Islamabad, April 1: Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal may have played his last international match at the 2011 World Cup semi-final against India in Mohali, as he is likely to be axed over his poor performance in the crucial game.
A reliable source close to the national selection committee was quoted as saying that the selectors had decided before the match that if the 29-year-old failed to perform in the semi-final match, they would start looking for his replacement.
"The fact is that the selectors had decided before the World Cup that Kamran would no longer be playing Test matches. But they had backed him to perform in the tournament so that he could be considered for limited over cricket," the Daily Times quoted the source, as saying.
According to the source, if Kamran had played well in the critical Indo-Pak match, he would have remained in contention to continue playing limited-over cricket despite having performed badly in earlier World Cup matches.
"However, according to what the selectors have decided, his Pakistan career is virtually over as they are not happy with either his keeping or batting at this level," the source said.
"For a player who has been around since 2002, their appears to be no consistency or improvement in his keeping or batting and the selectors now believe it is time to find a replacement for him and move on," the source added.
Kamran has played 53 Tests, 137 ODIs and 38 Twenty20 internationals so far, but in recent times, his wayward wicket keeping abilities and inconsistent batting has disappointed the selectors as well as his fans.
The source said that the selectors would definitely not be picking Kamran for the forthcoming tour to the West Indies for either format of the game.
"The selectors will rely on Adnan Akmal and Sarfaraz Ahmed for the West Indies tour," the source added.
Kamran's repeated follies behind the stumps- including some vital dropped catches- have cost Pakistan a lot. Not only his keeping against India in the semi-final was untidy, he scored just 19 runs opening the Pakistan innings. (ANI)
Similar
- Afridi's speech won millions of hearts, says Pakistani daily
- Sohail blames Afridi''s ''defensive captaincy'' for Pak''s World Cup semi-final loss
- ‘Cricket diplomacy’ to go a long way in improving frosty Indo-Pak ties: Pak official
- Pak team “missing” banned pace bowler Aamir: Ijaz Butt
- Indian batting vs. Pakistani bowling crux of WC semi-final clash: Mudassar
Rio de Janeiro, May 19 : Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen has reportedly made a bid to sign highly rated Brazilian playmaker Romarinho. 
Rio de Janeiro, May 18 : Santos coach Muricy Ramalho has admitted concern at mounting speculation linking his star striker Neymar with a move to Barcelona. 
Bangalore, May 19 : Thousands of fans were excited early Sunday by Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) emphatic 24-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a rain-marred last league tie of the Pepsi IPL-6 tournament at the Chinnaswamy stadium here. 
Bangalore, May 19 : An aggressive half-century by skipper Virat Kohli (56 not out, 29b, 6x4, 4x6) carried Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 24-run win over league leaders Chennai Super Kings here Saturday 
Mumbai, May 15 : India's only motorcycle Grand Prix team resumes battle in France this weekend with high hopes of strong results after a top-10 start for the all-new Mahindra Grand Prix machine. 
Dijon-Prenois (France), May 13 : Indian racing driver Sailesh Bolisetti's second weekend of his 2013 Euro Race Car campaign ended on a disappointing note as he finished 18th and 17th in the two races here.