I have been impressed with this guy from the very first time I saw him bat against SA. He is neat, compact and a very confident player. He should be in the team on a permanent basis. To me he is a better batsmen than many of the new finds we have got at the moment.
IMO, today he played the shot of the match when he effortlessly hit Pathan for a six at long on. The guy has class and will definitely be an asset in the long term.
the good thing about him is that he doenst give many chances to the bowler and play a safe game…
i think he will be a great asset to our team in future :k:
This is what I wrote when the squad was announced before the test series started:
Hopefully the selectors will now keep faith with Asim as many of us on this board were calling for his inclusion BEFORE this match. A very sound temperament, great shot selection and hungry for the big scores. 40’s and 50’s are not enough for this guy, unlike Younis this guy wants to stay there and punish the opposition. A must for all future test matches :k:
Hopefully now we will see end of Younis khan,,, this guy proved that if given chance he could be play better than many. The only better finds after along time are Farhat, Asim and Hameed, but Hameed lacks compsure, his temperament is pathetic specially with the balls out side the off stumps, he got out many a times in the ODI and Test matches while playing out side the off stump and then his guys Farhat his stroke play is just cool, but he lacks concentration as well. The way he treid to complete his century was jsut pathetic (tying to smack Kumble out of ground), then immediately after his 100 he got out on a delivery which could be considered not as a wicket taking delivery.
anyway, still these guys are worthy enough to keep in the team. Specially in place of Younis khan we need some one like Asim Kamal.
yup! what a classical six that was off Irfan Pathan.
well … honestly speaking… Asim’s debut innings against the proteas didnt impress me much… he was very apprehensive and he took his chances there… so initially i was not in favor of his inclusion in the team… i was wishing Misbah rather in his place… BUT…
today… he really impressed everybody… played with patience…with some determination and he showed a very good defence against pathan and kumble.Now , i can say that he can be asset to our cricket future… :insha:
Re: Asim Kamal
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I’m glade you mentioned him. His was the classic game befitin for Test
cricket. Having said that, I would vote for him to PCB to give this guy
a long stay with the side in the middle orders to play a permanent
anchor roll. I think he was the original find during the WC and has been making room for this and that ( thats pethatic ), Watch him 4-5 yrs down the road , it would be some sight :insha:
Asim Kamal was excellent today. Although he was too slow in the beginning, where shoaib and him were staying on the crease, but not really scoring anything,,, I was afraid we,d spend all this time in the middle and end up with not many runs on the board, but they played quite well in the end. Shoaib and gul supported him well. And I was pleasantly surprised at his ability to hit 4s and 6s too.
All that aside, I think you guys are being too hard on younis khan. The guy can play long innings.He's got a double century in first class. He's quite confident, and has an excellent temprament. OK hes an under achiever, in a way that people know hes capable of a lot more than what his test record shows. But I reckon he can really deliver for Pakistan. He's got an average of 37, which isnt anything too special, but if we go by the selection criteria of performances in the first class, he's got 16 hundreds and 21 fifties in 69 matches at an average of 49.02, which is no mean achievement. He has that ability of staying at the crease without coming under any pressure. He shouldn't be wasted. I wouldnt mind seeing younis in the test side. But for now, Pakistan seem to be doing alright in that department. But he should be at least in the squad incase a batsman hits bad form, or gets injured. In ODI's though, if you are to play younis, play him higher in the order, cos he just isn't the type that can improvise and hit boundaries at will. He's good for that middle period where the innings needs stability, maybe from overs 20 till about 40. I wouldnt mind seeing him 1 or 2 down. Even this asim kamal chap looks pretty good. He looks solid, and can also hit boundaries when needed.
Kamal provides Pakistan’s platform
Asim Kamal was called into the Pakistan party to bolster their batting after the mauling in Multan.
He justified the selectors’ decision with a confident 73, to turn Pakistan’s promising lead into what should be a match-winning one.
A feature of his performance was his willingness to carry the responsibility of the lower order.
He arrived during the clatter of wickets in the first hour when Pakistan were already ahead and building.
But captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s minimum target lead of 200 was still some way away.
Kamal was prepared to let Shoaib Akhtar, his more experienced partner, control their eighth wicket stand of 46.
Then, no doubt obeying lunchtime instructions, he set about knocking Anil Kumble out of his stride. Having already struck Irfan Pathan for six, he launched another off Kumble over long on.
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pretty decent batsman with no-nonsense approach - had Inzamam or Yousuf stayed a little longer - i bet Pakistan’s lead could have been around 250-280 runs.
i wud never have him in an ODI team....
he is ok for the test team though....
maybe we shud have razzaq as his replacement in odis....
younis is still much better a player....
he, younis khan, shud be playing one-down for pakistan in ODI....
I've even got into a lil argument with bro and friends...i told them time to time that this guy is fine player. he proved it to them all. and a slap on their faces...
anyway i pray for him and team to contine the fine job...
is it Kamal or Akmal?
Impressive score by him and he deserved it. He was taking it easy and saved his wicket till the end. I hope to see him play more often in the coming matches. Good wicket keeping as well.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by NyFella: *
is it Kamal or Akmal?
Impressive score by him and he deserved it. He was taking it easy and saved his wicket till the end. I hope to see him play more often in the coming matches. Good wicket keeping as well.
[/QUOTE]
You are confusing two players. Asim Kamal is a batsmen who played a very good knock today. Kamran Akmal is the wicket keeper.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
You are confusing two players. Asim Kamal is a batsmen who played a very good knock today. Kamran Akmal is the wicket keeper.
[/QUOTE]
oh ok. Thanks ehsan bahi :).
yes he was very impressive today and he deserve to be in the team. he could be an ideal batsman for #6 position. His performance should finally take Razzaq out of the tests or so I hope.
excellent player :k:
U know when i saw him batting yesterday .... first i thought oh no what's he's doing ..... he should pull a "Sehwag" and slash everything comes his way ..... but once he was set (i would say he was set from the very 1st ball atlest he looked like) it was all about tiring the bowlers + fielders ..... He seems like he would never get out the way he played, defended to the likes of Kumble, Balaji and Pathan + Tendi ...... swung the bat when it was needed or it was a bad ball ...... i remember he missed only twice trying a cut shot off Kumble after Lunch ...... Most impressive was the way he guided tha tail around him ...... Dean Jones i guess said this kind of batting was displayed by S. Waugh once he use to bat with the tail ...... means even taking a single on the very 1st ball of the over ..... i hope he will be not axed for the next match .....
although it's a gamble but what about Razzler as an OPENER ?????
i would like to keep him for the Pindi test and instead of Taufeeq bring Razzaq in if Razzaq has to play otherwise i think this 11 should play the 3rd Test ...... never change a winning team
Now F&B knows why were we insisting on Asim's inclusion!
Kamal has Hayden’s mark in sight](http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2004/apr/08kamal.htm)
Playing his third Test, Asim Kamal scored a mature 73 off 142 balls and guided Pakistan to a handsome 202-run lead over India in the second Test at Lahore.
After five seasons of domestic cricket, the Karachi boy believes he is finally on the way to accomplishing his father’s dream.
“Abbu chahte hai ki main Matthew Hayden ka 380 runs ka record pura karu [My father wants me to break (Aussie batsman) Mathew Hayden’s record of 380 runs],” Kamal told rediff.com.
Kamal’s father is partially blind and requires dialysis twice a week. He is suffering from a kidney disorder since Kamal started playing domestic cricket in 1997.
“We struggled a lot financially because of my father’s illness. My mother handled the entire situation. I pray that everyone gets a mother like mine,” he says, informing that his mother, a school principal, has gone through a lot of hardships to bring up her five sons and a daughter.
“I have been waiting for a chance to play for my country. I don’t set small goals for myself. I want to get to that record [Hayden’s] just for my father.”
Kamal is only the third player in the annals of Test cricket to be dismissed on 99 in his debut Test. (Robert Christiani and Arthur Chipperfield are the other two)
He was dismissed for 99 against South Africa, at the Gaddafi Stadium, but he feels that though the knock was an important on, because “a first is always a first”, his innings against India will be his best. Of course, till he gets to the world record.
“I would rate this innings higher than the 99, because I played freely here. There was no pressure. I was confident when I walked out to bat,” he says.
Kamal said even when Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul Haq were going great guns he was mentally prepared to get out in the middle and bat if wickets fell quickly.
“That’s cricket. You have got to be prepared for whatever situation. And if you can handle it you are through.”
He admits there were phases in the innings when he did not punish half-volleys and full tosses because he realized the importance of his wicket at that juncture.
“I had to bat slowly and complete the target we had set in our minds,” he said.
He, of course, believes that his strength of staying at the wicket and making others bat around him has become a barrier in his candidature for the one-day side.
“I don’t believe that I am not cut out for one-day cricket. You have to stay at the wicket even then. Right now there is no place in the side but I will pull my place in the one-day side. I am working very hard on my fielding. It has to be extraordinary if I have to make it to the one-day side.”
Inspired by the likes of Saeed Anwar and Brian Lara, the left-handed Kamal revealed that batting against India was the most special moment of his career and he would cherish it forever.
“A performance against India is great. Uska alag maza hai [the satisfaction is different]. Indians are world class players and I have a lot to learn from them.”
Once the Lahore Test is over he hopes to meet up with some of them and ask for guidance. "Their [Indians’] class is something else.
Sachin Tendulkar sach mein banda hai. Itna world class player hai magar zara sa ghamand nahi hai. Sach mein wo world class banda hai [Tendulkar is really cool player; despite being so great he has no airs about himself]," he says, completely in awe of Tendulkar.
Kamal shares a special relationship with India.
“All my relatives from my father’s side are from India. Most of my aunts stay in Lucknow and Gorakhpur. I came there as a child when I was 10 years old. I wish I can visit India sometime soon.”
A good showing henceforth will certainly earn him a trip when Pakistan tours.
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