Last week, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed was asked a bizarre question in a press conference in Karachi, in the build-up to next month’s tour to New Zealand: was he feeling insecure following the performance from Kamran Akmal in the then ongoing National T20 Cup?
Akmal had scored 150* in a world record 209 opening stand for Lahore Whites. Not only was the partnership the highest ever for the first wicket in a T20 match, Akmal’s score was the highest ever by a wicketkeeper in the format as well.
While the question was ridiculous, considering Pakistan’s successes under Sarfraz, what followed was a needlessly defensive reply.
“This is Pakistan’s team and whoever performs, will get to play for the country. I am not insecure or threatened by anyone’s performance,” the Pakistan captain said. “Kami was included in the team earlier this year as well and if I was insecure why would have I included him in the squad?” he added.
Salman Butt
The reply might have been influenced by Sarfraz’s own patchy form with the bat, but Kamran Akmal is not competing with him at all, despite the fact that he keeps wickets as well. Even when Akmal was selected for the West Indies tour after an impressive run in PSL 2, he was selected as a batsman alone. That, in fact, proved to be a double-edged sword for him, because it exposed his limitations as an outfielder.
Even so, Kamran Akmal will be among those considered for Pakistan’s opening slot in the limited-overs formats. He will be joined in contention by his opening partner with whom he shared the 209-run stand: Salman Butt.
Kamran Akmal
Three batsmen are eying opening slots in the national T20, ODI and Test sides: Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt
In addition to the half-century against Islamabad in that record partnership, Butt has also top scored with 85* (58) against Peshawar, 40 (23) against Faisalabad and then 62* (59) in the final against Lahore Blues.
Meanwhile, Lahore Blues have had a firing Ahmed Shehzad, who became the first Pakistani to strike four T20 centuries, joining the likes of Virat Kohli and Jason Roy, when he scored 104 (59) against FATA in the second semifinal. Shehzad had also struck 79 (47) against Islamabad.
While the performances of this in-form trio might have bordered on redundant in the not-so-distant past, there might be hope for all three of them.
Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt
Ahmed Shehzad, despite being the youngest of the lot, might actually be third in the pecking order, considering the sheer volume of chances that he has had in the recent – and distant – past. It seems to have become a pattern where he scores heavily domestically, and in the PSL, is picked and then seems to blow it all away in the national side.
With Kamran Akmal the biggest question mark would remain over his out-fielding, since he cannot play as the wicketkeeper and is not in the age bracket to be groomed as a backup keeper. Akmal would have to rely on a few more record-breaking innings, especially in PSL 3, for him to come back in contention. However, there’s little doubt that he is more reliable as a batsman than Ahmed Shehzad.
Ahmed Shehzad
Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has made no secret of the fact that he believes Salman Butt deserves a second chance, especially since Mohammed Amir has not only been given the same, he has been successful – albeit varyingly – following his comeback as well. However, despite his performances in all forms, Butt’s chance is likeliest to come in Tests, considering the shambles that Shan Masood and Sami Aslam personified in the whitewash against Sri Lanka in October.
An opening slot alongside Fakhar Zaman remains open in T20s, while Azhar Ali should retain the ODI slot once he is back from fitness. However, the fact that we’re even having this discussion shows that Fakhar Zaman’s own place is coming under scrutiny, considering his own no-shows recently – this would have been unthinkable only five months ago, when we won the Champions Trophy final against India.
