Not many have shown the perseverance and pluck, and the courage and character, put on display by Kamran Akmal in recent times.

Yes, he was the butt of many a joke even in his heyday. Yes, he made a name for himself dropping dollies. And, yes, the team did move on after dumping him with the lack of ceremony that he so thoroughly deserved at the time. And, yet, he never lost hope and kept doing everything to push his case. In the spirit of giving the devil his due, with his recent return to the national team, Akmal has achieved something far beyond the myopic purview of lesser mortals.

Come to think of it, domestic cricket is not as competitive or meaningful as is the case with many of the other international sides. That being so it does not get that much leverage in selection matters at our end. The journey for the fresh aspirants is tough, but it is much tougher for people trying to get back because they are dumped after full-scale trial.

In Akmal’s case he got the sack after representing the country for a total of 261 times in various formats — 53 Tests, 154 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 54 T20s. In age terms, he was past 28 when the Test side decided it was better off without him. He was months short of being 32 when the ODI side took the same route. And a year later, the curtain came down in the wake of the disaster — personal and national — that was the World T20 in Dhaka.

But for his tenacity, Kamran Akmal would have been busy running domestic errands instead of playing domestic cricket which paved the way for his return

In his 250 completed international innings till then, Akmal had scored 6,713 runs at 27 per innings with 11 centuries and 27 fifties. More critically, he had 453 dismissals behind the wicket — 368 catches and 85 stumpings. Even more critically, he had almost as many missed chances against his name as a wicketkeeper. Okay, that is cruel to say and may be a bit too far from the truth as well, but he did miss at least half as many. That much is for sure and what this basically means is that each of his three sackings was absolutely justified on professional grounds.

But for his grit and guts, Akmal would have been busy running domestic errands instead of playing domestic cricket. But he surprised everyone with his level of commitment and self-belief because they were the two things that were often found missing in his international career.

To continue to play is one thing, but to play to prove a point is an entirely different prospect. For most people in his shoes, it has been hard to focus on the local tier. But Akmal did it. The selection and subsequent elevation of Sarfraz Ahmed to the rank of national captain would have dashed the hopes of any budding wicketkeeper-batsmen. But Akmal kept going while focusing on his batting and picking up the opener’s slot which is the Achilles heel of the national outfit. That was a really smart move.

Having said that, at 35 years the odds were against him quite heavily. And then came the recent fixing fiasco that hit the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) which wiped away — at least for the time being — not one, not two, but four openers: Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed. The first two, who had been in favour with the selectors of late, went early in the PSL and that apparently gave much impetus to Akmal’s campaign for he ended up scoring heavily in the latter half of the tournament; more than 225 versus less than 50 in the first half.

With due respect to Lady Luck, she did smile and smiled broadly, but the credit must go to Akmal for being there and having kept himself relevant. It is all an individual can be expected to do when caught in a tight corner for whatever reason. And the difference it makes is colossal. Just ask Salman Butt what it means.

With four openers out of the way, Butt still could not find a way in. If anything, he saw the doors shutting on him despite everything he has done on the field since his rehabilitation. And, mind you, he has posted decent scores of his own. But with spot-fixing once again in the spotlight, it is only understandable that the selectors and the administrative hierarchy would want to keep their distance from the man who was caught with both his hands in the proverbial cookie jar. And quite a jar it was. Words did do the rounds for Akmal as well, but they were just that: words. And that helped his cause as well.

Regardless of what he does on the tour to the West Indies and whether or not he even gets to make the playing XI, Kamran Akmal, with his selection, deserves a pat on the back. What he has achieved must have looked like a forlorn hope at various points in time over the last three years. That is the fun of chasing one’s dreams.

humair.ishtiaq@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 26th, 2017