I don’t know why everyone is being so negative about Akmal. Yes he drops simple catches at times which is annoying but the guy can atleast bat unlike Sarfaraz. Despite all the hype I keep reading about Sarfaraz, from what I have seen of him so far neither his keeping nor his batting is any better than Akmal’s.
Our batting (minus Yousuf) is thin as it is so dropping Akmal (who can bat) would not have been a very wise and sensible decision IMO. Akmal has the most test hundreds (5) of any Pakistani wicket-keeper. He is no Gilchrist or Sangakkara but his test average of almost 32 is very respectable.
And like him or not Akmal’s dismissal/innings ratio of 2.0 compares favourably with some of the top wicket-keepers of all time. That is pretty good considering:
- he drops too many chances
- our bowling has been mediocre at best in recent times i.e. Akmal never had the luxury of standing up to the two W’s (which is probably just as well!!)
Kamran Akmal
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/41028.html
Leading Test Wicket-Keepers
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283791.html