Kamran Akmal      

Kamran Akmal may well be the most emphatic proof of cricket's changed priorities post Adam Gilchrist. Sides now search for an explosive batsman who can change a day, an innings, a phase with the bat and so long as you can identify right wicketkeeping glove from left, the place is yours.

There has been little doubt about Akmal's batting. The purity of his drives and the strength of his cutting and pulling, particularly on slower subcontinent surfaces, has always held a strong allure. And when it comes together as it did one January morning in Karachi against India - one of the Test innings of that decade - he makes it in the side as a batsman alone.

But his glovework, which began so promisingly when he effectively ended the dogfight between Rashid Latif and Moin Khan in late 2004, has deteriorated alarmingly and few Pakistan matches are complete without a clumsy Akmal error.

It wasn't always thus, for he was good when he began, good enough to impress Ian Healy. But non-stop cricket in all three formats have let technical errors creep in and critics and experts have long pushed for the need for him to take a break.

To quality spin, he is often as lost as the batsmen and Danish Kaneria, over the years, has suffered in particular. In a string of error-ridden performances, the one nobody will forget will be the four dropped catches (and a missed run-out) in the Sydney Test of 2009-10, which allowed Australia to escape with a remarkable, traumatic win. Against this the memory of his Karachi hundred will always battle, with no clear winner ever likely to emerge. The tryst with controversy does his cause no good, with his refusal to accept his demotion from the side in the aftermath of a disastrous Sydney Test in 2009, eliciting a harsh fine and a disciplinary probation from the PCB.
Osman Samiuddin

• November 16-19, 2002
  Settling in after a tough initiation
  • Begins his international career with a duck, but comes good with the bat in his second Test, scoring 56 against Zimbabwe. Effects nine dismissals in the two Tests and showed signs of filling the big boots of Rashid Latif and Moin Khan.
    
• January 19, 2005
  A long-awaited century
  • After more than two years at the highest level, scores his maiden ton, opening in an ODI against West Indies. His 124 fetches him the Man-of-the-Match award and gives his side a comfortable six-wicket win.
    
• March 8-12, 2005
  Cometh the hour
  • Plays out of his skin to produce the first of two defining Test innings against India. Coming in to bat on the penultimate evening, with his side at six down and just having wiped out the first-innings deficit, Akmal settled down to score a memorable ton in Chandigarh. Along with Abdul Razzaq, produces one of the most dogged draws against the old rival. Pakistan go on to share the series 1-1.
    
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• June 3-7, 2005
  Safe behind the stumps
  • Plucks nine catches in the Kingston Test, and looks confident enough behind the wicket to temporarily silence critics of his reliability as a keeper.
    
• November 29 - December 3, 2005
  Pummelling the Poms in whites
  • Supports Mohammad Yousuf's 223 with a sterling 154 as Pakistan trounce England in Lahore to take the three Test series 2-0.
    
• December 12, 2005
  Pummelling the Poms under lights
  • Carries on his fine form into the ODIs, scoring back-to-back hundreds in Lahore and Karachi against the hapless English attack.
    
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• January 29 - February 1, 2006
  Cometh the hour - Redux
  • Plays the defining innings of his career in the Karachi decideragainst India. Pakistan are 0 for 3 after an Irfan Pathan hat-trick in the first over and later 39 for 6 when Akmal walks in. In a reprisal of the Chandigarh escape, he sets things right with Abdul Razzaq and the rest of the tail, scoring a counterattacking 113 off 148 balls. Pakistan incredibly go on to win the match. Caps off a fantastic series personally, with 293 runs and 11 dismissals.
    
• January 19-22, 2007
  Batting under pressure - 1
  • Navigates his side through a tricky chase in tough conditions. Comes in with Pakistan five-down and requiring 99 runs for victory in Port Elizabeth and scores a calm half-century to steer them home along with Yousin Khan.
    
• January 31, 2007
  Unreliable behind the stumps
  • While his batting goes from strength to strength, his keeping leaves a lot to be desired. The selectors advocate rest and a return to the basics, while experts like Rashid Latif point out technical flaws.
    
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• October 8-12, 2007
  Batting under pressure - 2
  • Is at it against the South Africans once again, this time at home, scoring two crucial fifties as Pakistan holds on for a draw in Lahore.
    
• November 30 - December 4, 2007
  Another crucial hundred against the old rivals
  • Saves Pakistan from yet another desperate situation against India. Comes in at 150 for 5, after India had amassed 616, and hits a fighting hundred to save the follow-on and the match, along with Misbal-ul-Haq, at at Eden Gardens.
    
• May 3, 2009
  Taming the Aussies in the desert
  • Hits an authoritative, unbeaten 116 to give Pakistan a comprehensive win against Australia in Abu Dhabi. Follows it up with an equally fluent 52 to win the Twenty20 match in Dubai convincingly.
    
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• June 21, 2009
  Kick-starting the final chase
  • Plays a forgotten but crucial hand in the final of the World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. His quick 33 off 28 balls set the tone for Shahid Afridi to finish the match in Pakistan's favour.
    
• November 24-28, 2009
  The brother act
  • Plays second fiddle to younger brother Umar, as an under-fire Pakistan roar back from the brink to almost beat New Zealand in Dunedin. Kamran makes 82 in a stand of 176, while Umar smashes a debut hundred that partially salves the pain of a 32-run loss. The brothers are at it again in the second Test in Wellington, where Kamran's dogged first-innings scrap of 70 sets up Pakistan for a win which Umar duly seals with a breath-taking 33-ball 52 in the second.
    
• January 3-6, 2010
  Butter-fingers… and more
  • Has a horror of a game in Sydney where Pakistan steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Kamran Akmal is at the forefront of it all, putting down Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle several times as they lead Australia from what's effectively 51 for 8 in the second innings towards setting a target of 176. Pakistan clangs the chase with some hare-brained batting to succumb by 36 runs, but the prime focus of criticism is the wicketkeeper. Defends himself vociferously in public, insisting that he will play the next match despite team announcements to the contrary. Eventually, after several statements from all concerned, he misses the next match.
    
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• February 5, 2010
  Replying with runs
  • Smashes Australia for a sublime 33-ball 64 that is most cases should have sufficed to seal a chase of 127 in a Twenty20 match, but Pakistan appear to have lost the art of winning games and goes down by two runs. Despite the performance, Kamran is dropped from the team for the UAE Twenty20 series against England.
    
• March 10, 2010
  Fined for misdemeanour
  • The board pulls him up as part of an unprecedented cleaning-up operation after the disastrous Australian tour, fining him Rs 3 million and putting him on probation for six months following disciplinary issues on the tour.
    
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