The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) honoured their cricketers by giving them awards for their achievements in domestic and international cricket in the 2017-18 season. The PCB awards were held in Karachi on August 8 night.
28-year-old left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman, who recently became the first Pakistani batsman to score a double century in the One Day International cricket during the fourth ODI vs Zimbabwe, bagged a special award for his outstanding performance. Zaman also received a cash prize of PKR 2.5 million.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who led the team to lift the champions trophy in 2017, was awarded the Imtiaz Ahmed Spirit Award and PKR 1 million cash prize.
But what surprised the Twitterati was Kamran Akmal lifting the best wicket-keeper award in the domestic cricket.
Recently, Akmal’s bad outings behind the stumps and dropped catches have turned him into a butt of many jokes. Some called him ‘Butterfingers’ while some called him as the worst ‘wicket-keeper.’
Akmal should give up wicket keeping and become a polio agent to give drops in Pakistan.
— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) March 1, 2015
Akmal can’t even catch cold.
— Maithun _ (@Being_Humor) March 1, 2015
Following Akmal’s win as the best wicket-keeper, Twitterati termed him as ‘undeserving’.
What did i just read??
R u serious?
No i mean is this a joke or what?
Kamran Akmal for the best WK????____pls someone tell me it was an error
RIP Talent! https://t.co/UwcR9kn001— _____ (@Nas_k27) August 8, 2018
Worst wicket keeper (international ) Kamran Akmal _ great achievement
— samar_desai__ (@s_desai123) August 9, 2018
If Kamran Akmal is the best wicketkerper of our domestic season then one can easily guess the quality of our donestic cricket @faizanlakhani
— Fawad Masud (@FawadMasud) August 8, 2018
Shan Masood best batsman, Aizaz Cheema best bowler and Kamran Akmal best wicket Keeper in domestic cricket announced by PCB, and all 3 r not playing for Pakistan….____ @waheedkhan @SYahyaHussaini @bhattimajid
— Farrukh Malik (@FarrukhMalik71) August 8, 2018
Whenever u hear catch dropped u will miss kamran akmal wicket-keeping_
— Janardan Jakhar ( JJ ) __ (@Ranbir38088045) August 2, 2018
Best WK kamran akmal? So it means we have no pool of WK in domestic cricket? _ unlucky Pak.
— Sami khattak (@thesamilicious) August 8, 2018
Muhammad Abbas, who bagged 27 wickets last year, won the award for the ‘Best Test Player’, while Hasan Ali won the ‘Best ODI Player’ award.
In women’s cricket, former captain Sana Mir was awarded the Best ODI Player for her 259 runs and 21 wickets
Here’s the complete list of winners from PCB Awards 2018:
Best Test Player of the Year (Men): Mohammad Abbas, bowler (27 Wickets), Rs 0.6 million
Best ODI Player of the Year (Men): Hasan Ali, bowler (33 Wickets), Rs. 0.6 million
Best ODI Player (Women): Sana Mir (259 runs & 21 wickets), Rs. 0.6 million
Best T20 Player of the Year (Men): Babar Azam, batsman (489 runs), Rs. 0.6 million
Best T20 Player (Women): Javeria Khan, batswoman (173 runs), Rs. 0.6 million
Best emerging player (Men): Faheem Ashraf, Rs. 0.6 million
Best batsman domestic (Men): Shan Masood, (1857 runs), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Batswoman domestic (Women): Javeria Khan (356 runs), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Bowler Domestic (Men): Aizaz Cheema (78 wickets), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Bowler Domestic (Women): Diana Baig (18 wickets), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Wicketkeeper Domestic (Men): Kamran Akmal (54 victims), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Wicket Keeper (Women): Sidra Nawaz (27 victims), Rs. 0.5 million
Best Player of the Year (Blind): Amir Ishfaq, Rs. 0.5 million
Best Player of the Year (Deaf & Dumb): Muhammad Naveed Qamar, Rs. 0.5 million
Best Player of the Year (Disable): Nihaar Alam, Rs. 0.5 million
Best Umpire of the Year: Muhammad Asif Yaqoob, Rs. 0.3 million
Best Coach of Year: Sajjad Akber (LCCA), Rs. 0.3 million
Best Referee of the Year: Mohammad Anees (Lahore) Rs. 0.3 million
Best Scorer of the Year: Azhar Hussain (Lahore) Rs. 0.2 million
Best Curator of the Year: Riaz Ahmed (Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium), Rs. 0.2 million
