So far he just uses a space.
He is an OK keeper. Adnan Akmal is better and for some reason he was given chance over Adnan in LOI for his supposedly better batting skills.
Sorry selectors, the experiment has failed. Even Umar Akmal can keep okay and that opens up a space for an all rounder.
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
He's a good keeper and a decent batsman. He doesent drop sitters like Kamran Akmal, which in itself is a blessing. Adnan hasnt set the world alight with his batting either, so at the moment its fine to have Adnan keep for tests and Sarfraz in ODI.
Umar Akmal should NOT be keeping in ODIs period. He should be allowed to work on his batting, and not be distracted by keeping. We need Umar's runs, not his keeping ability.
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
Umar should keep the wickets cz neither sarfraz or Adnan are great WK batsmen
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
I'd second that. We should pick Adnan. If not Adnana, then Umer can keep the wickets giving us privileged of adding one more batsmen or all-rounder to the lineup.
Looking at things in BD, I believe Pakistan's batting is still really weak and will not stand the test of South Africa or Australia in their conditions so it will be a +ive if we can add one more batting all-rounder to the lineup.
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
Instead of asking Umar Akmal to keep, I'd rather have Taufeeq Umar as keeper and discard Imran Farhat. As ManiaX said, Umar needs to focus on his batting/temperament first.
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
Taufeeq Umar in ODIs will be a bigger disaster (but I agree not as much as Farhat's presence ;) )
I hear what ManiaX says. but Adnan Akmal has at least played some useful test knocks where Sarfraz looks way out of his depth at international stage.
Re: Sarfaraz Ahmed: A waste of space
He's a good keeper and a decent batsman. He doesent drop sitters like Kamran Akmal, which in itself is a blessing. Adnan hasnt set the world alight with his batting either, so at the moment its fine to have Adnan keep for tests and Sarfraz in ODI.
Umar Akmal should NOT be keeping in ODIs period. He should be allowed to work on his batting, and not be distracted by keeping. We need Umar's runs, not his keeping ability.
well how about if we create a ODI keeper out of Umar akmal?....not sure of distraction element..if sangakara can score 10,000 ODI runs while keeping 80% of time in over 300 ODIs, why cant umar akmal? I dont buy the argument that he will be tired and that will impact his batting... dhoni is another prime example...there are so many more examples that i can quote.
now i understand that sangakara was a specialist keeper but akmal is not terrible either. He is pretty reasonable and has kept at the first class regularly but to make things certain, umar can be given a task to improve his keeping with a clear mandate that he will be pak's first choice as a WC in ODIs....
i fail to understated when people say "he needs to focus on batting"......well he needs to focus on batting regardless of keeping....and by focus i mean when he is on the crease! he does not need to spend a lot of extra hours in nets to improve his batting because he is a one hell of a genuine gifted player with solid technique. What he lacks is patience and calmness and that is a different problem.
if we can convert umar into a specilaist WC batsmeen in ODIs, it would bring such a strategic balance into our team. We are and will always be weak batting side and it will open up a space for an extra batsman or an all rounder.