Mr and Mrs Akmal can be mightily proud of their contribution to Pakistan cricket, in particular the nation’s wicketkeeping stocks.
They produced seven sons and three have gone on to play for Pakistan, the latest being wicketkeeper and son No 5 Adnan, who replaced son No 1 Kamran in the test team late last year.
Kamran was today recalled to one-day team for the six-match series against New Zealand, replacing Adnan on the tour.
He will be joined in the squad by son No 7 Umar, the dashing young batsman who scored 129 and 75 on test debut against New Zealand at Dunedin last summer but was 12th man in the first test victory at Hamilton last weekend.
Remarkably, Umar also keeps wickets at international level, mainly in Twenty20 matches, raising questions about whether, in the mad rush for the gloves, anybody actually remembered to pick up the bat and tennis ball on the way to their family matches each Sunday growing up in Lahore.
Someone must have, because all three are accomplished batsmen who are attractive to watch and able to punish any bowling attack. Adnan, 25, has no hesitation in rating Kamran, 29, who averages 30.79 from 53 tests, as the best batsmen but Umar, still just 20, is one of the most exciting prospects in world cricket.
Adnan has the least impressive record of the trio, averaging just 22.70 from 76 first class matches, but his elegant 44 in the first test at Hamilton – his third at that level – suggested the statistics did not tell the full story.
He is working hard on his batting skills but it appears keeping comes naturally.
“He was the boy ball in 1996-97 and I was involved with Pakistan at that time,” current team manager and former test player and coach, Intikhab Alam, says of Adnan. “He used to come with his wicketkeeping gloves and stand outside the Gaddafi Stadium (in Lahore), we needed another keeper so we used to call him.
“He used to come in and stop the balls and this is how he actually got started.”
Adnan played for the national under-17 team in 2000-01 but had to wait until last November to make his test debut, against South Africa at Dubai. Kamran, who had a mortgage of the gloves then, was one of three cricketers reportedly asked by the Pakistan Cricket Board to submit details of bank accounts and assets from the last three years, to remove themselves from any suspicion of spot-fixing. He was not selected during that time. Adnan said his eldest brother had been supportive right throughout his career, even when he was named in place of Kamran for the South Africa series and the test component of this tour. “He is good to practise my wicketkeeping skills with, it’s great for me to have Kamran coaching me and telling me things about wicketkeeping,” Adnan said.
“He told me to do your best for Pakistan so that people will remember you.” Adnan has no qualms with dropping out of the touring squad for the one-day internationals, saying he wanted to concentrate on test cricket and improve his batting before he could be considered in the same echelon as Kamran. “I’m so happy I’m playing in test cricket now, I’m just working hard and trying my best. I’m not disappointed my brother has replaced me. I need to improve on my batting also.” Alam said: “They appreciate each other when one of them has done well and encourage each other, and they are keen to learn from one another.”
Courtesy Stuff.co.nz
