'Umar Akmal needs a change in attitude,' says Basit Ali

Karachi, Dec 9: Despite Pakistani batsman Umar Akmal’s decent showing in the ODI series against Bangladesh, Basit Ali feels that he has a lot of work to do before he regains his spot in the Test side.

“Umar is undoubtedly a very talented batsman. He has a lot of shots in his armory and can demoralize any bowling attack. In the space of a few overs he can change the course of a match,” PakPassion.net quoted Ali, as saying.

“However cricket is not about playing a few flashy shots and then going and sitting in the pavilion, looking despondent and watching your team mates at the crease,” he added.

The former batsman said that Akmal needs to improve his levels of concentration, shot selection and bat according to the match situation to become a Test regular.

“You simply cannot go out into the middle and throw your bat around every time you go out to bat. If the team is struggling and he goes into bat, I see the same mistakes from him and the same carefree shots,” Ali said.

“This needs to be eradicated from his batting, but coaches like myself can only guide him and it’s up to him what he does in the middle and whether he listens to the advice offered to him,” he added.