After wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, it’s brother Umar Akmal who sustains injury

After Kamran Akmal (first-choice wicketkeeper of the Pakistan cricket team), now the younger brother Umar Akmal has also sustained an injury. According to reports coming from Dubai, the young charismatic middle-order batsman has hurt his ankle while playing volleyball in a practice session. This comes when Pakistan was all set to put Akmal in the squad for the fourth One-day international in Dubai against South Africa on November 5^th.

South Africa lead the series 2-1, but Pakistan have shown immense fighting spirit in the last two ODIs, winning the second one (mainly due to the heroics of Abdul Razzaq) and fighting till the end in the 3^rd – eventually succumbing to a 2-run defeat. An injury to a Pakistani player was the last thing Pakistan wanted at this time. Pakistan is hoping to level the series in the fourth match, and for that they are planning to go into the field with the best available players.

Akmal made his International debut in 2009 and ever since has managed to amaze the cricket world with his hard-hitting batting style. It is this batting style that has made him an integral part of the Pakistani Twenty20 squad, but the young lad has been showing poor form in his recent international outings, which probably cost him his place in the recent One-Day squad.

However, the team management was ready to give the youngster another shot in the fourth One-Day International in Dubai against the South Africans. However, after he sustained his injury, the management decided to drop him from the upcoming match.

The Pakistan Cricket Board spokesperson said, “To avoid an aggravation of his injury, the team management decided to leave him out, he was sent for an MRI scan on his ankle and we are still waiting for the reports. His future will be decided after we receive the reports.”

An injury to Umar Akmal is definitely a big blow to the middle order of the Pakistani batting line-up. Now with no backup, the responsibility lies on Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez even more than before to score well and bring depth in the middle order. These three players now have all the opportunity in the world to make the best out of this series.

Right now, the extent of his injury is unknown but if it’s something serious, this ankle injury will surely put Akmal out of the remaining matches of the series and most probably out of the Test series as well that will begin in the deserts of Arabia right after the One-Day series ends.