Umar Akmal
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| Full name | Umar Akmal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 31 October 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Umar Akmal (born 26 May 1990 in Lahore) is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his ODI debut on August 1, 2009 against Sri Lanka.
Personal life
Umar is the youngest brother of Adnan Akmal and Kamran Akmal who are also cricketers. While his brothers are wicket keepers, he is a right-handed batsman and a part time spinner.
Early career
Umar represented Pakistan in the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. After his success at the U-19 level he earned himself a first class contract and played the 2007-08 season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, representing the Sui Southern Gas team. He is considered a future asset for Pakistan cricket. He is an aggressive style cricketer. In only his sixth first class match he smashed 248 off just 225 deliveries, including 4 sixes [1] He followed that up with an unbeaten 186 in his 8th first class match, off just 170 balls. He fared less well in his second season of first class cricket, with a string of low scores batting at number 3. He found form in the final few matches of the 2008/09 season and then in the RBS T20 tournament thus getting the selectors nod to play for Pakistan A side on their tour to Australia A.
Australia A Tour
Umar came to prominence during the Australia A tour in June/July 2009. In the two test matches he recorded scores of 54, 100*, 130, 0. In the ODI series that followed Umer continued his fine form with a century in the opening ODI encounter off just 68 deliveries. These performances made him gather considerable praise from the media who were there to witness him and calls began to grow about his inclusion in the ODI series for the main Pakistan side against Sri Lanka.[2]
ODI career
In an exclusive interview, Umar said "My own dream is to one day play for Pakistan alongside Kamran Bhai (Brother) and I'm working hard to try and achieve that goal".[3] This dream came true for Umar when he was selected in Pakistan's squad for the One Day International Series against Sri Lanka in July/August 2009. Having missed out on the first ODI Umar made his debut in the second match of the series replacing Mohammad Yousuf in the middle order. He had an average debut but showed signs of brilliance. In only his second career ODI Umar scored his maiden ODI fifty. Umar followed up his maiden fifty by scoring a brilliant century in the very next match. For this match winning effort he was awarded his first career Man of the Match award.[4] On his way to the landmark he displayed great shot selection and temperament. His exploits in Sri Lanka earned him a place in Pakistan's champions trophy squad, which was held in South Africa where he again proved that he is one of the brightest young batting talents to come from Pakistan in a long while. He played two very good innings. His 41 not out against West Indies was a match winning knock and landed him his second career Man of the Match award.[5] His next big innings came in the semi final against New Zealand where he scored a brisk 55. All signs point to a brilliant cricketer in the making.
ODI Centuries
| ODI Centuries of Umar Akmal | ||||||
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| # | Runs | Match | Against | City/Country | Venue | Year |
| [1] | 102* | 3 | Sri Lanka | Colombo, Sri Lanka | R.Premadasa Stadium | 2009 |