Pakistani Cricket Players: November 2011

Thursday 24 November 2011

Salim Malik

Salim Malik Biography
Full name Saleem Malik

Born April 16, 1963, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 48 years 222 days

Major teams Pakistan, Essex, Habib Bank Limited, Lahore, Sargodha

Also known as Slim

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm slow-medium, Right-arm offbreak

Profile

Saleem Malik was many things: a gifted, wristy, square-of-the-wicket batsman; the first man who really got on top of Shane Warne, in Pakistan in 1994-95; a fine overseas player for Essex (where he became known as "Slim") in 1991, if less so later; and an influential captain of Pakistan. Unfortunately his role in cricket did not end there. In 2000, he became the first player to be banned - from all cricket - for match-fixing, when Justice Qayyum's inquiry found him guilty. Shane Warne and Mark Waugh also testified that Malik had tried to bribe them to lose the Karachi Test of 1994-95 (which Australia did, by one wicket). He protested his innocence, appealed against the ban in 2001 but the Lahore High Court rejected it. He sought relief from the Supreme Court and after a seven-year wait, had his ban lifted. He now has plans to start a cricket academy.

Salim Malik

Cricket Salim Malik shots in Kolkatta.flv

Salim Malik breaks 10 years old silence in talking with Tabi for News One TV Lahore.

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik Biography
Full name Shoaib Malik

Born February 1, 1982, Sialkot, Punjab

Current age 29 years 296 days

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Delhi Daredevils, Gloucestershire, Gujranwala Cricket Association, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Reserves, Sialkot Cricket Association, Sialkot Stallions

Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Relation Brother - Adeel Malik

Profile

There is almost no role in a cricket side that Shoaib Malik hasn't filled, so much so that over ten years into his career, nobody is sure what his precise and best role is.

In essence, he is a batting allrounder, though he started his career as an off-break bowler. Partly the problem is that he is capable, as a batsman, of fulfilling many roles with some competence. He has had success as an opener in Tests and ODIs; he has been game-changing as a limited-overs one down and dangerous as a lower-order slogger; often he has been a stodgy middle-order bulwark. In Twenty20s, he can be brutal anywhere.

It is thus difficult to recall a definitive Malik high; was it his maiden Test hundred as an opener against Sri Lanka in Colombo? A few hands that led to an ODI series win against India in 2005-06? A Champions Trophy hundred against India?

His basic game is tight, especially in the subcontinent. He isn't pretty, though there can be pleasantness in his high, stiff-elbowed drives and lofts. Square on both sides he is precise. Further, he runs well. With his flattish, very modern off-spin always useful for more than a few overs and a wicket here and there - less so after concerns over his action - and an athletic and languid presence in the field, Malik should be far greater a sum of his parts than he actually is.

He was for long earmarked as a potential captain - the late Bob Woolmer thought him the sharpest tack in Pakistan's set-up - but a stint with the captaincy was troubled, unimaginative and ended badly. It got even worse when the board banned him for a year in March 2010 as part of its unprecedented action on senior players after a disastrous tour of Australia.

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik 125 vs India 2008 Asia Cup

Shoaib Malik 52* of 38 Balls Vs Australia 2007 T20 World Cup

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Biography
Full name Waqar Younis Maitla

Born November 16, 1971, Vehari, Punjab

Current age 40 years 8 days

Major teams Pakistan, Glamorgan, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, National Bank of Pakistan, Rawalpindi, Redco Pakistan Ltd, Surrey, United Bank Limited

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast

Other Coach, Commentator

Relation Brother - Faisal Younis

Profile
The man who really put the reverse into swing. Waqar Younis bucked the 1980s trend of pitching fast and short by pitching fast and full. Not an obvious recipe for success until you factor in prodigious late inswing, which was designed to smash into the base of leg stump or the batsman's toes. In his youth, he was one of the fastest ever. Waqar's surging run was a glorious sight - and an incredible strain on his body. His method of aiming for the stumps rather than the batsman earned him the best strike rate of any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. It could have been better: back injuries cut short his prime, but determination has always resurrected him, although he was easily pushed over the line that divides aggression and intimidation. He looked to have been put out to pasture by the end of 2000, but before long he had been appointed captain for the 2001 tour to England. Initial results suggested that this was an inspired move, but in October 2002 he was at the helm as Pakistan crumbled to 59 and 53 all out against Australia in Sharjah. He managed to retain the job for the World Cup, but a disastrous tournament - Pakistan beat only Holland and Namibia - meant an unceremonious exit. Unable to force his way back into a side building for the future, he announced his retirement in April 2004. As a batsman, lusty blows were his staple, but Waqar batted with the air of a man who thinks he could have done better. The next stage of his career began in March 2006 when he was appointed as Pakistan's bowling coach, and he has also been a regular in the commentary box.

Waqar Younis

WAQAR YOUNIS- THE REVERSE SWING KING!!!!!!!!

WAQAR YOUNIS DESTROYS BRIAN LARA & PHIL SIMMONS 1992/93

Azhar Mahmood

Azhar Mahmood Biography
Full name Azhar Mahmood Sagar

Born February 28, 1975, Rawalpindi, Punjab

Current age 36 years 269 days

Major teams Pakistan, Islamabad Cricket Association, Kent, Lahore Badshahs, Marylebone Cricket Club, Pakistan International Airlines, Rawalpindi, Surrey, United Bank Limited

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Profile

Azhar Mahmood is a mentally tough allrounder and belligerent batsman, who began his career with three Test centuries against South Africa. In one-day cricket he invariably raises the tempo in the lower middle-order. He is strong off his legs and relishes short bowling. But he pushes at the ball too firmly in defence, and is particularly vulnerable against legspin. In a team of reverse-swingers he is the only English-type seamer, virtuous in his pursuit of line and length. He is a useful fielder and, close in, he rarely misses an opportunity to enquire about the batsman's health. During a one-month stint as a Surrey overseas player in 2002 he took 8 for 61 against Lancashire, then turned out for them for two seasons full-time as Pakistan's mercurial lost faith in him for reasons that have never quite been made clear. He signed with Surrey again for 2005, and later applied for British citizenship after marrying his British wife. He signed for Kent in late 2007. He extended his contract with Kent for two years, at the end of the 2011 season. His Twenty20 hitting also earned him a call-up to the Auckland squad as their overseas pro for the 2011-12 HRV Cup.

Azhar Mahmood

Azhar Mahmood Devastating Innings vs Leicester Part 1

Azhar Mahmood 2 huge Massive sixes against Abdul Razzaq in English county Cricket

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal Biography
Full name Kamran Akmal

Born January 13, 1982, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 29 years 315 days

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Lahore, Lahore Blues, Lahore City, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, National Bank of Pakistan, Punjab Stallions, Rajasthan Royals

Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Relation Brother - Adnan Akmal, Brother - Umar Akmal

Profile

Kamran Akmal may well be the most emphatic proof of cricket's changed priorities post Adam Gilchrist. Sides now search for an explosive batsman who can change a day, an innings, a phase with the bat and so long as you can identify right wicketkeeping glove from left, the place is yours.

There has been little doubt about Akmal's batting. The purity of his drives and the strength of his cutting and pulling, particularly on slower subcontinent surfaces, has always held a strong allure. And when it comes together as it did one January morning in Karachi against India - one of the Test innings of that decade - he makes it in the side as a batsman alone.

But his glovework, which began so promisingly when he effectively ended the dogfight between Rashid Latif and Moin Khan in late 2004, has deteriorated alarmingly and few Pakistan matches are complete without a clumsy Akmal error.

It wasn't always thus, for he was good when he began, good enough to impress Ian Healy. But non-stop cricket in all three formats have let technical errors creep in and critics and experts have long pushed for the need for him to take a break.

To quality spin, he is often as lost as the batsmen and Danish Kaneria, over the years, has suffered in particular. In a string of error-ridden performances, the one nobody will forget will be the four dropped catches (and a missed run-out) in the Sydney Test of 2009-10, which allowed Australia to escape with a remarkable, traumatic win. Against this the memory of his Karachi hundred will always battle, with no clear winner ever likely to emerge. The tryst with controversy does his cause no good, with his refusal to accept his demotion from the side in the aftermath of a disastrous Sydney Test in 2009, eliciting a harsh fine and a disciplinary probation from the PCB.

Kamran Akmal

YouTube-‪Kamran Akmal 64 vs aus t20 2010.flv

1 over 17 Runs Required - How Kamran Akmal Survived

Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram Biography
Full name Wasim Akram

Born June 3, 1966, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 45 years 173 days

Major teams Pakistan, Hampshire, Lahore, Lancashire, Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Pakistan International Airlines

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Left-arm fast

Profile

A dream cricketer. At his best Wasim Akram plays like most of us would wish to. He has complete mastery over swing and seam, and sometimes moves the ball both ways in one delivery. All this comes at high speed from a quick, ball-concealing action, and is backed up by the threat of a dangerous bouncer or deceptive slower delivery. Akram is rated by many as the best left-arm fast bowler of all time, and his career record certainly bears that out - along with the high regard of his contemporaries. He hit like a kicking horse, but batsmanship was one skill in which Akram underachieved, despite a monumental 257 against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura in 1996-97. He was the natural successor to Imran Khan as Pakistan's leader and captain, but the match-fixing controversies of the 1990s harmed him, blunting his edge and dimming his lustre. Though he reached the 500-wicket landmark in ODIs in the 2003 World Cup, he was among the eight players dumped after Pakistan's miserable performance. He retired shortly after, following a brief spell with Hampshire.

Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram- The King Of Swing !!

Wasim Akram & Waqar Younis GREATEST COMPILATION VIDEO EVER!

Aaqib Javed

Aaqib Javed Biography
Full name Aaqib Javed

Born August 5, 1972, Sheikhupura, Punjab

Current age 39 years 110 days

Major teams Pakistan, Allied Bank, Hampshire, Islamabad Cricket Association, Lahore Division, Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Sheikhupura Cricket Association

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Profile

An under-rated fast-medium bowler who mastered traditional and reverse-swing. He had a sprinting run-up which culminated in a high action, allied to a hostile attitude towards batsmen. Aqib Javed was allegedly only 16 when he made his Test debut in 1988-89, but he spent much of his career in the shadows of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, despite playing a key part in Pakistan's 1992 World Cup victory when he opened the bowling effectively in place of the injured Waqar. The subsequent tour of England was eventful too. Aqib was involved in a notorious sweater-tugging incident with umpire Roy Palmer after he had gratuitously pitched short at England's No. 11 Devon Malcolm. Aqib was in and out of the side too much for his liking, and made more of an impact as a one-day player. His career ended amid the acrimony of Pakistan's match-fixing controversy, in which he was seen as one of the clean players.

Aaqib Javed

Aaqib Javed ODI Hat Trick against India

- Aaqib Javed Vs India 1991 7 for 37 at Sharjah

Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain Mushtaq Biography
Full name Saqlain Mushtaq

Born December 29, 1976, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 34 years 329 days

Major teams Ireland, Pakistan, Islamabad Cricket Association, Lahore Badshahs, Pakistan International Airlines, Surrey, Sussex

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Profile
A trend-setter. Saqlain Mushtaq was perhaps the first offspinner to master the doosra, a delivery that spins away from the batsman even though it is delivered with an offspinner's action. Saqlain has a fast, short-stepping action with a halting delivery, and has a propensity to bowl no-balls, unusually for a bowler with such a short run. He is criticised for attempting too much variation and he often throws in the doosra the first time a batsman faces. Saqlain's international career got off to a splendid start - he was the fastest bowler to 100 one-day wickets, and his phenomenal control meant that he regularly bowled at the death. But his finest moment arguably came in a Test match, at Chennai in 1998-99, when his ten-for allowed Pakistan to sneak nerve-tingling 12-run win against India. However, his stock has fallen a long way since then, with Shoaib Malik, a better batsman than Saqlain, usurping the spinner's spot in the ODI line-up and Danish Kaneria becoming the frontline Test spinner. Saqlain did get an opportunity to have a go at the Indians again in the 2003-04 series, but unflattering figures of 1 for 204 at Multan meant that he was quickly consigned to the scrap heap. He was unable to force his way back ahead of Danish Kaneria and he was blighted by injury after a prolific time with Surrey. However, his career was given a lifeline in 2007 when he joined Mushtaq Ahmed at Sussex and there was even talk of him qualifying for England. That could remain a distant dream, after signing a contract with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. Indeed, his ICL contract forced Surrey to severe ties with him after the 2008 season, ending his 11-year relationship with The Oval.
Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain Mushtaq

saqlain mushtaq destroyed english batting lineup

Saqlain Mushtaq explains the Doosra

Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad Biography
Full name Mohammad Javed Miandad Khan

Born June 12, 1957, Karachi, Sind

Current age 54 years 164 days

Major teams Pakistan, Glamorgan, Habib Bank Limited, Karachi, Sind, Sussex

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak googly

Relation Brother - Bashir Miandad, Brother - Anwar Miandad, Brother - Sohail Miandad, Nephew - Faisal Iqbal

Profile

Javed Miandad is the greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced. There was little doubt in the mind of Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistan's first Test captain and influential administrator, when he first laid eyes on him as a youngster in the early 70s and famously predicted Miandad "the find of the decade." He wasn't wrong, as a stupendous debut series against New Zealand in 1976 started to prove.

Miandad was not of the classical school of batting, though he possessed a beautiful square cut and most shots in and outside the book: he was a fine early reverse-sweeper. But he worked the angles and spaces equally well; he knew above all how to score runs in almost any situation. These qualities presented themselves through his entire career and uniquely, not once did his career average fall below fifty. No Pakistani has scored more Test runs than him and, Inzamam-ul-Haq aside, probably no batsman has won as many matches for Pakistan.

There was often a touch of genie or genius about his finest innings, like his two hundreds in successive Tests in the West Indies in 1987-88 or the big double hundreds against India and England. Problems on the bouncy pitches of Australia or the swinging ones of England were overcome with time and, if people questioned his record against the West Indies, they never did after that 1987-88 series.

He was versatile as well, as evidenced by a marvellous ODI career. Here his supreme running - it is said that he was one of the early pioneers of aggressive ODI running - shot placement and mental strength produced outstanding results. All qualities came together in a near-miraculous ODI century against India in Sharjah which won the Australasia Cup for Pakistan in 1986. He often saved his best for India, never more so than when he smote Chetan Sharma for a last-ball six to win that final. The match led to years of Pakistani domination over India, particularly in the deserts of Sharjah. In 1992, battling age and back problems, Miandad played a lead role in Pakistan's only World Cup triumph, with six half-centuries.

He was also Pakistan's youngest captain and always considered to be the most tactically astute. Imran Khan often acknowledges the role Miandad played as vice-captain with key on-field decisions, though the two were chalk to the other's cheese. But as captain possibly he was too abrasive to get on with all of his players, as at least two player revolts against his leadership suggest. And coinciding with the leadership of Imran, he never captained in as many Tests as he might have done. As with most subcontinent greats, he possibly lingered for longer than might have been advised, finally bowing out in 1996 after, ironically, a loss to India in the World Cup.

The problems of captaincy re-emerged when he became Pakistan's coach, where he had his ups and downs. Results were mostly positive but constant bickering from players about his excessively hands-on approach wasn't so good. After three stints in charge, he parted company with the team in 2004 to make way for Bob Woolmer after being blamed for Pakistan's one-day and Test losses to India. In October 2008, Miandad declined an offer to become Pakistan's coach again, but he was soon appointed the PCB's director-general, possibly a role of even greater influence. The move was hailed by many Pakistanis but it didn't last long - Miandad quit the job in January 2009, after differences with the board over the exact scope of his role.

Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad 271 vs NZ 3rd test 1988/89

Geo Javed Miandad Naat Rishta Hai Ramdan

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Shahid Khan Afridi

Shahid Khan Afridi Biography
Full name        Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi
Born               March 1, 1980, Khyber Agency
Current age     31 years 265 days
Major teams    Pakistan, Asia XI, Deccan Chargers, Fly Emirates XI, Griqualand West, Habib Bank Limited, Hampshire, ICC World XI, Karachi, Leicestershire, South Australia
Playing role      Allrounder
Batting style     Right-hand bat
Bowling Style Legbreak googly

Profile
Shahid Afridi is the maddest of crazy maxes. A colorful allrounder introduced to international cricket as a 16-year-old legspinner, he surprised everyone but himself by pinch-hitting the fastest one-day hundred in his maiden innings. Afridi is a obsessive shot-maker and although until 2004 it was too often his downfall, causing him to drift in and out of the team, a combination of maturity on and off the field and a sympathetic coach in Bob Woolmer, saw Afridi blossom into one of modern-day cricket's most dangerous players and a essential cog in Pakistan's revival in 2005. A thread of sharp contributions from June 2004 culminated in a aggressive century against India in Kanpur in April 2005.Shahid Afridi is one of the greatest entertainers in world cricket. ‘Boom Boom Afridi’, as he is extensively known, follows a simple theory of either to hit out or get out, which makes him a crowd favourite.

His allround skills are completed by agile fielding and among the strongest arms in the game, he also possesses the firmest handshake in international cricket. Again he shocked everyone but himself when, after finally becoming a fixture in the Pakistan side, and a thrillingly bombastic one at that.He is capable of hitting almost any ball out of the park and is dangerous when in full flow.His carefree attitude has cost him a regular place in the side over the years. The all-rounder is also an excellent leg-spinner. Afridi was adjudged the Player of the Tournament at the World Twenty20 in 2007. He had another memorable edition in England. The all-rounder was awarded the man of the match in both, semi-final and final match of the 2009 event. He was later made the captain of the T20 side as regular skipper Younus Khan decided to retire from the shortest format of the game after guiding Pakistan to victory.
                                      Shahid Khan Afridi

Shahid Khan Afridi

Shahid Khan Afridi 65 runs in 25 balls in christchurch ground

A tribute to Shahid Khan Afridi.