The scrutiny on Pakistan's wicket keeper - batsman, Kamran Akmal, may seem harsh. But one would have to say Akmal brought about his own undoing through his efforts, or lack of it. But the Pakistan Cricket Board is clearly keeping the faith.
kamran akmal ross taylor
This must seem like really bad timing because the PCB put out the list of centrally contracted Pakistan cricketers and it includes Kamran who missed the opportunity to dismiss Ross Taylor not once but twice in the Pakistan v New Zealand match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Those blunders were not only glaring in light of this being such a prestigious tournament but also, Taylor gave the Pakistan team a punishment of a lifetime in the most astounding run making spree yet in this tournament.
The PCB has made no attempts to quell the concerns of Shoaib Mallik and Danesh Kaneria which means neither name features on the list. While Younis Khan has clearly won over the officials through his performances, Mohammad Yousuf's return to cricket has been marked by injury and now by the board ignoring him altogether.
Shoaib Akhtar has the license to continue to work up his return with a Category A grade, the same grade that Kamran Akmal has been bracketed in despite his poor wicket keeping that has been the cynosure of eyes for beyond the World Cup, particularly after the spot fixing scandal that has ruled out the prospects for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer.
Akmal's brothers find themselves in the two other categories and it will not be surprising that the negative impact Kamran has had after his horrendous keeping against New Zealand in a crushing performance, that it could be his brother who could end up taking his place in the wicket keeping slot. That should set off a controversy of sorts in an otherwise relatively quiet campaign for Pakistan.
In the list released by the Pakistan Cricket Board, here is now the Pakistan cricketers stake up in the grades:
Category A: Younis Khan, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar.
Category B: Muhammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz.
Category C: Taufiq Umar, Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Adnan Akmal, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan
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