Umar Akmal: Grenade without a pin

Between the men with graying hair sat a thin boy with thick eyebrows,who alternatively shook his head straight and sideways. From the mannerism of the youngster in a Pakistan training shirt it was evident that the coaches were drilling some pre-match dos and donts into him.

Rana finally got up for a toilet break,and when asked about the long meeting gave a broad smile.

You see that boy,he is a great stroke maker. He hit sixes at will and can dominate any attack. If he stays at the crease for long we can beat any team. Thats what we are trying to tell him, he had said pointing towards the 17-year-old deep in conversation with Ijaz.

Before walking away,the gregarious Rana added,Door se nihayati seedha baacha lagta hai na? From a distance doesnt he look like the most obedient boy? One would think that tomorrow he will do exactly what we are telling him. We have had such sessions in the past,where we have stressed the importance of patience but most have been futile. But I tell you,he has a great future.

Bright start

The next day Ranas fears proved right but in the years to come so did his prediction. Akmal made it to the Pakistan senior side next year,became the best batsman in the family brothers Kamran and Adnan had earned the national colours before him and was to be seen as the most exciting young talent in the world.

As for Umars mistimed expansive drive that saw him get out for 12 in the 2008 under-19 World Cup semi-final against South Africa that Pakistan lost,its a part of his past that rarely got revisited after he graduated to the main team.

A century on his Test debut in 2009,while negotiating Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori on a bouncy Dunedin pitch,proved that the last of the Akmal brothers was the real deal.

This was a couple of months after he had swaggered on to the international scene as 18-year-old by playing an inning of 102 from 76 balls in his debut ODI series in Sri Lanka.

His four sixes and five fours at the crucial stage of the game proved Umar had every shot in the book. But the blazing start has staggered. Since the end of 2009,Umar has scored 11 50s 6 ODI,5 Tests and a string of 30s,40s but the tons count has stopped.

Since his days of age-group cricket,the coaches have changed but the pre-match instructions and,at times,even the post-match berating havent. The sudden end of a highly entertaining and strokeful Umar inning because of a rush of blood brought as much frustration in the dressing room as it did in the stands.

But on eve of their quarter-final game against West Indies as Pakistan dream big to recapture the title they last won roughly two decades back,20-year-old Umar has a chance to live up to his early promise.

Watershed knock?

There are several in Pakistan who say they have spotted the signs. Referring to his unbeaten match-winning knock of 44 against Australia in Pakistans last league game,they say Umar has played the watershed knock of his career.

Those who seem to have lost objectivity in the World Cup frenzy are calling him the Inzamam-ul Haq of 1992 World Cup fame.

But the two coaches who spent hours with Umar during the under-19 World Cup,after witnessing several false dawns,are keeping their fingers crossed. Ijaz,a brutal stroke maker who never missed a chance to take a sharp single,says that Umar still hasnt learnt the art of building an innings. At this level every international batsman has all the strokes,Umar,maybe,has a couple more than most. But you shouldnt play too many shots early in the innings. One boundary and four to five singles is ideal but Umar wants to score 20 in every over, he says.

Ijaz still has his heart in mouth while watching his old ward on television. At times even when the long on and long off are on the fence,he goes down the track to hit a six. These are the kind of shots Umar should avoid. If he continues,he should be punished if he plays such strokes, says Ijaz,who prescribes his playing days skipper Imran Khans pet imposition for such indisrections 8211; one match on the bench.

Rana,who had seen Umar take his first steps on a cricket field holding brother Kamrans finger,is more indulgent. I used to play at the same Lahore academy where Umar stared. Since his early days he was the sort of batsman who makes you to stop in your stride and say this guys is special. His brothers and father have spent hours with him from an early age, he says. At the Rana-school of coaching,the good old rod that cant be spared is still a vital teaching aid. I have shouted at him several times and so has Kamran. He knows that we have his best interest at heart.

Two Test-playing elder brothers,seniors at academy,influential junior coaches,support staff with the senior side and several other well-wishers have over the years spent countless hours stressing the importance of shot selection to the high-on-adrenaline aggressive batsman.

But so far the boy with a mind of own has taken the path that comes naturally to him. It didnt work at the junior World Cup but Umar now has a second chance. If it works,Umar will be the star everybody expected him to be.

But if it doesnt,unlike his junior World Cup slump,this will be a part of his past that will continue to haunt Umar.