Umar Akmal is as enthralled for the World Cup 2015 as one could be. The star batsman reveals his plans in an interview with DawnNews.
Umar Akmal has had an odd career.
From starting off in glorious fashion and earning praise from masters like Sunil Gavaskar and Ian Chappell, Umar gradually regressed to being more of a wicket-keeper batsman and later a middle-order 'impetus provider'.
But the 24-year-old is looking at the upcoming World Cup to redeem himself as the prodigious batting talent that he has looked like even though the instances have been few and far between.
Recalling the start of his career, he attributes his initial success to senior players Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi, who he say played a pivotal role in him getting his maiden international century, which eventually brought him to the fore on the international stage.
“Shahid bhai said to me, ‘you if can make a 100 Umar, it will be a remarkable moment for you’.”
And though there were a few more 'moments' like the one against Sri Lanka in 2009, Umar has fallen through the cracks, as the saying goes, in a system which is devoid of the ability of managing talent.
Then there have been rumours of the Akmal brothers having personal connections within the team management.
“This is not the team of Akmal brothers, this is the team of the whole Pakistan,” Umar said in response to those allegations and prefers to focus on the World Cup.
About a popular belief that Pakistani players lose their ground in major events against powerful teams such as India, he said he was equally surprised why the team ends up failing against it South Asian neighbours.
He hopes the upcoming World Cup will see an end to this custom, adding that the confidence being provided by team management and coaches has been a morale booster.
Umar denied rumours about the conjecture that fitness issues that led to his dropout from a few ODIs and said that he has been in his top form for a long time. He was in fact ready to don the wicket-keeping gloves if required just to prove that point.
He said he was satisfied with the team selected for the World Cup and that all the players had high hopes about the performance in the first match against India to be played on Feb 15 in Adelaide, Australia.
“It is our utmost effort to perform our best against India,” he said. “If we continue with the same form we are sure to emerge victorious.”
