Umar Akmal needs to change his attitude, show total commitment and focus to become a regular in Pakistan team, says Misbah-ul-Haq

Karachi: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has advised Umar Akmal to change his attitude and said the senior batsman needs to show commitment towards the game to become a regular member of the national team. Misbah said while there was no doubt about Umar’s potential and talent as a batsman, he needs to reassess his priorities as a professional cricketer. [caption id=“attachment_6390571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Umar Akmal. AP[/caption] “If Umar thinks he can play in the same mode as he is today, it will be difficult for him. He needs to show total commitment and focus to become a regular member of the side,” he told reporters via video conference. Umar, 29, earlier this week submitted his reply to a show cause notice issued to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for breaching clauses of the Anti-Corruption code which pertains to not reporting an approach to spot fix during the Pakistan Super League 5 in February. The PCB Security and Vigilance wing suspended Umar on the first day of the PSL on 20 February for beaching the Anti-Corruption Code and last month issued him a show cause notice. Umar apparently submitted his reply by the deadline of 31 March and had reportedly admitted he made a mistake by not reporting the approach. The PCB can ban Umar for six months to life but insiders say the board is contemplating imposing a one million rupee-fine and a ban of 12-months, half of it suspended, as the batsman has admitted his mistake and asked for leniency. The youngest of the Akmal brothers, Umar made an impressive debut for Pakistan in 2009 scoring a century in his maiden Test in New Zealand and is widely regarded as a highly-talented batsman. But his antics off the field plus his lack of cricket discipline has seen him play just 16 Tests (his last Test appearance was in late 2011 in Zimbabwe), 121 ODIs and 84 T20 Internationals for Pakistan. The batsman has been involved in several breaches of discipline and has had torrid relations with his coaches notably Waqar Younis and Mickey Arthur while even Misbah as Test captain between 2010-2017 didn’t select him for the longer format after 2011. Misbah made it clear that Umar could still give some years to Pakistan cricket but for that he would need to show more commitment and discipline. “He also has to work very hard on his fitness and show everyone he is very much interested in playing for a long time for Pakistan,” Misbah said.