I have a feeling Umar Akmal can do the opening job in near future! [merged]

And in near future means couple of years not next test ,the reason is that hes got a solid backfoot defense which is a must in non-subcontinent wickets and also he is not that bad against the full out swinging delivery and the main important thing about him is his temperament to stay at the wicket without playing any rash shot I think we should start promoting him first to no.4 then no3 and eventually as a an opener ,Yea it might sound crazy but he is certainly got all the ingredients to be a successful opener in near future and in this way we can play another batsman even if not technically sound but with strong temperament.

No
Keep him where he is suceeding.
Please don't even think about meddling with such a talent.

Yea first he need to cement his place in the team and then we can start promoting him just like Nathan Astle who started as a middle order I believe and eventually turn in to an opener.

He is a middle order batsman and we should leave it at that. Umar Akmal is going to be our replacement for Yousuf Inshallah. No way do I want to see him pushed up the order into the opening slot.

That is how you ruin talented individuals.

Its not ruining as like his brother he can play at any number (he bat at no8 in practice match in lanka and still manage 80 odd if I am not wrong)

thats what happened in the past..we use our top batsman as openers...inzi....YK..ijaz..etc...
i hope we do not use umar akmal as opener...let him stay in middle order!!

Leave him where he is please.

He is a special talent and shouldn't be messed around with. Let him settle in the team first and in one position.

I know the OP said in a few years but he is a middle order batsman.

Seriously!!! if it's not broken why fix it?
Geez

umar akmal belongs at no.5 not opening,not 6 where he cant impact and not no.3

Get your best players earlier.

I think we lack good openers and we could try him there. He could play his natural game, every time he comes in now were in a collapse and he has to adjust to the situation.

People dont complain when we move fawad upside down but when it is said about umar they will say "oh please dont ruin the talent"
Double Standards!

The way I see it is Fawad will get 3 test matches in NZ at number 3. When Younus is back - Fawad will revert to opening. Otherwise I don't think they will consider him for the Aussie test series.

I for one would like to see him given a opportunity to showcase his talents at one position. Fawad has been treated unfairly. But thats what happens when you play for Pakistan. Its a shame players like Farhat and S.Malik are in the team.

'cos otherwise he wouldn't play in the team! in any case, Fadi should also be in the middle order

Fawad is not an opener or No.3 batsman.
He is with the team carrying drinks for long time now.
If he is not good enough dump him and try some one else but its unfair to play umar in middle order ahead of fawad.
I am not saying fawad is more talented then umar.All i am saying that he should be given chance to show his ability where he has scored his runs in domestic career and that is middle order.

Fair enough. I think he should replace S.Malik. At this moment in time, if you were to ask Fawad he would say give me the opportunity to play for Pakistan. I'll bat anywhere, be it opening or at 3. Also, I don't think Fawad has a choice.

I think Umar Akmal has attitude of Sehwag to go after every bowler and demoralize him.

If Pakistan would open with Umar Akmal and Salman Butt, this combination can be as deadly as Gambhir and Sehwag of India.

What do you guys reckon?

Let's screw Imran Farhat and send him back to Pind

No.

No.

No.

Yes...that's the only way he can be included in the XI...doesn't have the temperament for number 5 batsman...can't bring the game home...

he wants him to open so his hero fawad alam can take the number 5 spot you see....

I don't think so as he gets out early mornings and whenever the ball is new. Moreover completely out of sort when he batted one down

I have a feeling the number of pea brains has increased on this forum since last night!!

I see him as a future solid #3 batsman in all forms of the game. Why do you want him to open when he wants to bat in the middle order and is doing a great job?

No... he's a middle order player..let him be

Move him to #12 position

i blame the Pakistan team for the loss.
Yet stop hyping up Umar Akmal for God's sake. Okay he is young and made mistakes.
If he was a real legend , he would have taken us home against New Zealand and today against Australia. He has a long way to go even before he can be called great of the game.
We dont need him as opener either. He is liable to throw his wicket away as an opener too...
And comparing U.Akmal to Sehwag is premature. Sehwag gets them big and fast. They are not brain fart 40's. They never were even when he started.

^ agree

Not a good idea to make him open, he's doing well where he is.

He was made to open in the U19 WC and failed in every single game with no score over 20.

Well if he had the middle comprising of Inzi, Yousuf, Younis and Asim Kamal (like few years ago), I would have said yes. But at the moment since we dont have a single quality batsman in the middle order except Yousuf (who also seems to have past his prime), it will be criminal to move Umar up the order.

But in ODIs and T20, he can def bat at no.3 or maybe 4 coz he should get max overs out there in the middle .

Experiment with Umar Akmal as a opening batsmen

I know that this sounds crazy but now that we have lost the series why don't we you use the last test to experiment a little.

Pakistan has never produced a quality opener since Saeed Anwar. I think that Umar Akmal is more technically correct than Saeed Anwar. Umar Akmal may just be the opener we have been looking for a long time.

No I don't think so..the guy struggled against the new bowl in the first innings of Pakistan inning vs Australia..also in NZL..I don't think he is the solution to our problem

Too loose to play in the top order right now. Then again all your openers are loose

Opening him is a horrible idea.

To be an opener you must want to open, youve got to be strong have guts and face the might of the new ball. In fact he has many of these Characteristics but i dont think he wants to open. However I'm sure we'll be seeing him as a no.3 batsmen which potentially is a similar role

You play ur best batsman at 3.

Give him a run there for the ODIs and then hopefully can take over that spot for the summer tests.

Your best batsman is MoYo.

Not in test matches, but i hope he opens in ODI's...

MOYO only wants to bat at #3 with 150 runs lead.

Hmnn .. that is interesting.

Ideally he should be batting during the fielding restriction period.

Gives him the chance to swing for the rope without fear of getting caught.

Keep him where he's doing good. Let him get into test cricket then move himto number 4 in future

That's one point, the other is that he is no imran nazir, he can also big scores and play long innings...

Yeah I really don't like him batting lower down in ODIs .. doesn't give him a chance to produce a big innings.

Would you have guys like Sehwag or Dilshan batting at 5 ?

naveed yasin is a special talent too but we need to give him at least one chance.... he needs only a one chnace...

No

Misbah should open