Kamran Akmal

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Kamran Akmal
batsman
Relations
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 172)9 November 2002 v Zimbabwe
Last Test26 August 2010 v England
ODI debut (cap 143)23 November 2002 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI11 April 2017 v West Indies
ODI shirt no.23
T20I debut (cap 3)28 August 2006 v England
Last T20I2 April 2017 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005–2012
Chittagong Vikings
2016–2022Peshawar Zalmi (squad no. 23)
2019–2020Central Punjab
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC
Matches 53 157 58 249
Runs scored 2,648 3,236 987 13,481
Batting average 30.79 26.09 21.00 38.29
100s/50s 6/12 5/10 0/5 33/62
Top score 158* 124 73 275
Catches/stumpings 184/22 157/31 28/32 871/66
Source: ESPNricinfo, 5 September 2022

Kamran Akmal (Punjabi, Urdu: کامران اکمل; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, coach and former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with a Test match at Harare Sports Club.[3] Akmal was a member of the Pakistan team that won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.

In February 2023, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket due to his new commitments in cricket administration and coaching.[4]

Personal life

He was born to Mohammad Akmal Siddique, a senior cricket administrator, in a large family consisting of a sister and seven brothers, Kamran being the fourth of them, while two of his younger brothers, Adnan Akmal and Umar Akmal, are also professional cricketers, the former being a wicket-keeper batsman and the latter being a specialist batsman, as well as a part-time wicket-keeper.[5] Pakistani batsman and former captain Babar Azam is also his first cousin.[6]

He is an alumnus of the Beaconhouse School System.[7][8]

He married the daughter of former Test cricketer Mohammad Ilyas in 2006 and lives with his wife and children.[9][10]

International career

Kamran Akmal was a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in

India in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring England in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team. Naturally, he is a batsman that plays lower down the order but has also opened in limited over formats.[11][12][13]
As an opener he has scored two back to back centuries in ODIs against England. Coming in lower down the order in Test matches, he played one memorable innings. He saved Pakistan from a score of 39/6, scoring a century, to a competitive 245 which helped Pakistan win the match and the series.

His batting was highly productive in early 2006 as he scored seven international hundreds within the space of 6 months. Since his

wicket-keeping also worsened and dropped many catches on both the England tour and on a tour to South Africa
in early 2007. He then scored an international hundred in the Bangladeshi tour of Pakistan in 2008. He later moved to have some injuries and did not play for some days but later he was again brought into the team.

Akmal was dropped for the

2008 ICC Champions Trophy
.

Akmal was part of the Pakistan team that won the

T20 World Cup in 2009
. He was notable for his quick stumpings, dismissing 4 batsmen in one match against Netherlands.

On 12 November 2008, Akmal hit three consecutive 6s in the last over. As a result, Pakistan won the first ODI in Abu Dhabi against West Indies.

On 17 July 2010, Akmal was appointed the vice-captain of the Pakistani Test squad but later removed because of his alleged involvement in spot fixing.[14]

In August 2012, Akmal was recalled for the three ODI series against Australia.[15]

In March 2013, he played the five ODI matches of the tour to South Africa.

In May 2013, he played an ODI for the tour to Scotland, the second ODI being abandoned because of rain, while few days later he also played both ODIs against Ireland.

In June 2013, he was part of the national squad for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

In April 2017, he played the three ODIs of the tour to the West Indies, these matches being the last time he would play for the national team.

In February 2023, Akmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.[16]

T20 franchise career

IPL career

Akmal was signed on to the Rajasthan Royals, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He played five matches in the tournament, as a Wicket-keeper and top-order batsman, including the final of the tournament against the Chennai Super Kings. He took two catches in the first innings, however, he was run out for only six runs during the Royal's chase. The Royals won the tournament after a thrilling finish. He did not participated in the IPL 2009 because Pakistani players were not allowed to play in that season as a result of the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

PSL career

Kamran was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the

Imtiaz Ahmed award for the best wicket keeper of the season with a total of 12 dismissals.[19] His other PSL centuries are against Lahore Qalandars during the 2018 PSL[20] and against Quetta Gladiators during the 2020 PSL.[21] He has the most PSL centuries
, with three of them.

Other leagues

In 2015, Kamran Akmal played for

Dambulla Hawks in the Lanka Premier League but he pulled out after few days due to shoulder injury.[28][29]

He is captain of Kotli Lions in the inaugural edition of Kashmir Premier League.

T10 franchise career

Kamran was picked by the Maratha Arabians side in the inaugural edition of

Qatar T10 League in 2019 where he was picked by Swift Gallopers.[32][33]

Domestic career

In the

Lahore Whites against Islamabad in the 2017–18 National T20 Cup.[35][36] He became the first batsman for Pakistan to score 150 runs in a T20 match.[37] He also hit the most number of sixes in a domestic T20 match in Pakistan and became the third batsman to make five consecutive fifties in T20 cricket.[38] During the 2017–18 National T20 Cup he along with Salman Butt set the world record opening partnership in T20 history of unbeaten 209 runstand, surpassing the previous highest opening partnership of 207 in any form of T20 cricket held by Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond.[39][40][41][42][43] The record runstand was also the third highest partnership in terms of runs for any wicket in T20 history.[44]

In April 2018, he was named as the captain of Federal Areas' squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.[45][46] In the opening fixture of the tournament, against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he scored 105 runs and was named the man of the match.[47] He was the leading run-scorer for Federal Areas in the tournament, with 313 runs in four matches.[48] In March 2019, he was named as the captain of Punjab's squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.[49][50]

In September 2019, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.[51][52]

Cricket administration

In January 2023, he became the head of a selection committee for domestic age-group teams, conducting trials for the selection of the U-13, U-16 and U-19 regional and district sides.[53]

In February 2023, he was also made a member of Haroon Rasheed's national selection committee.[54]

Later in February 2023 he withdrew from the senior and junior selection panels as he had a contract with some private TV channel for the coverage of 2023 PSL, and found that appearing there as a PCB official would lead to a conflict of interest.[55]

Coaching career

In February 2023, he was appointed the batting mentor for Peshawar Zalmi.[56] Akmal also served as the head coach of Peshawar for an exhibition match against the Quetta Gladiators when regular head coach, Daren Sammy, was not available.[57]

Controversies

Match fixing allegations

In the 2nd Test match in Sydney on the

Twenty20 series against England.[58]

In early September 2010, the

match-fixing but the ICC interrogated him and excluded him from the investigation, therefore, he was allowed to take part on the tour against South Africa that included two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODI matches and two Test matches. Though this has not been confirmed by the board, it is believed that the reason they were not picked was that the suspicion had not been cleared.[60] The ICC confirmed that Akmal had been barred from entering the team. Once his investigation was completed he was available for national selection.[61]

Wicket-keeping

Kamran Akmal has always been criticized for his lack of consistent wicket-keeping. He has often been a subject of ridicule by being referred to as a goal keeper rather than a wicket-keeper.[citation needed]

After another horrendous series behind the stumps against

Sarfraz Ahmed. After this tour, Akmal saw a steady improvement in his wicket-keeping for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, 2010 Asia Cup and against Australia in July 2010. However, in the next test series against England, Akmal dropped three easy catches and missed a stumping chance. During the match, he took a superb catch of Kevin Pietersen before dropping a catch of Paul Collingwood on the very next ball. In the first innings, Akmal dropped a catch of Eoin Morgan when he was on 23 and then went on to score 130.[65] Despite having another keeper, Zulqarnain Haider, in the squad, Pakistani captain Salman Butt announced it was too early to decide the fate of Kamran Akmal, as just one match has been played.[66]

On 13 October 2020, in the 2020–21 National T20 Cup, Akmal became the first wicket-keeper to affect 100 stumpings in Twenty20 cricket.[67]

Television

Year Show Channel Note
2022-2023 The Ultimate Muqabla ARY Digital Adventure-action reality show[68]

References

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  5. ^ Wilson, Andy (21 January 2012). "Adnan Akmal keeps family flame burning for Pakistan against England". The Guardian.
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  68. ^ Nadeem, Syed Omer. "The Ultimate Muqabla Is Almost Here And It Will Enthrall You". ARY Digital. The Ultimate Muqabla features Pakistani cricket bigwigs like Imad Wasim, Fawad Alam, Saeed Ajmal, Kamran Akmal, and Azam Khan [...]

External links