Kamran Akmal (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, who played for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with a

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a cricket stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for cricket matches, and has served as the primary c ...

International career

Kamran Akmal was a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

. However, his first century was vital – his 109 from the number eight position at

Mohali Mohali, officially known as Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab (India), Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the Moh ...

, coming in with Pakistan in a lead of 39 against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team. Naturally, he is a batsman that plays lower down the order but has also opened in limited over formats. As an opener he has scored two back to back centuries in ODIs against England. Coming in lower down the order in Test matches, he played one memorable innings. He saved Pakistan from a score of 39/6, scoring a century, to a competitive 245 which helped Pakistan win the match and the series. His batting was highly productive in early 2006 as he scored seven international hundreds within the space of 6 months. Since his tour of England in Summer 2006 however his batting form dwindled and steadily become worse. His wicket-keeping also worsened and dropped many catches on both the England tour and on a tour to South Africa in early 2007. He then scored an international hundred in the Bangladeshi tour of Pakistan in 2008. He later moved to have some injuries and did not play for some days but later he was again brought into the team. Akmal was dropped for the 2008 Asia Cup as a result of his poor wicket-keeping. He was replaced by

Sarfraz Ahmed Sarfaraz Ahmed ( ur, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Pakistani professional cricketer, a wicketkeeper-batsman, who plays for the Pakistani national cricket team. He was the former captain of the Pakistan side in all formats. He leads Quetta Gladiato ...

who performed very well at the domestic level and also because of Sarfraz's strong showing in the U-19 World Cup. Akmal was named in the 30-man probable squad for the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy. Akmal was part of the Pakistan team that won the T20 World Cup in 2009. He was notable for his quick stumpings, dismissing 4 batsmen in one match against Netherlands. On 12 November 2008, Akmal hit three consecutive 6s in the last over. As a result, Pakistan won the first ODI in Abu Dhabi against West Indies. On 17 July 2010, Akmal was appointed the vice-captain of the Pakistani test squad but later removed because of his alleged involvement in spot fixing. In August 2012, Akmal was recalled for the three ODI series against Australia. In Feb–March 2017, he played for

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi ( ur, ; ps, پېښور زلمي; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise T20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

Pakistan Super League 2017 The 2017 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 2 or, for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2017), was the second season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2016. On ...

. In the 3rd Qualifying match he scored 104 runs, the first century in PSL 2017. In this match Peshawar Zalmi won and moved to final of PSL for first time.

Match fixing allegations

In the 2nd Test match in Sydney on the 2009–10 tour of Australia, Akmal dropped four catches in the Australian innings, three of those coming from

Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

. Hussey went on to score 134 * and was involved in a massive 9th wicket partnership stand of 133 runs with

Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle (born 25 November 1984) is an Australian cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who currently plays for Tasmania in first-class and List A cricket and for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League. ...

. Pakistan eventually lost the match by 36 runs, after being bowled out for just 139 in the second innings. Later, it was alleged that he, along with pace bowler

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (Punjabi, ur, ), (born 28 February 1978) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played all formats of the game. A right-arm fast-medium bowler capable of generating good pace with late swing, he is a genui ...

were involved in

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

, and were questioned by

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

and subsequently dropped for the Twenty20 series against England. In early September 2010, the International Cricket Council (ICC) sent an official notice to him telling him that he is under investigation for allegedly fixing the Sydney Test. For the subsequent series against South Africa in October 2010, Akmal had an operation to remove his appendix and was unavailable for the limited-overs squad. Akmal was able to recover from the operation to participate in the two-match test series but Zulqarnain Haider was selected instead of him. Another reason also emerged that Kamran Akmal,

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national ...

Umar Amin Umar Amin (born 16 October 1989) is a Pakistani international cricketer. Amin made his One Day International debut in the opening match of the 2010 Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. Amin was also named in the squad for Pakistan's two-match test se ...

and

Yasir Hameed Yasir Hameed Qureshi (Urdu: یاسر حمید قریشی) (born 28 February 1978) is a former Pakistani cricketer, who played 25 Tests and 56 ODIs for Pakistan. He scored two centuries on his Test debut against Bangladesh, becoming only the sec ...

were not selected for the tour because of suspicions being raised regarding their involvement in the spot-fixing scandal that included

Salman Butt Salman Butt (, born 7 October 1984) is a former Pakistani cricketer and captain who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2003 and 2010, before getting banned for five years for his involvement in 2010 spot-fixing scandal. He had ...

Mohammad Amir Mohammad Amir ( ur, ; born 13 April 1992) is a Pakistani cricketer and bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team. He is playing as a left-arm fast-medium bowler and uses his left hand when batting. Amir made his first-class debut in N ...

and Mohammad Asif.

Wahab Riaz Wahab Riaz (Urdu, pa, ; born 28 June 1985) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. He frequently bowls at speeds of around 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and has reached . His all round performance i ...

was also under investigation for

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

but the ICC interrogated him and excluded him from the investigation, therefore, he was allowed to take part on the tour against South Africa that included two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODI matches and two Test matches. Though this has not been confirmed by the board, it is believed that the reason they were not picked was that the suspicion had not been cleared. The ICC confirmed that Akmal had been barred from entering the team. Once his investigation was completed he was available for national selection.

Wicket-keeping

Kamran Akmal has always been criticized for his lack of consistent wicket-keeping. He has often been a subject of ridicule by being referred to as a goal keeper rather than a wicket-keeper. After another horrendous series behind the stumps against Sri Lanka in January 2009, journalists and former players called for his removal from the national team. His wicket-keeping steadily improved, with a very strong showing in the 2009 T20 World Cup, including a world-record performance of four stumpings in a single match against the Netherlands. However, during the

second test The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

, he dropped four catches including three chances from

in one session on Day 4. Hussey went on to score a match-winning century resulting in Pakistan's defeat despite dominating the first three days of the match. He was subsequently dropped for the

third test Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * H ...

, being replaced by

. After this tour, Akmal saw a steady improvement in his wicket-keeping for the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was won by England, who defeated Australia in the fina ...

, 2010 Asia Cup and against Australia in July 2010. However, in the next test series against

, Akmal dropped three easy catches and missed a stumping chance. During the match, he took a superb catch of

Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a cricket commentator, conservationist, and former England international cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who played in all three formats for England betw ...

before dropping a catch of

Paul Collingwood Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club and was the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 win ...

on the very next ball. In the first innings, Akmal dropped a catch of

Eoin Morgan Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engli ...

when he was on 23 and then went on to score 130. Despite having another keeper, Zulqarnain Haider, in the squad, Pakistani captain

announced it was too early to decide the fate of Kamran Akmal, as just one match has been played. On 13 October 2020, in the

2020–21 National T20 Cup The 2020–21 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the seventeenth season of the National T20 Cup, and started on 30 September 2020, and finished on 18 October 2020. Northern cricket ...

, Akmal became the first wicket-keeper to affect 100 stumpings in Twenty20 cricket.

T20 franchise career

IPL career

Akmal was signed on to the

Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals (often abbreviated as RR) are a franchise cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight IPL franchises, the team is based at the Sawai Ma ...

, and played in the inaugural season of the

IPL The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

. He played five matches in the tournament, as a

Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

and top-order batsman, including the final of the tournament against the

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

. He took two catches in the first innings, however, he was run out for only six runs during the Royal's chase. The Royals won the tournament after a thrilling finish. He did not participated in the

IPL 2009 The 2009 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 2 or the 2009 IPL, was the second season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament was hosted by South Africa an ...

because Pakistani players were not allowed to play in that season as a result of the tense atmosphere after the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of Terrorism, terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from P ...

PSL career

Kamran was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the

side. He had an average scoring of just 151 runs in the 2016 season scoring, with a highest score of 45. He was retained on the back of his tremendous performance in 2016–17 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In the inaugural match of 2017 season against

Islamabad United Islamabad United ( ur, ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was the inaugural champion of the Pakistan Super League. The team is based in Islamabad, the capital cit ...

, he scored 88 runs off just 48 balls. He lost his rhythm in the middle of the season but found his form at right time against

Karachi Kings Karachi Kings ( ur, ; sd, ڪراچي ڪنگز) (abbreviated as KK) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, P ...

in a do-or-die match scoring a century off just 60 balls, ensuring his team a place in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He was later adjudged player-of-the-match. He finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 353 runs and won the green cap and the

Hanif Mohammad Hanif Mohammad PP ( ur, , 21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98 scoring twelve ...

Award for best batsman, as well as the Imtiaz Ahmed award for the best wicket keeper of the season with a total of 12 dismissals.

Other leagues

In 2015, Kamran Akmal played for

Trinbago Knight Riders The Trinbago Knight Riders (formerly the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel) are a franchise cricket team of the Caribbean Premier League based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Red Steel was one of the original six teams created for the t ...

in Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In 2017, he was signed by Saint Lucia Kings in Caribbean Premier League (CPL). On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Toronto Nationals in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the

Global T20 Canada The Global T20 Canada is a 20-over cricket tournament played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers in each squad, along wi ...

tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Balkh's squad in the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

of the

Afghanistan Premier League The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) ( ps, ; fa, ), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emira ...

tournament. In November 2020, he was signed by Dambulla Hawks in the

Lanka Premier League The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) is a professional cricket league in Sri Lanka in Twenty20 format contested every year by teams representing Sri Lankan cities from 2020. The league was founded by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in 201 ...

but he pulled out after few days due to shoulder injury. He is captain of

Kotli Lions Kotli Lions (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani professional T20 franchise that takes part in the Kashmir Premier League. The team is captained by Khurram Manzoor and coached by Mushtaq Ahmed. The franchise represents the city of Kotli, the capital of ...

in the inaugural edition of Kashmir Premier League.

T10 franchise career

Kamran was picked by the Maratha Arabians side in the inaugural edition of

T10 League T10 League or Abu Dhabi T10 is a Ten10 cricket league in the United Arab Emirates launched and owned by T Ten Sports Management. The league is approved by the Emirates Cricket Board. Matches are 10-overs-a-side and the duration of each match ...

held in UAE. He was retained by the franchise for the 2nd edition as well. Kamran Akmal played in the first edition of

Qatar T10 League Qatar T-10 Cricket League or QT10 League is a T10 cricket, T-10 franchise cricket league, a form of cricket similar to Twenty20 cricket but played over only 10 overs per side. It was founded in Doha and has six teams. The tournament is organised ...

in 2019 where he was picked by Swift Gallopers.

Domestic career

In the 2016–17 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Akmal was the highest run-scorer in the tournament making 1,035 runs. In November 2017, he scored 150

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

batting for

Lahore Whites Lahore cricket teams, representing the city of Lahore, competed in Pakistan's first-class cricket tournaments from 1958–59 to 2018–19. They have also competed in the national 50-over and Twenty-20 tournaments as the Lahore Lions. Teams F ...

against

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

in the 2017–18 National T20 Cup. He became the first batsman for Pakistan to score 150 runs in a T20 match. He also hit the most number of sixes in a domestic T20 match in Pakistan and became the third batsman to make five consecutive fifties in T20 cricket. During the 2017–18 National T20 Cup he along with

set the world record opening partnership in T20 history of unbeaten 209 runstand, surpassing the previous highest opening partnership of 207 in any form of T20 cricket held by

Joe Denly Joseph Liam Denly (born 16 March 1986) is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional leg break bowler who plays as a top-order batsman. Denly played age group cricke ...

and Daniel Bell-Drummond. The record runstand was also the third highest partnership in terms of runs for any wicket in T20 history. In April 2018, he was named as the captain of Federal Areas' squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup. In the opening fixture of the tournament, against

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, he scored 105 runs and was named the man of the match. He was the leading run-scorer for Federal Areas in the tournament, with 313 runs in four matches. In March 2019, he was named as the captain of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

's squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

. In September 2019, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.

Personal life

Two of his brothers,

Adnan Akmal Adnan Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 13 March 1985) is a former international Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who plays for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd Cricket Team and has represented his country at U-17 level. He ...

and

Umar Akmal Umar Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 26 May 1990) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2009 and 2019. He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for eighteen months for not disclosing offers related to spot ...

, are also professional cricketers, the former being a wicket-keeper batsman and the latter being a specialist batsman as well as a part-time wicket-keeper. Pakistani batsman and current captain

Babar Azam Mohammad Babar Azam (Urdu, pa, ; born 15 October 1994), is a Pakistani international cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all formats. Regarded as one of the finest batters in contemporary world cricket, he is the o ...

is also his first cousin. He married the daughter of former Test cricketer Mohammad Ilyas in 2006 and lives with his wife and children. He is a matriculated of

Central Model School, Lahore Government Central Model School, Lahore is a school in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous count ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akmal, Kamran 1982 births Living people

Kamran Kamran ( fa, کامران ''Kāmrān'') is a Persian male given name meaning 'prosperous, fortunate'. The name is commonly used in Iran and Azerbaijan, in addition to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, Pakistan. Variants include Kâmran and Kamu ...

Lahore cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Rajasthan Royals cricketers Pakistani cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore Whites cricketers Lahore Blues cricketers Lahore Eagles cricketers Sylhet Sixers cricketers Wayamba United cricketers Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Beaconhouse School System alumni Peshawar Zalmi cricketers Trinbago Knight Riders cricketers Chittagong Vikings cricketers Water and Power Development Authority cricketers Central Punjab cricketers Wicket-keepers People from Lahore