Birth date: 1982-01-13

Hometown: Lahore

Teams: Pakistan, Asia XI, Lahore, Lahore City, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, National Bank of Pakistan, Punjab Stallions, Rajasthan Royals

Debut: Test: 9th Nov 2002 | ODI: 23rd Nov 2002

 

Kamran Akmal made his first-class debut at the age of 15 as a useful wicketkeeper and a hard-hitting opening batsman. A string of good performances earned him a spot for Pakistan A in 2002, and after impressing against Sri Lanka A he won selection for the Zimbabwe tour in preference to the veteran Moin Khan.

Kamran Akmal is a Pakistani wicketkeeper and an aggressive right handed batsman who has been utilised both in the middle order and at the top of the order. 

Whilst Kamran's batting has been explosive and at times he has been breathtaking with some of his strokeplay, his wicketkeeping has lacked consistency and he at times remains unconvincing behind the stumps. The poor form behind the stumps eventually caught up with him after a poor showing in the Sydney Test match in the 09/10 series to Australia, and many blamed him for the loss. He was subsequently dropped for the first time in his test career.

With Pakistan struggling to find good opening batsmen, Kamran has recently found a spot for himself at the top in limited overs cricket. A fluent batsman especially on the off side where he cuts the ball ferociously and has the ability to drive the ball beautifully. His strength through the off-side and his ability to hit over the fielders during the power play has given him success. However with Sarfraz Ahmed vastly improving with his batting, his brother Adnan Akmal also being given opportunities the pressure is on Kamran to improve his keeping and maintain his good form with the bat.

Following Pakistan's World Cup campaign in 2011, Kamran was dropped for more inconsistent form behind the stumps. Kamran has suggested he is willing to play in the team solely as a specialist keeper. However, following the failure of any other keeper cementing his spot in the side, Kamran was recalled to the ODI and T20 sides prior to the T20 World Cup. He began to prove his worth in the T20s against Australia with some useful cameos that helped Pakistan win the series. He followed this up with a phenomenal 92* off 50 balls in a warmup game against India, but was unable to replicate that form in the tournament, as Pakistan eventually lost out to Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.

Kamran was given another chance against India in Pakistan’s late 2012 tour to India, Kamran was unable to capitalize and didn’t trouble the scorers in the two innings he did feature. He did however have a good series behind the stumps taking a few crucial catches to help Pakistan win the series 2-1.

Champions Trophy wasn’t the best tournament for Kamran, he was unable to kick on in the 3 innings he had and only managed to score 23 runs in the tournament at an average of 7.67 with a tournament high of 21 coming in the Pakistan’s dead rubber group match against India. Due to Kamran’s poor form with the bat in 2013 Kamran was dropped.

Kamran was picked for the World T20 in Bangladesh scoring only 48 runs in 4 matches at a poor average of only 12. He has since been dropped and not picked as felow Wicket Keeper Sarfraz Ahmed has capitalized on his chances.

Last updated on 13 june 2015