LAHORE – Aggrieved Pakistan cricket fans have taken to the internet to take out their frustrations with hapless wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. Kamran missed two easy chances to dismiss Ross Taylor, on nought and eight, as the birthday boy went on to hit a century and help New Zealand to a 110-run win. Taylor did most of his damage in the final five overs as the Black Caps posted an imposing 302 for seven before bowling Pakistan out for just 192. And the gloveman’s performance prompted disgruntled fans to head onto Twitter and Facebook to air their grievances.
Referring to former keeper Zulqarnain Haider, who fled the squad in Dubai last year, Farhan Saya tweeted “Has Kamran applied for political asylum in Sri Lanka?” Some fans went as far as posting Kamran’s home address for people to express their anger directly.
Zafar Iqbal posted a message on Facebook: “World’s greatest birthday gift declared by Guinness — Kamran Akmal for Ross Taylor.”
Cricket is the number one sport on the subcontinent and such displays of anger are fairly common. Just days ago the West Indies team bus was stoned as it left the ground after their win over Bangladesh while in 2007 angry fans attacked the homes of Indian players after their early exit from the World Cup. It wasn’t just the fans who made their feelings know, as former players lined up to have a go at the hapless keeper too. “I only notice when Kamran performs well behind the stumps, bad wicket keeping is routine for him,” a sarcastic Rashid Latif, a former national team wicket-keeper, told AFP.
Another former captain and wicket-keeper Moin Khan blasted team management for keeping faith in Kamran. “It’s wrong to play Kamran consistently after his poor keeping,” said Moin. “When you give so many chances in a World Cup match, you have to pay the price.”
Former captain Imran Khan said Pakistan must move on from the defeat. “Pakistan should learn fast from their mistakes and move on from here, if they don’t it will hurt their campaign.”
Another former paceman Sarfraz Nawaz believed the bowlers were demoralised by the costly lapses. “Once Kamran dropped those catches, the bowlers got demoralised and his poor keeping cost Pakistan the match,” said Nawaz.
