Pak opener Kamran Akmal may be axed over poor wicket keeping, batting in WC

Islamabad, April 1(ANI): 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)