and ODI's) in last year and a half. Let alone countless byes. Richie Benaud, a leggie giant of his time, explains in detail how the whole game plan, line lenght of a leggie gets derailed once a wicket keeper misses a stumping chance or a cathcing opportunity. That's what we have been doing to Kaneria. With all due respect to the batting greatness of Inzi or to some extent shoaib, I think a lot of this has to do with low IQ level of our captains and lack of assertiveness of Woolmer and now Lawson to make the right changes.

I fully agree with you Kamran (not Akmal, because his perfomances in the last year have been horrifyingly disagreeable). Although I have to say I'm still bemused by the Pakistan selectors' undying loyalty to Kamran Akmal. They made it clear that young Sarfraz has only been called in as a back up! This undying loyalty to Akmal seems to have done him no good. He obviously needs a rest and needs some time to work on his technique. Their loyalty extended so far as to try and turn him into an opener so as to justify his spot in the side. Anyone have any explanations?

Right on Kamran, the Aussies would have been ruthless and if it were Gilchrist he would have been back to the sheild cricket to regain the lost form. I wish we go ahead with Sarfaraz and have a back up like we had for Rashid and Moin

I don't think that the decision to replace Kamran Akmal with any other wicketkeeper could be referred as, "ruthless or sentimental," but, it is simply a professional one and that too based on the situation and circumstances. We all know that he is not injured, but his replacement is eminent especially since the last couple of months he is a rogue keeper. Before the final ODI against SA, I was of the opinion that Akmal should not be replaced for that crucial match, because the new cap would be under more pressure than Akmal himself. However, I was expecting that for the India tour they would keep a back-up wicketkeeper and I was rather surprised when they didn't.

My suggestion to throw the gauntlet at Younus Khan and he should pick up the gloves as a challenge, its a fact that it will give the team an additional batsman or a bowler depending on the pitch and the conditions. My choice for a batsman for ODI is Imran Nazir. I don't think Younus Khan would be as bad a keeper as Akmal with his current form is, and as a batsman too he is not doing any good. So obviously at the moment Akmal is a drag and a liability in the team and that too a big one. I have not seen Sarfaraz playing and I have no clue about his keeping /batting abilities so, I cannot comment on him. Whatever the case may be, the Gwalior match would be a real pressure cooker situation for the new cap. I would try Sarafaraz in the test matches, but for the ODI I would ask Younus Khan to keep the wickets and include Imran Nazir in the team.

There is a Chinese expression: "A man with pebble in his shoes, cannot look at the stars." meaning, when you are supposed to be looking inwards you are looking outwards. A good captain should be able to see (inside) the available resources and make use of them to the best of their abilities, rather than looking (outside) for reinforcements. Malik needs support staff and I wonder to what extent Lawson and Talat Ali are providing him the kinda support that he needs.

Talat Ali is the manager of the team, and I am sure his role is not just to be there like a weak-link between the players and the PCB. Or managing their tour needs such as, hotel and flight reservations or catering for food etc. His role should be more defined than Lawson's. Because, Talat Ali is a former test player and he is old enough and experienced enough to understand the game and the weakness and strengths of the players better than Lawson. Besides, he also speaks the language and understand the players better than Lawson, who is new and hardly knows the players or the environment. Him being Australian does not mean that he will bring the Australian mentality into the system, "de plus trānspīrāre tout le équipe into a winning team like the Australians? No sir, c'est pas possible within this short period of time.

Right now we are talking of short term cure for a malady and that is for the remaining two ODI's, in fact winning the next one is more important than playing the last one to salvage some pride and vanity. Therefore, bringing Sarfaraz at this crucial juncture is a BIG gamble. Not that I am against him, but I reckon Salman Butt was thrown in by Woolmer at Rose Bowl against the WI which was a very crucial match for Pakistan and Butt, got out on a duck as he was very nervous and under tremendous pressure. Therefore, I am not in favour of throwing a débutant in a crucial match. May be in the test series, but not for the remaining ODI's. For the test series, Pakistan needs a fast bowler because, the Rawalpindi Express would be parked in the junkyard of the railway cantonment due to lack of steam and heat exhaustion.

Finally something for the "Old & Eucephool." Sayeen tusi, once again started nagging, sulking, brooding, lamenting, whining and complaining that Mr. Kamran Abbassi has reduced you to a mere petit bourgeois by converting your textual diarrhea into a mere flatus? If you think moi je déféquer, mais Monsieur vous manger bien. And that is, "À bon chat, bon rat," pour toi. Now, you can go back to your "Bankrupt Relationship" avec Musharaf. Btw, I don't like him either but, is there a replacement? And who is not corrupt there? You mean the old (maasee) cat that ate 900 rats or "Takloo The Liar"? According to the BBC, at the moment, the General is doing the most difficult job on this planet. So, you better stick to cricket and forget about politics, let them do what they are doing because thats not your forte.

Ps.
Before I say what I have to say let me LOL first .... cricket is also not your forte! ;-)

Kamran Akmal is injured. This is very good news for Pakistan. Kamran Akmal has lost it and if he plays any more his career could have ended. His bad patch had started in England and more than a year has passed where Pakistan has lost Abdul Razzak, Inzi, Rana Naved, Imran Farhat, Mohd Sami,Mohd Hafeez, Shahid Nazir, Azhar Mahmood and even Bob Woolmer, but suprisingly Kamran Akmal has held his place. One seems to believe he might have been performing better than those who have been axed.
Sarfaraz Ahmed must be over the moon and Zulqarnain under the sun feeling its heat. Well for me the choice of Sarfaraz is a very good one as now I can proudly say that I had Uprooted his middle stump in a 25 over match!

I think while every body keep blaming the selectors for such stupidities,the major part of it has to do with the sympathies that a particular person gains if he spends even half the time of what Kamran has spend in the Pakistani team.
I think for selectors to be ruthless with their job we first have to ensure that all who are playing in the team are "colleagues" to each others and not friends! ,especially, when it comes to purely cricketing affairs like selection or rejection.

It has been mind boggling that the board, the coach and the captain persisted with someone like Kamran Akmal, whose ratched form cost Pakistan not only the matches but also series. Dropping catches of batsmen like kallis really makes a team pay. Given that he was struggling to keep wickets, he was promoted in the batting order and was opening. Failure with bat aggravated his forw with keeping wickets further. He definitely needs a break from International cricket.

Very true but i feel replacing Akmal with a 20 yr old lad and most imnportantly debue against INDIA, u can anticipate the pressure on him.

Thank heavens this has finally happnened. This decision to allow Sarfraz Ahmed a chance should have happened months ago, I dont think any other board would have persisted with him so much. Look at the ECB for example... they droppped Geraint Jones and then Paul Nixon quickly due to poor form. Although this late decision is partly the reason our fielding is so poor by international standards, now Sarfraz can show Pakistan what has made him such a star on the domestic scene.

I cant agree more to Kamran on this one, the dismal show presented by Akmal needed to be addressed, however Sarfaraz although a blooming talent and have performances under his belt, should be given sometime before his evaluation for the future. I also dont understand why we keep some other talented players on the bench instead of sending them home to play domestic cricket. Likes of Fawad Alam are mere support staff and dont get any chance to play and we have witnessed in past that these kind of talented players lost their touch by sitting on the benches for too long. by the way where is zulqarnain, the other talented wicketkeeper?

I think Pakistan Should look For Two keepers One Sarfraz Ahmed and other one is Muhammad Salman.

Finally a goooooood decision from the borad. Kamran Akmal was in a bad form from the last one year, his bad keeping cost us the series of SA vs PAK. He dropped Kallis when he was on 0 and after that he played a match winning inning which not only cost Pakistan the match but the series. Same thing goes in the India vs Pakistan Series, he almost droped two catches in all three matches, in last match dropped Ganguly on the very first ball. Lets hope that the new wicket keeper will play in the fourth match and will be a much better than Kamran Akmal.

At last Kamran writes something against Kamran. I thought you were in love with your namesake but...[i](kya karte wo tou naam miti main mila raha hai[/i]

Sarfaraz Ahmed is going there as a backup to Akmal, not as his replacement. Anyway I wish loads of luck to the young guy and I hope that he impresses so much in these two ODIs that he takes up Kamran's place permanently atleast for a few years. We need a settled side to start winning consistently. Still, I think it very unfair with the youngster because we are under great pressure right now in this series. He should have been tried in the home series against SA, I really do pray to ALLAH that all luck be at Sarafaraz's side and may he perform exceptionally well in front and behind the wicket in the remaining two matches.

What Malik needs to do. Suggestions from core of my heart:

[b]Salman Butt –[/b] Tell him we are playing domestic cricket and Indians are fielding their Ranji Team.[Anyway he considers Indians so]
[b]Kamran Akmal -[/b] He is Indispensable. Whatever he does (or for that matter does not), he will remain in the side. Nothing Malik can do.
[b]Younis Khan -[/b] Tell him we have already lost the match / series and whatever he does will not affect the result.
[b]Mohammed Yousuf -[/b] Request ICC to introduce a new 10-day format for him to show his patience, temperament and skill.
[b]Shahid Afridi -[/b] Arrange counseling sessions after every ball he faces.
[b]Shoaib Malik -[/b] Give him an Oxford English dictionary and show him the meaning of word "aggressive".
[b]Misbah ul Haq -[/b] Tell him we are playing 20-20. Also make the target larger by 5 runs.
[b]Abdur Rehman -[/b] Make him a spin bowler. Teach him right from scratch. He has the potential, just needs to learn.
[b]Iftikhar Rao -[/b] Tell him not to bowl. Save himself and save us.
[b]Umar Gul -[/b] For every over tell him this is the last over(50th).
[b]Shoaib Akhtar -[/b] Tell him Asif is batting.

Ps: My TV, PC, mobile, radio are on sale. 110% off. Any takers please.

Yes the selectors need to be decisive and DROP Kamran Akmal. He has not repaid the selectors , he is a talented wicketkeeper no doubt, but needs time out of the game. I think Sarfraz Ahmed has the ideal mentality for International cricket, a gutsy determined confident keeper. We need him in the side now. We also need to groom another keeper so we have competition for this place. Zulqarnain should be next in line.

As opening was a Hot issue for Pakistani Cricket, now Wicket keeping is becoming a same!! After exclusion of Moin khan and Rashid Latif from the International cricket Arena, No one is settelled in this position.
The main problem with PCB is that!! they never have the back up plans!! now they sent sarfraz in the middle of series which is as harmfull as kamran's recent performance!! All the xpectation's are now with him and if he not perform which is quite evedint that for a debutant's it is equal to impossible!!
Anyways!! being a pakistani supporter our all prayers with the New Blood behind the stumps!!!
May Allah gives him the sucess and he shines like Gilli!!!

What is the unluckiest form of dismissal in cricket? Caught Akmal!

Kamran Akmal should have been axed from the team month's ago and I suspect this time the bowlers must have put pressure on the management to rest Kamran Akmal as nothing is more frustrating for a bowler when all his hard work is squandered by a dropped catch.
I fail to understand why the selectors and the management took so long to figure out that he is completely out of form and can no longer perform at International level, I would like everybody on this blog to write and grill the selectors and the management for their inability to take prompt action in this regard as they are the real culprits behind this crisis.

I don't buy this that none of the other keeper in Pakistan is ready for International level, it's a strange new development at PCB that since the last three or four years PCB is strangely not showing any confidence in the young players, even if they are selected they are not given a chance to showcase their talent, other than Tanvir, Rehman and Fawad Alam they have not picked and played any new player from the domestic Cricket.
As a result of this policy our bench strength has become extremely thin. We still haven't found openers, our middle order is fast approaching retirement and we have no replacement ready for them, other than Rehman we have not found any other spinner, we don't have any quality all-rounder, and if Shoaib Akhtar is not playing our pace attack looks toothless.

Yet we are spending millions on foreign coaches and Domestic Academies and each time we select a youngster we use him as the towel boy and after one series without trying that player we discard him. I don't think we are following any system, Australian or indigenous, because if a system was being followed we should have replacements ready for most of the players.
None of the foreign coaches hired so far have delivered anything and the current one is also not showing any promise.
I remember when Imran was Captain he was never reluctant to show faith in a youngster his success as a Captain was primarily because of this quality. It is a complete rubbish idea that a young player should not be exposed to a major team like India or Australia, I believe the youngsters should be given confidence and a degree of immunity so that they should go out and play their natural game without any pressure.

If the current state of affairs persisted for another two years, I can assure you we can all say goodbye to Pakistan Cricket.

The current selection committee and the management is comprised of cowards they themselves do not have any confidence in their decision making because of their job insecurity and lack of professional knowledge.
They will continue to play a game of musical chairs with 12 to 13 players, Isn’t it the easiest job on the planet.

Kamran has to step down. Its best for the team. Lets face it, his mischances really deflate the team. We very well know that he has made the most errors when Danish is bowling. So I would not have him in the test side at all cost.

Atlassssttttttttt .........

I think it was high time that Kamran Akmal was shown the door by PCB. He has missed so many critical and "EASIEST" of catches that my grandmother could have caught them and that too without gloves.
Cricket nowadays demands merit, if Kamran is not performing then one should not care what he did in past. Cricket is about present form through which we plan the future.
I wish Sarfraz BEST OF LUCK and really hope and pray that as everyday goes by he becomes better and better. The flame and eagerness to learn more and become a better cricketer is something our team needs to adapt.

Akmal must surely be replaced for the rest of the games as he requires some time out in the domestic arena to iron out his deficiencies which seem to be multiplying rapidly. I think its more to do with his psychological attitude.

Being from India, Im not sure how sarfraz is as a batsman but by what is being said, it seems like he is the best wicket keeper available in pakistan at the moment.

In India vs Pakistan games theres usually nothing like momentum shift after one victory, but right now India are looking in ominous form. Pakistan would help their cause by dropping akmal with immediate effect.

i quite agree with you, Sarfaraz has the talent and has shown glimpses of what he can deliver for the team Kamran dropped Ganguly off the first ball at Kanpur, just imagine what telling effect it must have had on the team morale and you just cant feel enough sorry for the hard working Shoaib Akhtar. Bowlers in sub-continent conditions merit a sharp keeper.

wow! right on Mr.Kamran.
were was pcb till now,it took them almost three lost series to realise that akmal wasnt fit enough! i still beleive pakistan should try younis or someone like yasir hamid as a wicket keeping option for the one dayers, they will have a great depth in the batting line which an unpredictable team like pakistan always needs or even an extra bowler or an all rounder! that gives them lot of chances!
if pakistan win the next game...the last one will be a killer!
let us hope for that but i am impressed how pakistan approached chasing the big total again, they were always in hunt....only for a late order partnership!
good luch pakistan!

Yes catches win matches. But Akmal is a terrific player in test matches against India. I remember his 2 innings one in Mohali where he along with Razzak saved the test from a certain defeat. The second one was in Karachi, where Pakistan recovered from 0 for 3 thanks to akmals agressive innings and went on to win the test. Akmals contribution in first innings was invaluable, it gave confidence to all other players.
Akmal like sehwag is out of form.
He is not catching straight ones, he should be able to soon sort it out. Dropping him in test and taking a young inexperinced player would a huge blunder.!!

Akmal has been given a lot of chances. And he has been the difference between Pakistan winning and losing on many occasions. Even though he is a talent, he is very under confident now, and it will be better to rest him so that he can regain his former self.

It will be nice to see a fresh face behind the stumps, and if he is handy with the bat, then that will be really interesting, we need some big hitters down the order (Razzaq's hitting is being sorely missed)

Good job.PCB must have done it a long ago ...

I think, the time to replace (rest) Akmal had arrived during the disastrous England tour. Although, before that tour, his batting form was good, his wicket-keeping, his primary role in this line-up, was sliding down. This became more evident during the Engalnd tour.
A few years back, the pakistani selectors used to rotate players too much. The common complaint was that the younsters are not given long enough run to prove their worth, especially in case of openers. Now, they're doing totatlly the opposite. Persisting with Imran Farhat and Mohammed Hafeez for so long didn't do any good to the team progress. And now persisting with Akmal when even his batting (his secondary function) is not up to the mark.
The problem with our selectors seems to be overdoing everything, just like it seems to be the norm of people in our country. We need to be ruthless, but in a justified manner. We need to be considersate, but also with some good reason. Unless we find the right balance (or come even close to it) we won't be able to make any serious progress.

Look at the revival of Irfan Pathan after being "allowed" a sabbatical from international cricket. I'm confident Kamran Akmal can rediscover his form too, but for now, he should be dropped. Sarfaraz Ahmed deserves his chance.

Akmal couldn't catch a cold in Antarctica

Agreed. The Akmal should have been replaced at least before the SA(home) series. Anyways , fingers crossed at how Sarafarz Ahmed would shape up , coming straight into one of the biggest rivalries in cricket. Best of luck to him.

For Akmal i would say , work hard chap , everyone knows you have the talent.

i can't believe we are in a position where we would have to rest/sideline Akmal for dropping catches. I mean look at it from a different angle. WE have the services of 2 best wicket keepers ... moin khan and rashif latif.. now why cant pcb (if not hire) atleast ask them to come to training sessions and try to rectify what problems akmal is facing. i dont think there is much of a problem.. as looking at the replays it is clear that he gets up late.. and has a hard palm.. which causes the ball to pop out..

i m sure rashid latif or moin khan would def. help akmal get over this... however, in the context of the situation i think giving akmal a rest is the right decision.. as we talk about player burnout etc.. keepers i think could get even more burnout than batsman / bowlers... as they are on the field for a long period of time..

so i think we should rest akmal for some matches.. and get services of our senior wicket keepers and i m sure akmal will be back and start to perform the way he did in 2005.

Usually you should not put a blame on one player, when it comes to losing a cricket game, since its a team effort, surely one player can win the game for a side, but rarely is there a player, who actually succesfully manages to loose one for his side. Yes, i am talking about once regarded a talented wicket keeper Kamran Akmal. I have never been bothered by the fact that, he does not score consistently, or does not play longer innings more often, but the fact which plagues me, (and a few million others) is his declining performence BEHIND the stumps. Alone in this series, he has made countless mistakes, and has spilled regular catches, (Yes, he has also taken a few) but remember, that is his reason of existence, that is his job. what makes things worse is, his slump in FRONT of the stumps as well, he has not been able to score many runs lately, because sometimes a mistake made behind the stumps can be compensated in front of them, by soring some runs. Sure it will be a big risk to try new keeper in such a huge profile series, specially when Pakistan is behind, trailing by 1 game. but even now is a good time to replace Kamran Akmal, and try a new option. Because he IS actually costing Pakistan the games.

well PCB have finally realised that Akmal needs a rest. New wicket keeper cannot be worse than Akmal. Lets hope Pakistan can win both ODI and Test series with this change.

well said kamran ..it was call of the time PCB should have done it before long..and i wish that sarfraz should play the next ODI and the entire series.PCB should cofide him that he will not be dropped for the entire series then i think we can get the best out of Safraz Ahmed otherwise if this move is to show that Kamran Akmal is the best wicket keeper avialable then please dont ruin this young blood .PLease PCB dont play with him for playing him in one ODI and throw him out and bring Kamran again and starts again our (pakistanifans) frustration.I am not against Kamran but all we can see that he is frustrating the bowlers the team the cptain the coach and all of us .

No need to discard akmal forever, he needs the rest and he needs to regroup technically and mentally. PCB finally has made the right choice whether its truely a hand injury or just reality hitting the board that akmal needs a rest and some new blood needs to be introduced to the squad. In my opinion the wickte keeper is a key leader on the pitch. If the keeper is struggling and lacks the confidence then it feeds off to the cother players in a negative way. Under 19 world cup winning captain wicktkeeper. This could be a postive for the team and its future. Now its time to bring up more youngsters like Kurram Monsoor and Mansoor Amjad to the national team and start to play them. Give Fawad Alam a shot. LOOK at what GUL, ASIF, TANVIR, and BUTT have done for the squad. I love Mohammad Yousuf batting but something about him causes me to think that hes more a detrament to the team then a positive. And what is Pakistan doing by opening up with Afridi, a terrible ploy by Malik and coach.

It is a good move to give Akmal a rest. Competition for places is healthy and keeps players keen. A wicket keeper's primary job is to keep wickets and runs are handy only as a secondary reward. The morale of a team where the keeper drops catches can only go one down. It is no coincidence that there is a direct correlation between Akmal's dip in form and the lack of positive results for Paksitan.

Historically Karachi has provided good wicket keepers like Bari, saleem yousuf, Rashid, Tasleem Arif. There is something to it.

Kamran Akmal has enormous talent but for now it is well hidden. He needs a break from International cricket and perhaps that talent will return. But it may not. I remember Azhar Mehmood and how he started with centuries against a powerful South Africa. I thought Pakistan had found a star but his talent never resurfaced. Hope that doesn't happen to Akmal but we should be prepared to sadly admit that his days may be over.

Totally agree with the fact that we need a new keeper. But this should have happened in the home series against S.Africa, where the new boy would have felt less pressure as compared to the furnace that is Pak V India.

Also another comment....and i know this is a huge debate already. Speaking strictly about the ODI's, isnt Abdul Razzaq a better all-round option than Rao Iftikhar. I think he would be a bigger and better contributer, if not a match winner as compared to the above mentioned. 8 an over in the last 10 doesnt seem a problem if you know a dynamic hitter is still waiting for his turn. PLus the fact that it would take a lot of pressure off the present hitters which include Afridi and Malik.

its about time that thy decided to replace Kamran Akmal he has cost pakistan many important matches
such as yesterday and the final against south africa when he dropped Kallis on 2. Kallis scored 86 in that match. There are numerous occasions when he failed to do his job such as in England he missd important stumping oppurtunities. It is first wise decision the PCB has made in a long timw.
I wuz bitterly dissapointed over yesterday's match what were thy thinking wen thy sent younis khan and afridi to open??
By losing the match we basically lost the series
Afridi hasn't been opening the batting for ages so whts the point of sending him to open th same goes with younis khan
thy shud hav persisted with kamran nd butt if thy alredy chased down such a big score with the same batting line up y wud thy wnt to change the batting line up this time.
Pakistan basically gave the match away by needless run outs
I'm hoping against hope that pakistan win the last 2 matches

I dont know how to put this, but Sarfaraz i think is too young for this role, we have so many keepers who are playing first class cricket, and doing well for years now.

Sigh .... Finally, PCB has come to its senses and have decided to replace Akmal.
.....better late than never.

I think it would be a sensible move to rest Kamran Akmal because there is no way he is going to improve, it looks he has taken his place for granted, he is making mistakes in his keeping as a result of that his batting has also suffered, it would be good for his own sak and Pakistan's sake. Previously he was dropping catches off spinners and missing easy and crucial stumpings and now poor fast bowlers are also suffering,Afraidi and Danish Kneria have suffered a lot due to his keeping, look at Dhoni when he started his keeping was no way near Akmal and now he is miles ahead of him, I am not against Akmal I am his great fan and am sure his time away from international cricket will serve him and he will come back better and stronger. If we look back his keeping has not only helped one batsman to score lots of runs but have resulted in Pakistan loosing the series......please please drop him if he is good a batsman then pick him as a batsman but do not let him go behind the stumps may be hewill learn from the new wicket keepr.

Akmal is becoming a liability for the team, I would not say that we lost the 3rd ODI to Indian due to his poor keeping but who knows what the result would have been had he held on to that catch of Ganguly. He has been very good in the past but I guess, we need to find an alternative and that needs to be done at once. PCB has given him enough chances. We cannot afford any lapses in our keeping it is as simple as that. Younas and Youssaf also need to sort out their running between the wickets. They both are very qucik betweeen the wickets but not very good judge of runs. They got to work on this and find a solutio asap, otherwise we will keep on lossing games due to poor runouts.

Mian Muhammed

Yes I think Kamran Akmal should take some rest. May be he is having a bad patch or so. He is not agile and active as he was before. He made some very basic mistakes in the last two three months. And its evenly better to give chance to Sarfaraz.

We should back them both and wish them luck.

salam,
yes i have been a stauch akmal backer since 2005 but now i feel he must be given a break. he has cost us DEAR in the last 18 months. Although I feel we may miss his batting in the test matches, we can not afford to be dropping the likes of dravid and tendulkar in the longer version. However if the new wicket keeper is also not in good touch with the gloves in the remaining odi's i would bring back kamran for the test matches, in the hope that he finds good form with the bat which in turn produces better glovework.

How conveniently akmal got injured in middle of a tour. Did Shoaab akthar break Kamrans fingers with the bat after 3rd ODI LOL:P

trUe!..

i wAs a kAmrAn aKmAl suPpoRter.. bUt thAT drOp oF gAngUlY, and sUbseqUent lOoSing oF teAm pAkistAn, chAnGed my thoughts.
hE nEedS rEsT.. and pAkistan should try a new wicketkeeper.. some-1 who can atleast keep well!!
if not bat wElL!!

lOoking forwArd tO thIs nEW wIcKet kEepEr!!

I would like to say something about the present pakistani team:-
(1).if asif is undoubtful for the full tour of india then mohammed sami should be called back.
(2)younis kahan should be given test captaincy instead of shoaib malik or it should be given to mohammed yusuf
(3)afridi should be made a regular opener in one day & T20's.In tests he's ok in middle order

Kamran was playing like SUPERMEN he never injured or unfit. He should take rest at least 6 month after that he should proof again in domestic cricket then comeback. Hope our selector not do some mistake again. If any captain wants to success he should have good wicketkeeper cum batsmen. Hope Sarfaraz will perform good in India. ALL THE BEST TO SARFARZ AND GOOD BYE TO KAMRAN..

There is a simple answer to this Kick Kamran Out of the Team , so much of new selection Committee. I am really disappointed with what Pakistan Team is doing right now. They players needs to Perform and especially the Pakistan Captain after hearing that he will be the Captain for Next year. what does he do try to be a INzamam ul haq. Stop every ball. He was successful coz he use to attack the team the same way he did it in last INdian series. Pakistan Lack real Match Winning players. ONly Afridi and Shoiab are the Match winners. But what can Shoiab do if Keeper doesn't catch the Ball. He did the same thing in first ODI and Now in Third. Come On Kic Kamran out PLease. I think his Injury is blessing in disguse.
Kuda key liyey Aqal karoo.

Every sensible cricket follower has been asking questions of kamran's form/ability/low morale since the England tour last year. Following on from that horrible show PCB sent a reserve keepr to SA but he was not even tried in a single match. Then the home series against SA and again we stuck with him and catches and stumpings went begging. Then came India tour and wise men like Rameez Raja were saying "It is too important a tour and would be intimidating for a ypung keeper" and we had to again bear with the buttered hands of Mr. Akmal. Initially I used to think it was loyalty to Inzamam which was keeping Kamran into the playing eleven but after yesterday match a frined of mine said "It must be Pervez Musharraf who wants him in, otherwise on present form he doesn't even deserve to be in Model Town club team".

Hmm. I know Akmal's form has been awful and that is easily, one of the biggest understatements of the year. But is replacing him mid-series the solution? I think we should let him continue till the end of the ODI series at least, and then let Sarfaraz take over for the test matches. As it is, even though Sarfaraz hit a half century against the Australian A side when they were touring Pakistan, it remains to be seen how he will fare with the bat in the remaining two games, provided he is given a chance.
Also, with regards to the previous game, what was the point of sending Afridi up the order? We had just won the game at Mohali with Afridi finishing it off in grand style...so what was the rationale behind changing a successful batting order? A ridiculous move. Even worse than the crazy shot played by Afridi.

Dear Kamran,

I totally agree with your suggestion to immediately induct Sarfaraz in the team for remaining one day internationals before putting him into the test team. This will certainly provide him some needed experience at this level and also helps him building his confidence for upcoming challanges.

You are too lenient to suggest that the change has arrived weeks or months late, it must arrived at least a year earlier. The glovework of Kamran Akmal was so pathetic that it has become a strain on Pak team. I was failing to understand what kind of backing he has been enjoying that everybody was keeping a blind eye towards him. But I believe everything is not lost and we could build from here onwards and hope that Sarfaraz would be able to prove himself at this level with same gusto as he has been demonstrating during his earlier assignments.

PCB should send Kamran Akmal along with Misba, Abdur Rehman and Imran Nazir to the Peshawer for Performance tunning.
They need it.

Shoaib Malik is also needs regular check up.

Gulab Khan
Peshawer

Thanks ALLAH at last PCB decided to drop Paksitan worst wicket keeper in the history.
But why they are keeping him with the team,
is it Malik wish for his buddy?

Malik another buddy Misba also needs to go.
I can not see any future in 34 years old Misba.
He is not a good filder and can not score more than 40 runs.
He put Paksitan in problem again in third one day by his slow inning in the begining of his inning.
Looks to me he wants to reserve his place in the team. It was not the team inning at all.
When he came to play, Pakistan needs 5.5 run per over to win the match.
When he outs Paksitan needs over 9 runs per over to win the match.

PCB should replace Misba by deserving Asim Kamal.
Asim Kamal doing well in domestic too.
Even though he does not need to proof any more that he is a good batsman with wonderful records/average.
I appreciate PCB decission to give break to Kamran Akmal.
Please do this break with Uncle Misba too.

Saima Khan
Islamabad

The problem with Pakistan team management, captain, players, media and in general the public is there is no such thing as introspection, there is no patience and endurance in engaging into deliberate thinking and finding the faults or the solution. They always jump to the obvious and take a decision without realizing the after effects or the results of that action.

They either continue to drag that liability, load, luggage, extra baggage burden whatever one may call it, till the end and, to the extent when it is impossible to continue, then they send SOS messages and jettison the drag. A player is not a luggage or an extra baggage that you can throw him off and ruin his career. Akmal's poor form does not justify in ruling him out of the team completely and forever. Like Harish has pointed out Akmal's achievements, we also know that he has contributed very well against India and even against Australia, in Australia. He is a talented player, he needs counseling and he needs coaching and guidance to correct the anomalies that he is making these days. What is Lawson's job? He is a coach with fast bowling experience and Pakistan never had a fast bowling problem - except for Shoaib Actor's drawmay baazi's - so shouldn't Lawson find someone else who can help Akmal? I think everyone in that camp wants to escape from taking the responsibilities whenever there is a defeat.

It is very easy for anyone to comment at hindsight and say we have predicted this and it happened. Like Dhoni can brag about this win now and say, "the decision to give Irfan PathanWa the new ball in the third ODI against Pakistan was a ploy to silence Shahid Afridi and dismiss him early." Everyone knew that Afridi would open the innings in Kanpur and we also know that in Gwalior Shoaib Malik will not send Afridi to open the innings. And that will be a big mistake. I am sure Dhoni also predicted that Akmal would drop Ganguly on the first ball and Butt would drop Yuvraj when he was on 26, right? Shoaib Malik's mistake was not in sending Afridi to open the innings at Kanpur, the mistake was in opting to field first after winning the toss.

Baray miyaan Euceph-ul, you better be sure and decide kay bathroom aaraha hai - ya aap jaa rehay hain? Also, make up your mind whether you need "Immodium extra strength" or EucephGhol ki Bhoosi? (isogel or Ispaghula) Because you don't know whats causing the rectal aneurysm and aggravating your pain in the ... and btw, zor kis pay howa? :-)

Being out of touch with the domestic scene, I am often left to deduce conclusions from the way things and events pan out. When PCB continued to persist with Akmal, I had surmised there was a severe dearth of wicket keepers in the country - not one keeper to replace a woefully out of form keeper - as far fetched as it seemed, it seemed to be the only explanation.

After the third ODI, I was convinced that desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps, there was a case to be made for Younis keeping while Akmal made way for Imran Nazir. After all, Younis couldn't be worse than Akmal, and Nazir would certainly be a better bet with the bat than Akmal.

Now that it has come to fore that PCB was sitting on a good prospect all this time, I feel it should be PCB and not Akmal who should be held responsible for the keeping woes of the team.

Here's wishing all the best to Sarfaraz, and wishing a speedy return to form to Akmal.

There is hardly any game in which Kamran Akmal does not drop any catches. First ball drop catch of Gnguly was a sitter. He took a brilliant catch of Tendulkar and as mentioned sarcastically by Ramiz Raja that Tendulker must be very angry with him that he drops catches of other players but always takes his catche even if it looks difficult! Karmran Akmal has problem moving his body on his left and Tendulkar’s catches were taken on his right side. Akmal has problem with his body movement and also he does not keep his eyes on ball. When he dropped Ganguly on first ball, it was not just Akhter who must be fuming but I was thinking that if I were Akhter I’d have gone to Malik and said, listen buddy if you want me to strike and perform for the team then get me a proper keeper. I can not get you wickets with this pathetic puppit who has been dropping Kaneria and Afridi before but now even the fast bowlers pray before bawling and feel so thankful every time Akmal holds a catch in his gloves. Also drop catch of Yuraj Singh cost Pakistan but atleast Salman Butt compensated it in his batting. PCB should have included Akmal’s back-up in the beginning but now they are realising that they made fool of themselves and cheated the nation by not showing courage and initiative before. It is not easy to drop an old player but in cricket one should not use sentiments or personal connections. PCB and selectors can not continue to fool the entire nation and millions of fans abroad who can see that Akmal needes much needed rest and technical training to rid from all his problems. Those who’re giving an excuse that Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed will be under tremendous pressure at this stage of tour. I dismiss this fear because I heard the same from people even at the beginning of tour that PCB should not try a new keeper because he and the captain will be under pressure. I think these players make their selection in the national team after playing and performing in domestic games for a long time. The team coach and captain should be there to tell these new lads that they are playing the same game so they should not take unnecessary pressure. It’s all about psychology and mental strength. PCB never trained their players to be mentally tough and have faith in their ability. If we keep showing our fears and stop trying young players and come up with the old lame excuses again and again then I think we will only harm ourselves and what we can see at the moment is the result of same fear. Why PCB has included Fawad Alam in the squad of they are not giving him chance. These thick headed selectors say that we take new players to tours so that they can learn! How can they learn without playing a game? If watching a game in stadium is called LEARNING then all those spectators who watch the game live should be more experienced than players like Alam! What a silly excuse not to give chance to a new boy! Also if Asif is unfit for the whole tour then Sami should be included in the squad as he is currently performing in the domestic matches. He has taken his career best 8 wickets for 39 in Quide- Azam trophy round against Sialkot.

Shoib Malik is looking like a rabbit and he was again reluctant to admit in the post match ceremony that match was lost due to below par bowling and lack of partnerships during run chase. Except Butt and Misbah nobody played with the same killer instinct that was visible in Mohali. At least Pakistan team should be able to figure out that it’s not just the poor fielding or drop catches that is hurting them but it’s the combination of everything that is not working well. This is why cricket is a game of team effort. On a given day 1 or 2 individuals can single handedly win the game but most of the time teams require all-round performance from more than just one or two players. They won in Mohali because almost everyone contributed but this time they were not good enough. Younas who scored century got out in a weird way. He did not know where his stump was! Similarly run out of Yousaf was a turning point and disastrous run out of Tanvir in the end was also a difference because he can hit fours and sixes. Why Jeff Lawson is not working on these weaknesess? After Inzi, Yousaf and Younas are most of the time involved in run outs at crucial stages. It badly hurts Pakistan. It should not be allowed to happen again and again!!

About Afridi, what to say, one day he suddenly becomes sensible but the other day he comes back to his norms! It was a gamble to send him as an opener considering his previous record of quickfire in Kanpur which did not work on this occasion. Afridi should have realised that Pathan always traps him and Dhoni has a reason to open with Pathan so he was required to hit the ball on it’s merit but he was swinging his bat on almost every ball which is not possible in the early overs because ball moves and swings a lot. This is the common sense that is spiling all his talents and good work in bowling. Also our spinners were not as effective as Indians in this inning. Butt played beautifully and I had a feeling he would score big and he did but alas, this time his century couldn’t stop the defeat. Pakistan team needed more than one partnerships and contribution from its seniors like Younas, Yousaf or Malik. They all failed and why Pakistan lost, tells the story!

Reasons Reasons Reasons That all they are that bloggers here can give. Plain simple Fact.India played better and won 3rd ODI clinically and at no stage did Pakistan look like winning despite Butts vain 129. Afrdid was once again fooled by Pathan who played on Afridi's ego once more to get him out.

In the 3rd ODI, Kamran Akmal was down right after dropping the catch on first ball, and he remained down and emotional throughout the match, i felt pity for him, someone like Malik was supposed to consolidate him as he was still part of the team and 50% match depends upon the keeper, although it was almost certain that Kamran wont get the next match.
Malik, somehow got lucky and won the toss then took a pathetic decision to field first, it was so evident that pitch will favor spin bowling in the later half of the match (it did) and we were playing with an extra spinner, Abdul-Rehman, frankly speaking he seems a waste to me , just being friends with Malik can't justify your place in the team.
Although Salman Butt played very well but i wont rate it as a good innings for the team because he stayed on crease for 47 overs and still he couldn't win the match for Pakistan even he couldn't put Pakistan into a winning position. This particular innings of Butt reminded me of why we love Afridi so much, believe me if he had stayed just for 15 overs then India would never have come back to the match and all these Yousufs and Misbahs would have easily sealed the win for Pakistan, but Afridi couldn't stay longer, a bit of recklessness and he got unlucky a bit as ball kept little low, lets hope he performs in next matches otherwise......

These guys that everyone keeps talking about. Sarfraz, zulqarnain, adnaan akmal are simply not good enough yet. They are OK wicket keepers, and may be better than Kamran but they would be a liability to the team when it comes to batting. Do we want to make our batting line up more fragile than it already is?

What is it about Selective ruthlessness. How about being ruthless with Afridi. The slog that he attempted was up there with the likes of Courtney walsh. He has made enough money. Why don't we be ruthless with him?. He is in need of psychological help way more than Akmal. Atleast Akmal is not doing it intentionaly.

Ok so after 3rd one day everyone is ready to criticise Akmal but no words of appreciation for Salman. Salman has proved yet again that he is the most talented young player in Pakistan. Coming back to Akmal, I agree that he is out of from so we should call a back up but than what is the selection criteria for that? Why Sarfraz, why not Zulqrnain or Mohd Salman ao any other wicket keeper? I have seen Sarfraz in couple of matches. He is pretty ordinary with bat and his wicket keeping skills are normal. I have nothing against the young Sarfraz but I am surprised to see that support for him on this blog is only based on ethinicity. Can you guys give me some records or stats to prove that Sarfraz was performing best in domestic cricket for last 2 years and he is better than others available at domestic level.

Removing Kamran Akmal from the side is a talk like the "Rising Sun" or the tide of the day - everyone is talking about the same thing. Everyone is after his blood, even the avatar of this blog created a new thread captioned "Blood him now." Sentiments and emotions are running high and it appears like it is the order of the day and it not obligatory but mandatory and must be complied with. People have drawn comparisons between him and his predecessors that they were like this or, like that. But, the fact is, none of them have a better batting record than Akmal. May be there is a marginal difference in terms of catches held i.e., if you compare Akmal's stats with them now. But, the point is you are comparing a 25 year old who made his debut 5 years ago with those who have spent their lives and ended their careers stretching over a period of 11 - 14 years is not fair.

Also, people talk about Imran Khan's great leadership skills and cite him as the benchmark or a yardstick to judge one's performance as a captain. The truth is Imran Khan was and still is, a dictator. If that is what the country wants, then they should not rue or complain against the General. When Imran Khan was a captain he never paid any attention to the selectors or the team manager - there was no designated coach during his days. So, he had a carte blanch to do whatever he wanted. It is also obvious from his political career that there is no one else besides him in his party (Tehrik-e-Insaaf or Movement for Justice) who can be called as his deputy or a leader who can lead the party during his absence.

I have earlier mentioned that, "The function of leadership is to produce more leaders and, not more followers." Unfortunately, Imran Khan did