That is what the stats say that Akmal has dropped the most number of catches off the bowling of Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami and Shahid Afridi, check out for yourself instead of asking me. And, it is a fact that all these three players are from Karachi. This is one way of looking at it, the fact is Shahid Afridi is a pushto speaking Pathan but, his family has settled in Karachi and he grew up in Karachi. Poor Danish Kaneria at times must have been thinking that, may be Kamran Akmal is dropping my catches not just because I am from Karachi, Sindh but may be it is also because I am a Hindu? People may not admit such things openly but, these are the thoughts that come to people’s mind. There was a time when Mohammad Yousuf could have been given the mantle to lead the team but, he wasn’t and Younus Khan was appointed as the captain, many people said, that is because he was Yousuf Youhana then.

When every single person was expecting Shahid Afridi to be appointed as the captain of the team, they appointed Shoaib Malik. Once again when everyone was expecting Shahid Afridi would be appointed as captain of the Pakistan ODI team for this PK- Aus series starting within 2 weeks from now, they have appointed Mohammad Yousuf to continue to lead, even though the selectors know very well that Yousuf is not a captain material, and he shall be playing the ODI but, not the T20, where Shahid Afridi is captaining the side, still they have appointed Yousuf as captain of the ODI team, why? It is simply the exploitation of one region over the other.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Kamran Akmal and even Misbah ul Haq they all have been appointed as vice captain of Pakistan team when they don’t deserve to be even in the playing XI, and never any player from Karachi, why? (I am not talking about Mohammad Mushtaq and Javed Miandad, even they were appointed there was a rebel group within the team and they refused to play under their captaincy.) In form players who have been top scoring in the domestic matches like Fawad Alam and Asim Kamal have been rejected and discarded. Asim Kamal’s career was ruined by these people and now they are after Fawad Alam.

We are not poisoning people’s minds here, those who are in power they are exploiting the power and they are corrupt and they are the one who are promoting regionalism and nepotism. And, Bangladesh was created because, this is how the Bengalis were treated by the Punjabis and Sindhis. ZA Bhutto was the biggest culprit who wanted to rule the country by hook or by crook and he was the one who lead the country to disaster, he was the biggest dictator of Pakistan ever, no wonder why Wali Khan called him Adolph Bhutto and Raja Dahir. Instead of telling us NO regionalism, you must say this to Ijaz Butt & Co.

Kamran Akmal is a disgraceful person and a wicketkeeper but is it necessary that we should bring regionalism to create distances among us? Just to remind people we lost Bangal, became BanglaDesh and we shouldnt poisoning people’s heart again. Kindly, NO to regionalism!

We need to find out the culprits in this result of team dividing and give them a serious warning. What a foolish way to act when you have been chosen to be an ambassador of your nation. Neither of the other test playing nations has got this problem but Pak have got a history of it. I can’t stress how much of a disgrace this is especially at a time and age when the nation is in a state of ruins. Our concentration of problems are enough, we don’t need any more thank you. I feel the management is at the centre of responsibility for this outcome. They accept nuisance and don’t act responsively to a situation of such.

1) Kaneria was a mammoth failure in ODI. True good bowlers or matchwinners can perform in any format or should be able to.
2) Afridi has more variety. He can bowl the leg break, flipper, googly, off break and quicker one. Kaneria hasn’t mastered the full repertoire like Warne or Qadir. But moreover, he doesn’t use his variation effectively and wisely whereas Afridi does. That’s why his change up/ variation is much more lethal.
3) Afridi is a lot harder to get hold of and hit for boundaries whereas Kaneria is much easier. Top order players have encountered difficulty when facing Shahid and tail enders have been clueless but with Kaneria tail enders can hit him for boundaries and read him well too often. Kaneria hasn’t got the ability to be ruthless against the tail.
4)Afridi can capture astonishing set of figures like that 6-38 vs Aus in UAE 1st ODI last year. Also, he has produced many matchwinning spells in T20. I can’t imagine Kaneria getting anywhere near that level of brilliance with his marathon spells in test matches.

Nevertheless, in despite on that Kaneria SR and average in tests are up there with the best. He has been labelled as a threat. He has got ambition so he can aspire to climb. He has got the skills and has dismissed some top players. He is also a hard working country committed player. But, surely he has to actually win more matches in order to be labelled as only one of Pak’s finest in TESTS ONLY. No way was he better than Mushy or Qadir as they were dominating and genuine matchwinning bowlers who played an instrumental role in many Pakistani victories. Stats can be deceptive one has to remember as they don’t reveal the whole picture of one’s ability which is the case in Danish’s position. He is above average, nothing above that. As for my opinion, I feel he is overrated.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=218079

I can’t believe that there is so much politics going on at a time when they are supposed to be united they are divided and making groups within the team to support Kamran Akmal. Sources in Hobart said that Umar’s back problem which came out of the blue is linked to Kamran’s possible axing from the Hobart Test. Earlier, he showed no signs of any fitness problems but, suddenly complained of a back injury after a couple of practice sessions here at the Bellerive Oval. Which is very suspicious and to most people it is very obvious as to why he is doing this?

This is serious as it is very negative and negativity is contagious. It is not like dropping a catch and then saying koi baat nai koi baat nai. What Kamran Akmal is not realizing here is, he is not only ruining his career but also of his younger brother. If he thinks he is holding a trump card in Umar Akmal to bargain for his place in the team, then he is sadly mistaken. Because, if the board asks for an inquiry and find out that Umar Akmal is faking an injury then his flying start could turn out into a bumpy landing. He might be penalized financially and also dropped from the series or banned from a few matches. It will hurt his reputation and even if he comes back, then his concentration will lapse and the momentum will be gone. Neither of the Akmal’s should consider using this option to destroy the national spirit in support of brotherhood this will challenge their loyalties and integrity for the country.

It is also very dangerous to see that at this stage when Umar Akmal is just taking off from the ground and before reaching a high altitude, if he possess these kinds of germs, imagine what kinda damage he can do when he is in authority such as a captain or, as one of the most senior players. I know that no one is indispensable but, it will not only be a disaster for the national team to have players with this kinda mentality but, he would be setting a precedent for the youngsters to follow him or his traits. It is better to give a nip in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem or turn out to be a cancer.

Do you not think that the cricketers are so intelligent that they know that a few players don’t speak Punjabi and have different cultures?

You can say that when a raw player emerges onto the international scene he will know very little of the world around him, but guys like Malik, Akmal etc have visited so many cities, given so many media interviews, met so many non Punjabis- you pick things up and realise that this is not Punjab, but Pakistan you are dealing with here.

Plus, I bet someone like Umer Akmal can probably speak better Urdu than Punjabi. That is just how Pakistan is changing as there is more awareness amongst people and the young generation is more comfortable with Urdu than their own mother tongues, unless they are living in a village.

I know to a Karachiite, Lahore would kinda seem like a village no matter how many Model Towns are built in Lahore, but the fact is that 90% of these Punjabi cricketers live in Lahore, and Lahore is not a village per se. So, you will see people speaking in English, Urdu, and other languages.

For these reasons I disagree that these cricketers just feel more comfortable around others who speak Punjabi or behave the same way as them- there is something more than that, something sinister and political. If they want to play like a team and be like one, they need to abandon Punjabi and gel in with everyone. But this will never happen because it is contrary to the culture.

You are asking the impossible by suggesting they should speak Urdu. Even when Punjabi people know there is a non-Punjabi speaker sitting in their midst, they still speak Punjabi. Educated Punjabis do that, and you are expecting these cricketers to rise above that? In an ideal world they would, but as I said it is something very deep rooted in Punjabi culture and cannot be removed. The only way I see this happening is more urbanised, younger generation players like Umer Akmal coming into the picture.