Umar Akmal is a right-handed, hard hitting middle order batsman who announced himself in his debut first class season (2007/08) where he scored heavily and quickly for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited. In nine matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, he scored 855 runs at an average of 77.72 and strike rate of 90.18, the stand-out knocks being 248 off 225 balls against Karachi Blues and 186 off 170 against Quetta.

In January 2008, he was selected for the ICC Under-19 World Cup. In the tri-nation tournament leading up to the World Cup he was the highest run scorer, with 255 runs. However, he was unable to replicate his good form in the World Cup as, being used as an opener, he failed to make any significant scores in the five matches Pakistan played.

Umar was selected in the Pakistan A team for the tour of Australia in June/July 2009 where he performed superbly. In the two unofficial Test matches, he scored 283 runs at an average of 94.33, including two centuries and a fifty. In the three one-day games that followed, he scored 155 runs at an average of 51.66. This excellent form prompted his selection for the ODI series against Sri Lanka in July/August 2009.

Umar was not selected for the first match but he played in the remaining four. In his second match he hit an impressive 66 off 65 balls and followed this up by scoring his maiden century in his third match, when he smashed an unbeaten 102 off only 72 balls. It was not long before he was fast-tracked into the Test team for the tour of New Zealand where he immediately made an impact, hitting a classy century and becoming the first Pakistani to score a hundred on Test debut outside of the sub-continent. With his aggressive strokeplay, he proved to be a big crowd pleaser in New Zealand and then in Australia but failed to kick on and captialise on the starts he made.

Despite his inconsistency, Akmal has been a strong performer for Pakistan at major ICC 50-over tournaments, including the 2009/10 Champions Trophy, where he averaged 49 and the 2010/11 World Cup where he averaged 48. He has also played two ICC World Twenty20 events, in 2010 (averaged 39) and 2012/13 in Sri Lanka (averaged 62), suggesting he has the skill to counter the world's best bowlers. A powerful hitter who has plenty of shots in his armoury, he is often criticised for throwing his wicket away at crucial times and this has resulted in continuing uncertainty around his place in Pakistan's Test and one-day sides which are built around the risk-averse approach of their captain.

Brother of wicket-keepers Kamran and Adnan, it was only a matter of time before Umar was asked to don the gloves and he has done so in limited overs cricket in a bid to try and solve Pakistan's wicket-keeping problem, with moderate success. However in 2013 Akmal was part of the Pakistan team that was the first Asian side to win a series in South Africa.

Despite inconsistent performances and only one century (against Afghanistan) since his debut in 2009, Umar Akmal remained a regular in the Pakistan ODI and T20I teams and remained so till the World Cup 2015. Akmal failed to have any significant performance of note in the World Cup and scored only one fifty in a losing cause against West Indies.

Umar Akmal was dropped from all formats after the 2015 World Cup on account of poor attitude. However he was recalled in the home T20I series against Zimbabwe but again failed to make an impact again.

With so much being written and spoken about him, it's easy for forget Akmal is still a young man looking to make his way in the game and despite some hiccups in the early stages of his career, he certainly has the potential to become a top class player for Pakistan. However time seems to be running out for Akmal if he wants to become a leading batsman for the Pakistan team.

[Last updated: 18th June 2015 ]