Kamran Akmal of Peshawar Zalmi plays a shot in the first match against Islamabad United. (Photo by M Sajjad)
Dubai - Akmal scored 88 from 48 balls with six boundaries and half a dozen lusty sixes for Peshawar Zalmi
Published: Fri 10 Feb 2017, 3:14 PM
Last updated: Fri 10 Feb 2017, 11:52 PM
The emergence of Sarfraz Ahmed, in part, as well as some dodgy wicketkeeping has seen Kamran Akmal on the sidelines for close to three years now.
Akmal had, once upon a time, made the spot, his own, but it was more to do with his batting exploits, than anything else. But his errors behind the stumps were glaring enough for the selectors to make the tough call of axing him.
But then, Akmal is back on the fringes after scoring a bucketful of runs in domestic cricket over the past couple of years.
He has been scoring plentiful of runs in first class cricket, giving the selectors more than enough reasons to pick him.
And on Thursday night, the 35-year-old did not harm to that by coshing an impressive 88 from 48 balls with six boundaries and half a dozen lusty sixes for Peshawar Zalmi in the season 2 opener of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).
But it was to be in a losing cause though as defending champions Islamabad United won the fixture with seven wickets and two balls to spare, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The Zalmis had racked up 190, a total which was midway revised after a light drizzle briefly stopped play. Islamabad United then got over the line, getting past the D/L target of 173 from 18 overs, with Australian veteran Brad Haddin turning back the years with 73 from 39 balls, with eight boundaries and three sixes. This was after opener Dwayne Smith had made 55 from 49 balls with eight boundaries and a six.
Haddin's countryman Shane Watson remained unbeaten on 26, after he had taken 4-44 earlier.
"Of course, I'm disappointed that I couldn't get a hundred but I'm more disappointed that the team didn't win," Akmal said.
"Over the past two years, I've been saying that I've been focussing on my batting a lot more. In the England team, more than one wicketkeeper can play if the team combination is right. So, if I get the chance based on my performances, I will hopefully play," he added.
Akmal left the decision on the door of the selectors and team management, if they see it fit to include him in the team combination.
"My job is to perform on the ground and show my fitness. It is not just this 88. If you see the performances over the past two years, I have been doing well. I'm performing well in domestic cricket. It is now up to the selectors and team management," said Akmal.
"In domestic cricket, the focus has always been that wherever I play, I try and give my best and come up with a good performance. Whenever I get back to international cricket, I will think about it. As of now, my focus is on the PSL and Peshawar Zalmi and that we perform well. We shall see what happens after the PSL," he added.
Akmal has 3168 runs from 154 ODIs with his highest being 124 against the West Indies in Brisbane in 2005. He last played an ODI against India in the ICC Champions Trophy in Birmingham in 2013. He had made 21.
His last T20 International was against the West Indies in the World Twenty20 in Dhaka in 2014, where he was out for nought. He has played 54 T20 Internationals scoring 897 runs, with his highest being 73.
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