Kamran Akmal, a regular feature in Pakistan’s national setup in the last decade, faced the axe from the national side pertaining to his lack of form and fitness issues. However, the ouster from the team didn’t disappoint the wicket-keeper batsman who continued to churn out runs in Pakistan’s domestic circuit.
After realizing it was far fetched from his to make a Test comeback, Akmal saw his focus on the limited-overs format in his bid to make a return to Pakistan’s limited-overs team. However, despite scoring consistently at the domestic level, Akmal has been devoid of enough opportunities to re-instate faith among selectors and team management.
In PSL 5, Kamran is a part of Peshawar Zalmi. The opening batsman is one of the key batters for his franchise. Even in the past few seasons in PSL, Akmal has shown his T20 prowess and the skills to still manufacture runs at the top of the order. His stats presents his case for a possible feature in Pakistan’s T20I squad.
Based on numbers alone Kamran Akmal should be in Pakistan’s T20 XI. He’s been the best local PSL batsman, exploits the Powerplay & is a great player of spin. His wicket-keeping is nowhere near as bad as people think – certainly not bad enough to override his batting. #HBLPSLV
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) February 21, 2020
He’s a good player of spin and can handle a decent pace. He backs himself to play the high-percentage shots with minimal in the powerplay. However, the flip side of the argument suggests that Akmal has often failed to convert his chances at the international whenever he has been offered a chance to prove a point.
Based upon his T20 performances in the previous few PSL seasons, Akmal was roped in Pakistan’s T20I side at various junctures in his playing career. While he was a hit at the domestic level, international cricket was too tough for him to handle. He averaged 16.11, 12, and 22.5 on three occasions when he was offered an opportunity.
Kamran Akmal’s last three comebacks in T20Is
Year 2012: Innings 12, Runs 145, Average 16.11
Year 2014: Innings 4, Runs 48, Average 12.00
Year 2017: Innings 4, Runs 90, Average 22.50
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) February 21, 2020
However, one can still argue that he has played merely eight T20I innings in the last six years for Pakistan. While consistency is an important parameter to judge one’s ability at the highest level, it can also be seen that he has never been given a longer rope just like youngsters after the same amount of failures.
At 38, Kamran might be past his prime but does possess certain maturity and experience which is indeed lacking in Pakistan’s current T20I team. He still is the highest run-getter in the PSL history, even ahead of the likes of Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, and Ahmed Shehzad. His latest 26-ball exploit in PSL 5, once again alludes to the value that he can add to Pakistan’s T20I squad in the future.
