da betsson： A finger injury to Umar Akmal has lessened the chances of him replacingbrother Kamran as Pakistan’s wicketkeeper in the match against Zimbabwe
Osman Samiuddin in Pallekele 11-Mar-2011
Kamran Akmal is likely to be retained as Pakistan’s wicketkeeper after a finger injury to his brother Umar•AFP
A finger injury to Umar Akmal has lessened the chances of him replacingbrother Kamran as Pakistan’s wicketkeeper in the match against Zimbabwe onMonday in Pallekele. Though the injury to Umar’s right index finger is notthought to be serious, it is unlikely now that the management will riskusing him behind the stumps, allowing Kamran to probably retain his placein the XI despite his horror show in the 110-run loss to New Zealand onTuesday.Umar picked up the knock in fielding practice on Thursday at the Asgiriyastadium in Kandy, when he also kept wickets for a while. He sat out thepractice session on Friday at the same venue, with his finger instrapping. According to manager Intikhab Alam, scans and an x-rayrevealed no damage but no risks were taken in putting him through apractice session.In the immediate aftermath of the New Zealand game, captain Shahid Afridisaid they would consider using Umar as a wicketkeeper – a role he hasfilled in one ODI and three T20s – after Kamran fluffed three chances,including missing centurion Ross Taylor twice in three balls when he wason 0 and 8. Since then, despite criticism from all quarters, Pakistan havespoken of the need to back Kamran though they’ve stopped short ofconfirming his place in the XI.The timing and consequence of Umar’s injury is bound to raise eyebrows,especially in light of what happened after the infamous Sydney Test inearly January 2010. Then, after another poor display behind the stumpsfrom Kamran hurled the side towards a stunning Test defeat, Umarreportedly refused to play the next Test in Hobart if his brother wasdropped. Eventually Kamran was replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed, despite tellingthe press repeatedly in the run that he would retain his place. Thebrothers were both subsequently fined by the PCB after an inquirycommittee looked into the incident.As Umar sat out, Pakistan underwent an extensive, three-hours plustraining session at the Asgiriya in which they simulated match-play in abid to give their struggling openers some valuable batting time in themiddle. With Waqar Younis umpiring and coaching, Umar Gul and ShoaibAkhtar took the new ball and bowled by turn to Ahmed Shehzad and MohammadHafeez, who in four matches have put on 11, 28, 16 and 5; the pair has 93runs between them and neither has gone past 32 individually.They didn’t particularly flourish today, being dismissed a few times each asAbdur Rehman and Abdul Razzaq also bowled. “We especially focused on thetop order in today’s practice because they got out early in the previousgames and didn’t get much practice with the new ball,” Misbah-ul-Haq said.”They practised for 20 overs so that they get used to it and have theirconfidence back. It was a good thing keeping in mind the match situationwhich will be helpful.”Eventually all players in the squad were given a run-out in the samesituations; Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq batted together, Misbah andAfridi, Misbah and Razzaq and then Kamran and Razzaq; Wahab Riaz and SaeedAjmal, who have played only one match each, bowled in tandem, mixing withJunaid Khan and Afridi. Younis kept wickets while Kamran was batting.Though the beginning of the session lacked the energy of previouspractices – understandable perhaps given the nature of their loss – thecontests soon picked up. “At the moment our focus is on our own game andwe will try to restore our confidence levels which were shaken in the gameagainst New Zealand,” Misbah said. “We will try to line up all our basicsin the game against Zimbabwe before and I have every hope that the sidewill bounce back.”All eyes, however, were on the brothers Akmal and particularly Kamran’skeeping. He looked sharp and perky enough though there were a few fumblesas well. There was greater certainty with the bat, however, as he pulledand cut the faster bowlers to the boundary regularly while at the crease.Misbah sketched out the team line later, a growing show of support behindthe wicketkeeper.”It makes difference when you give such chances but then anyone can have abad day, whether its keeper or anyone,” Misbah said. “As a team we have tostay together. We’re going to support each other, back each other becausethese are the players who commit mistakes and these are the same playerswho win you matches.”It’s mentally tough for him in this situation and he has faced suchsituations before too. Our full effort is to support him becausewicketkeeper is a key member of the team and the way he is, the way hecomes back in difficult situations and gives good performances I hope hewill make a comeback and do well again.”