Pakistan Cricket Players: 2013

Thursday 14 February 2013

Rameez Raja

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Rameez Raja Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the current Karachi cricketer, see Rameez Raja (born 1987).
Rameez Raja
رميزراجہ
Personal information
Full name Rameez Hasan Raja
Born 14 August 1962 (age 50)
Lyallpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Batting style Right hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Role Batsman
Relations Wasim Raja (brother)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI
Matches 57 198
Runs scored 2833 5841
Batting average 31.83 32.09
100s/50s 2/22 9/31
Top score 122 119*
Balls bowled – 1
Wickets – 0
Bowling average – –
5 wickets in innings – –
10 wickets in match – n/a
Best bowling – 0/10
Catches/stumpings 34/0 33/0
Source: ESPN Cricinfo, 31 January 2006
Rameez Hasan Raja (Urdu: رميزراجہ‎; born 14 August 1962) is a former Pakistani right handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan cricket team during the 1980s and 1990s. He also been captain of the national team. Since retiring from professional cricket, he has become a sports and television commentator.
Contents [hide]
1 Personal life and education
2 Career
2.1 1987–1988: Given out for obstructing the field
2.2 1995–1996: Captain of Pakistan Cricket team
2.3 2003–2004: Pakistan Cricket Board
3 Centuries of Rameez Raja
3.1 One Day International centuries
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Personal life and education

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (March 2012)
Raja was born in Faisalabad in Pakistan and studied at Saint Anthony's High School Lahore and Aitchison College, Lahore and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration. His brother, Wasim Raja, also played Test cricket for Pakistan and another brother, Zaeem Raja, played First-class cricket in Pakistan. He completed his masters degree at Oxford University.
[edit]Career

Raja made his First class cricket debut in 1978. He received his opportunity to play in a Test match against England. His performance was unimpressive, as he was dismissed for 1 run in each innings. However, with the retirement of several players in the Pakistan squad and with the help of his years of experience in first class cricket, Raja was able to secure a spot in the national side.
Raja played international cricket for 13 years, appearing in 57 Test matches, with a career average of 31.83 and scoring two centuries. In the One Day International arena, he played 200 matches and scored 9 centuries. He was a member of the national side that reached the semi finals of the 1987 World Cup. He scored 2 centuries in the 1992 World Cup, which was held in Australia, including a century, against New Zealand, who had been un defeated during that period. Raja was awarded the man of the match for his match winning performance which earned Pakistan a place in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the final against England, Raja had the honour of taking the final catch which won the world cup for Pakistan. This became the pinnacle of his cricketing career, as within a year of this triumph, he had lost form and was dropped from the national side.
However, he was recalled back to the Pakistan squad and played in the 1996 cricket World Cup. During the 1995–1996 season, he was removed from the captaincy, after Pakistan lost their first home series to Sri Lanka. His final game in a Test match for Pakistan, was as captain in the 1996–1997 tour of Sri Lanka, however the team failed to win a match during the series. He retired from all forms of cricket in 1997 and since then he has been active as a television commentator and as an administrator for both Pakistan and International cricket.
Raja has worked as a commentator on Test Match Special and Sky Sports, during the 2006 England Test series against Pakistan. He has also worked as the chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, but resigned from his job in August 2004, citing increasing media commitments.
[edit]1987–1988: Given out for obstructing the field
Raja became the first player in One Day International history to be given out by "obstructing the field" against England, in a match at Karachi in 1987. England had scored 263 runs for 6 wickets during their 44 over innings. For Pakistan, Raja opened the batting and had reached 98 runs when the last ball of the match was bowled, with Pakistan needing 25 runs to win in the last over. During this last over, he hit the ball and sprinted for two runs that would have given him his century, but was well short of the crease when the fielder's return came towards him and Raja knocked the ball away with his bat and was given out "obstructing the field".
[edit]1995–1996: Captain of Pakistan Cricket team
Almost a decade later, he was involved in another controversy when he captained Pakistan to their first Test home series loss against Sri Lanka in September 1995. Before being brought in as captain for the series, he had often opened the batting innings with both Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar at different match, but without success. As a captain, he did not open the innings in any of the three Test match and opted to bat at number three, his preferred position. He was sacked as captain after Pakistan lost the series and was replaced by Wasim Akram. He got a second chance at captaincy when, immediately in the next season in 1996–1997, he led the Pakistan team for the second time in two Test match against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, but failed to achieved a win. This was his final appearance in a Test match for Pakistan.
[edit]2003–2004: Pakistan Cricket Board
Raja worked as a CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board, simultaneously serving as a cricket commentator. He resigned from the post of the CEO in August 2004 citing increasing media commitments as the reason for his decision.
[edit]Centuries of Rameez Raja

[edit]One Day International centuries
In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
One Day International centuries of Rameez Raja
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 113 57 England Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium, Karachi 1987
[2] 101 84 New Zealand Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park 1989
[3] 116* 101 Sri Lanka Hobart, Tasmania Bellerive Oval 1990
[4] 107* 102 Sri Lanka Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Oval 1990
[5] 114 107 New Zealand Sialkot, Pakistan Jinnah Stadium 1990
[6] 102* 128 West Indies Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground 1992
[7] 119* 133 New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand Lancaster Park 1992
[8] 109* 153 Sri Lanka Sharjah, UAE Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium 1993
[9] 104* 119 West Indies Sharjah, UAE Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium 1995

Rameez Raja

Aaqib Javed

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Aaqib Javed Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)
Personal information
Full name Aaqib Javed
Born 5 August 1972 (age 40)
Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side Pakistan
Test debut (cap 109) 10 February 1989 v New Zealand
Last Test 27 November 1998 v Zimbabwe
ODI debut (cap 67) 10 December 1988 v West Indies
Last ODI 24 November 1998 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
Years Team
2000/01 Sheikhupura
1994/95–2002/03 Allied Bank Limited
1993/94–1996/97 Islamabad
1991 Hampshire
1989/90–1991/92 Pakistan Automobiles Corporation
1984/85–1986/87 Lahore Division
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 22 163 121 250
Runs scored 101 267 819 469
Batting average 5.05 10.68 9.41 9.97
100s/50s –/– –/– –/1 –/–
Top score 28* 45* 65 45*
Balls bowled 3,918 8,012 19,267 12,212
Wickets 54 182 358 289
Bowling average 34.70 31.43 26.66 30.14
5 wickets in innings 1 4 19 5
10 wickets in match – – 5 –
Best bowling 5/84 7/37 9/51 7/37
Catches/stumpings 2/– 24/– 19/– 43/–
Source: Cricinfo, 9 May 2010

Aaqib Javed

Saeed Anwar

Source google.com.pk
Saeed Anwar Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Pakistani field hockey player, see Saeed Anwar (field hockey).
Saeed Anwar
سعید انور
Personal information
Full name Saeed Anwar
Born 6 September 1968 (age 44)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Slow left arm orthodox
International information
National side Pakistan
Test debut (cap 120) 23 November 1990 v West Indies
Last Test 31 August 2001 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 68) 1 January 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI 4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 55 247 146 325
Runs scored 4,052 8,824 10,169 11,223
Batting average 45.52 39.21 45.19 37.91
100s/50s 11/25 20/43 30/51 26/54
Top score 188* 194 221 194
Balls bowled 48 242 653 858
Wickets 0 6 9 31
Bowling average – 31.83 45.77 20.80
5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0
10 wickets in match – n/a – n/a
Best bowling – 2/9 3/83 4/39
Catches/stumpings 18/– 42/– 65/– 64/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 May 2012
Saeed Anwar (Urdu: سعید انور‎; born 6 September 1968) is a former Pakistani opening batsman and occasional Slow left arm orthodox bowler who played international cricket between 1989 and 2003. He played 55 Test matches scoring 4052 with the help of eleven centuries; while in 247 One Day Internationals (ODIs) he made 8824 runs. He made twenty centuries in ODIs which are the most than any other Pakistani batsman in the format.[1][2]
In February 1999, Anwar became the third Pakistani to carry his bat through a Test innnings, following father and son Nazar Mohammed and Mudassar Nazar. He scored 188 not out – single-handedly beating his team's previous innings (185), when he mad a duck, and contributing 60 per cent of a total of 316.[3][4] It was also the highest Test score by a Pakistani on Indian soil which was surpassed by Younis Khan (267) in 2005.[4][5][6] He is most notable for scoring 194 runs against India in Chennai in 1997, then the highest, and now the joint third highest individual score in an ODI.[7][8]
Contents [hide]
1 Personal life
2 International career
2.1 One-Day International career
2.2 Test career
3 Records and achievements
4 Retirement
5 Performance
5.1 Test Performance by Opponent
5.2 ODI Performance by Opponent
5.3 Performance Graph
6 Awards
6.1 Test Awards
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
[edit]Personal life

Saeed anwar was born on 6 September 1968 in Karachi. In 1973, he shifted with his family to Tehran and came back to Karachi in 1977. Anwar got his education from Government Degree Science College, Malir Cantt, and graduated by profession as a Computer system engineer from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, in 1989. He was planning to go to the United States for his Master's studies before becoming a professional Test cricketer.[9][10]
Anwar married his cousin, Lubna, a doctor by profession, in March 1996.[9] He faced a personal tragedy in 2001, when his daughter, Bismah, died after a prolonged illness.[11] As a result he turned to religion.[12] He made his return to Cricket after a long hiatus and was one of the most consistent Pakistani batsmen in the 2003 World Cup.
He devoted his life to preaching Islam across Pakistan with the Tablighi Jamaat. He led the funeral prayers for his former team mate Wasim Akram's spouse, Huma Akram, in Lahore.[13] He is also believed to be responsible for Yousuf Youhana's conversion to Islam in 2005. Youhana was the only Christian in the Pakistan cricket team till then and was said to be heavily influenced by Anwar and the Tablighi Jamaat.[14][15]
[edit]International career

An opening batsman capable of annihilating any bowling attack on his day, Anwar was an attacking batsman in ODI matches and once settled in Test matches, scored quickly and all over the field. His success came from good timing. Anwar became famous for his trademark flick. He was able to lift a ball that had pitched outside off stump for six over midwicket. Anwar's timing and ability to score quick runs made him a crowd favourite. In 1997, when he was as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden described him that he "moved his front foot and head well across, then his wrists hovered, hawk-like, over the advancing ball, extending further and further as if they were elastic if the ball was slanted ever more away from him, before the bat flowed into a square-drive to the boundary".[9]
[Anwar] used an eclectic approach to batting – classical betrothed to unorthodox, footwork against spin as quick as a hiccup supple yet powerful to brush the field like a Picasso.
— Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, 2010.[16]
Anwar was the first Pakistani batsman to score a century against India on Indian soil in an ODI match.[citation needed] He has the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia, and once scored two consecutive centuries against them.[17] He scored a classic century against South Africa in Durban, which allowed Pakistan to win a Test match for the first time in South Africa.[18]
[edit]One-Day International career
Anwar played 247 ODI matches for Pakistan and scored 8824 runs from 244 innings at the average of 39.21. He is third in the list of leading run-scorers for Pakistan in the format after Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf. With 20 centuries, he is Pakistan's leading century-maker in ODIs.[1][2][19]
Under the captaincy on Imran Khan, Anwar started his international career on 1 January 1989 with an ODI match played at WACA Ground which Pakistan lost to West Indies. He scored only 3 runs in the match.[20] His first match-winning performance came against India in December 1989 at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala. He scored unbeaten 42 runs off 32 balls in the match.[21] In 1993, he made four ODI centuries at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, including three consecutive centuries against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka during 1993–94 Wills Trophy and became the second of the four players to do so.[22][23] He scored two successive hundreds on three other occasions in his career, and was the first batsman to complete this feat in ODIs.[24]
On 21 May 1997 in Chennai, Anwar scored 194 against India in India in an ODI match.[25] Charles Coventry equalled the feat on 16 August 2009, against Bangladesh.[26] This was the highest individual score by any batsman in the world till Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 200 against South Africa on 24 February 2010 which later was surpassed by Virender Sehwag's 219.[7][27][28]
World Cup Performance
Anwar played in three Cricket World Cups for Pakistan: 1996, 1999 and 2003.[29][30][31] He played 21 matches and scored 915 runs at the average of 53.82, and his highest score in a world cup match remained 113 not out.[32] In 1996 Cricket World Cup, Anwar made three fifties, Against India in the second Quarter-final at Banglore, he made 48. Pakistan lost the match by 39 runs.[33] He made 329 in the tournament. In 1999 Cricket World Cup, he made two consecutive centuries, 103 against Zimbabwe and 113 not out against New Zealand in the Semi-final, and led Pakistan into the Final.[34][35] He scored 368 runs in the tournament. He played his last match against Zimbabawe during the 2003 World Cup in which he made unbeaten 40 runs. The match was lasted without result due to rain.[36] In the previous match played against India which Pakistan lost by six wickets, he scored his fourth century against them and 20th in overall.[37] Anwar dedicated the century to his daughter, who died in 2001.[38]
[edit]Test career
Anwar was an outstanding opener in Test cricket.[39] He played 55 Test matches for Pakistan and scored 4052 at the average of 45.52. He is the seventh-highest run scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket, and scored 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries during his international career.[1] As an aggressive opening batsman, most of his centuries turned into relatively big scores.[40][41] He scored many of his centuries away against almost every team he toured, and averaged more than 40 against the three of four nations (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England) which have been most difficult for an Asian batsman.
He made his Test debut against the West Indies in a match which Pakistan lost at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, in 1990. He got a pair in the match. Bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop dismissed him in the first and second innings respectively.[42][43] His highest score of 188 not out, came against came against India during the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in a match in which he carried his bat, in 1999.[3][4]
[edit]Records and achievements

Main article: List of international cricket centuries by Saeed Anwar
Named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997.[9]
Opened in 32 ODI innings with Aamir Sohail for Pakistan, in 1994–95, the most consecutive by a Pakistan opening pair and fourth overall.[44]
The third Pakistan batsman after Nazar Mohammed and Mudassar Nazar to carry his bat in a test innings.[3] He scored unbeaten 188 runs in the match and Pakistan won the match by 46 runs.[4] It was also the highest Test score by a Pakistani on Indian soil which was surpassed by Younis Khan in 2005.[4][5][6]
Anwar (194) and Charles Coventry (194*) shared the record for highest individual score in an ODI match until it was overtaken by India's Sachin Tendulkar (200*) against South Africa on 24 February 2010 and then Virender Sehwag's 219 against West Indies on 8 December 2011 at Indore.[7][27][28][45][46]
Anwar scored two or more successive hundreds on four occasions, and made 20 hundreds in One Day Internationals as a Pakistani opening batsman.[47]
He holds the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia in Test matches.[17]
[edit]Retirement

He announced his retirement from International cricket on 15 August 2003, after he was dropped from the squad for the upcoming One-Day International tournament in Sharjah.[10]
[edit]Performance

[edit]Test Performance by Opponent
Seed Anwar's performance in Test matches[1][17]
Opponent Matches inn NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct
Australia 8 15 0 886 145 59.06 3 5 1
Bangladesh 1 1 0 101 101 101.00 1 0 0
England 8 14 0 545 176 38.92 1 3 4
India 3 6 0 289 188* 57.80 1 1 0
New Zealand 5 8 0 418 169 52.25 2 1 3
South Africa 7 15 0 279 118 23.25 1 1 1
Sri Lanka 11 16 0 919 136 57.43 2 8 6
West Indies 4 5 0 96 65 19.20 0 1 1
Zimbabwe 8 14 1 519 145 59.06 0 5 2
Total 55 91 2 4052 188* 45.52 11 25 18
[edit]ODI Performance by Opponent
Seed Anwar's performance in ODI matches[1][48]
Opponent Matches inn NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct
Australia 30 30 1 683 104* 23.55 1 0 6
Bangladesh 6 6 1 285 90 57.00 0 3 3
England 11 11 0 488 77 44.36 0 5 1
India 50 48 2 2002 194 43.52 4 8 12
Kenya 3 3 1 29 27 9.66 0 0 0
Namibia 1 1 0 23 23 23.00 0 0 0
Netherlands 3 3 2 136 83* 136.52 0 1 0
New Zealand 32 32 4 1260 113* 45.00 4 7 5
Scotland 1 1 0 6 6 6.00 0 0 0
South Africa 24 24 1 398 42 17.30 0 0 1
Sri Lanka 52 52 3 2198 126 44.85 7 13 9
United Arab Emirates 2 2 1 79 40* 79.00 0 0 0
West Indies 17 16 1 534 131 35.60 2 2 4
Zimbabwe 15 15 3 703 103* 58.58 2 4 1
Total 247 244 19 8824 194 39.21 20 43 42
[edit]Performance Graph

Saeed Anwar's career performance graph.
[edit]Awards

[edit]Test Awards
Player of the series award[49]
No Series (Opponents) Season Series performance
1 New Zealand in Pakistan (Test Series) 1996/97 157 Runs (2 Matches & 3 Innings, 1x100, 0x50); 2 Catches
Player of the match awards[50]
No Date Opposition Venue Match performance Result
1 9 August 1994 Sri Lanka Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo 230 Runs (94 and136 runs) Won[51]
2 16 February 1999 India Eden Gardens, Kolkata 188* Won[52]

Saeed Anwar

Moin Khan

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Moin Khan Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moin Khan
معین خان
Personal information
Full name Moin Khan
Born 23 September 1971 (age 41)
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Batting style Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling style N/A
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs
Matches 69 219
Runs scored 2741 3266
Batting average 28.55 23.00
100s/50s 4/15 -/12
Top score 137 72*
Balls bowled – –
Wickets – –
Bowling average – –
5 wickets in innings – –
10 wickets in match – n/a
Best bowling – –
Catches/stumpings 128/20 214/73
Source: Cricinfo, 7 August 2005
Mohammad Moin Khan (Urdu: محمد معین خان; born September 23, 1971), popularly known as Moin Khan (Urdu: معین خان), is a former Pakistani cricketer, primarily a wicketkeeper-batsman, who remained a member of the Pakistani national cricket team from 1990 to 2004. He has also captained the Pakistani side. He made his international debut against the West Indies at Multan. He took over 100 catches in Test cricket. He has scored over 3,000 ODI runs and taken over 200 catches in ODI cricket. He is credited with coining the name of Saqlain Mushtaq's mystery delivery that goes from leg to off, as the doosra. It means the "other one" in Urdu.
Contents [hide]
1 Career
2 Centuries by Moin Khan
2.1 Test Cricket centuries
3 References
4 External links
[edit]Career

Throughout his international career, Moin had to compete with another wicket-keeper, Rashid Latif. Moin kept wicket in the 1992 Cricket World Cup which Pakistan won and the 1999 Cricket World Cup where Pakistan finished runners up. Latif kept wickets in the 1996 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Despite close rivalries, Moin is mostly remembered as the better player as their performance after the glove-work came onto how they batted. Despite having a significantly similar Test batting average, Moin had a higher ODI average than Latif and scored more runs than Latif in international cricket.
During the 1992 Cricket World Cup Semi-final vs New Zealand Pakistan needed 9 runs for 8 balls before Moin Khan wacked a six to make it 3 runs of 7 balls. From then on Javed Miandad scored the winning boundary and Pakistan setup a clash in the world cup final with England. In the world cup final Pakistan were 249 from 50 overs with Moin Khan not getting a chance to bat. He did take three catches during the final including one of Ian Botham who went for a duck against a fantastic inswinger bowled by Wasim Akram [1]
In 2005 Moin scored the first century in Pakistan domestic Twenty20 cricket when he smashed 112 off 59 balls for Karachi Dolphins against Lahore Lions in the ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup. At the end of the season he retired from cricket finishing with 200 not out against Hyderabad, his highest first class score.
In 2007, Moin signed with the unofficial Indian Cricket League and coached the Hyderabad Heroes. In the 2008 edition of the competition, he coached the expansion team, the Lahore Badshahs.
[edit]Centuries by Moin Khan

[edit]Test Cricket centuries
In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
Test Cricket centuries of Moin Khan
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 115* 12 Australia Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 1994
[2] 117* 16 Sri Lanka Sialkot, Pakistan Jinnah Stadium 1995
[3] 105 19 England Leeds, United Kingdom Headingley 1996
[4] 137 64 New Zealand Hamilton, New Zealand Westpac Park 2004

Moin Khan

Saqlain Mushtaq

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Saqlain Mushtaq Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saqlain Mushtaq

Personal information

Full name Saqlain Mushtaq

Born 29 December 1976 (age 36)

Lahore, Pakistan

Batting style Right-handed

Bowling style Right arm off break

International information

National side Pakistan

Test debut (cap 134) 8 September 1995 v Sri Lanka

Last Test 1 April 2004 v India

ODI debut (cap 103) 29 September 1995 v Sri Lanka

Last ODI 7 October 2003 v South Africa

Domestic team information

Years Team

1994–2004 Pakistan Intl. Airlines

1994–1998 Islamabad

1997–2008 Surrey

2003–2004 Lahore

2007 Sussex

Career statistics

Competition Test ODI FC LA

Matches 49 169 194 323

Runs scored 927 711 3,405 1,339

Batting average 14.48 11.85 16.69 11.64

100s/50s 1/2 0/0 1/14 0/0

Top score 101* 37* 101* 38*

Balls bowled 14,070 8,770 44,634 16,062

Wickets 208 288 833 478

Bowling average 29.83 21.78 23.56 23.55

5 wickets in innings 13 6 60 7

10 wickets in match 3 n/a 15 n/a

Best bowling 8/164 5/20 8/65 5/20

Catches/stumpings 15/– 40/– 67/– 80/–

Source: ESPNcricinfo, 8 December 2009

Saqlain Mushtaq (Urdu: ثقلین مشتاق) (born 29 December 1976) is a Pakistanicricketer.[1] He is best known for pioneering the "doosra", which he employed to great effect during his career. Saqlain has not been active in international cricketsince 2004. A right-arm off break bowler, Saqlain played 49 Test matches and 169One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan, between 1995 and 2004. He took 208 and 288wickets in Tests and ODIs respectively.[2] He also scored Test Matchcentury, against New Zealand, in March 2001.[3] Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram described him as "aggressive as a fast bowler, not afraid of getting hit, and has this total belief in himself".[4]

Contents [hide]

1 Early life

2 Career

2.1 Domestic career

2.2 International career

3 Playing style

4 Personal life

5 Records and achievements

6 Awards

6.1 Key

6.2 Test Awards

6.3 ODI Awards

7 References

8 External links

[edit]Early life

Saqlain was born on 29 December 1976, in Lahore. His father was a government clerk. He has two elder brothers, Sibtain, who also played first-class cricket for Lahore, and Zulqurnain. Saqlain played for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) college for three years and college won the Championship each year.[2][4]

[edit]Career

[edit]Domestic career

Saqlain represented Surrey for eight successive seasons, from 1997 to 2004. However, his time there was interrupted and his international career with Pakistaneffectively ended in 2004.[5]

In August 2005, he played his first match after recovering from injury against Bangladesh A, and took 4–87 from 35 overs bowled over two innings.[6] However that same week, in his return to the County Championship, he conceded 110 off 28 overs againstGloucestershire, taking just one wicket.[7]

In February 2006, he signed for Ireland for the C&G Trophy, along with team mate Abdul Razzaq.[5][8]

Later in February 2007, Sussex announced that Saqlain had signed a two-year contract with them. His initial requirement was to cover for fellow Pakistanis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who were part of Pakistan's World Cup campaign.[9] On 26 September 2007, Saqlain was released by the county on his request. On 8 October 2007 Saqlain was re-signed by Surrey.[10] On 28 October, according to Cricinfo, he was released by Surrey.

In April 2009 he joined Old Whigiftians CC[11] to play in the Surrey Championship. He took 64 wickets in his first season, including five 5 wicket hauls to earn Whits promotion to the first division. He was also involved in the youth game setup. In 2010, after relocating toLeicestershire, he joined Syston Town Cricket Club, playing in the Everards County League.[12]

In late 2010, he was training in Taunton at the facilities of Somerset County Cricket Club, whom he has now joined as a temporary spin-bowling coach for the 2011 Caribbean Twenty20 competition.[13]

[edit]International career

Saqlain made his Test debut in September 1995 playing against Sri Lanka at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.[2] He picked up four wickets at an average of 26.75 in the first Test of the series.[14] The highlight of his Test career came in the away series against India in January/February 1999, where he achieved his first ten wicket haul in a test match. He took five-wicket hauls in the both innings of the match[15] In the first test, with India needing only 17 runs to win, Saqlain effectively sealed Pakistan's win by taking the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar who had scored 136.[16] He ended the series with twenty wickets at an average of 20.15, which earned him the Man of the Series award.[17][18] His career-best bowling in an innings came in November 2000, against England at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, in a match in which he took 8 wickets for 164 runs in the first innings. The performance earned a man of the match award for him.[19]

Saqlain made his One Day International (ODI) debut in September 1995 against Sri Lanka at the Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala. He could not take a wicket, but Pakistan won the match by 9 wickets.[20] His first match winning performance came against same team in the final match of 1996 Singer Cup. He took 3 wickets in the match.[21] His career-best bowling figures in in the format were 5 wickets for 20 runs against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, in October 2000.[22] He took five-wicket hauls in ODIs on six occasions.[23]

[edit]Playing style

Saqlain is credited with the invention of the "doosra", an off-spinner's delivery which is bowled with an action very similar to that of an off-break.[5] However, it spins in the opposite direction (i.e. from the leg side to the off side), easily confusing batsmen, making it a very effective weapon.[24] Saqlain became well known for this variation ball, which was integral to his success, although he received criticism for overusing it.[2] Other bowlers like Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Johan Botha and Harbhajan Singh also used this delivery in international cricket.

During his time at Surrey, Saqlain worked on developing new deliveries which he called the "teesra" which means "third one" and the "chotha".[25] He used the teesra in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) while playing for Lahore Badshahs. Russel Arnold of Sri Lanka was the first player to face the teesra. He was also the first batsman to get out from a teesra as well. However little else is known about these deliveries.[26] Later, this delivery was used by Saeed Ajmal against England in 2012.[27]

His other variation was the arm ball, which again uses a similar grip as the off-break, but imparts a back-spin instead of a side-spin, and causes the ball to go straight on without turning.

[edit]Personal life

After marrying a British citizen,[28] Saqlain gained a British passport.

[edit]Records and achievements

Main article: List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain was selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2000.[4]

A statistical analysis conducted by Wisden in 2003 revealed Saqlain as the all-time greatest ODI spinner, and sixth greatest of all ODI bowlers.[1]

Was the fastest to reach the milestones of 100, 150, 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs.[29]

He was the first of only two spinners to have taken a hat-trick in an ODI (the other being Abdur Razzak), and the second of only four bowlers to have taken two ODI hat tricks (Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga being the others),[30] the second of which was only the second hat-trick in a World Cup match.[31][32]

He holds the record for the most wickets in a calendar year in ODIs-69 wickets in 1997. he is also second in this elite list with 65 wickets in 1996 [33]

[edit]Awards

[edit]Key

General

Season – Year during which the series was played

Mat – Number of matches played

Batting

Runs – Runs scored in career

HS – Highest score

100 – Number of centuries scored

Avg – Runs scored per dismissal

Bowling

Wkt – Wickets taken in career

BBI – Best bowling in an innings

Avg – Average runs per wicket

5wI – 5 wickets taken in an innings

Fielding

Ca – Catches taken

St – Stumpings taken

[edit]Test Awards

Player of the series awards[34]

General Batting Bowling Fielding Refs

No. Season Against Mat Runs HS 100 Avg Wkt BBI Avg 5wI Ca St

1 1998–99 India 2 4 2 0 1.00 20 5/93 20.15 4 1 0 [35][36]

2 2002–03 Zimbabwe 2 45 29* 0 22.50 15 7/66 21.53 1 0 0 [37][38]

Player of the match awards[39]

No. Date Against Venue Runs Wkt Runs Conc. Ca St Ref

1 19 April 1997 Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 58 9 226 1 0 [40]

2 6 December 1997 West Indies National Stadium, Karachi 0 9 80 0 0 [41]

3 15 November 2000 England Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 32 9 178 1 0 [42]

[edit]ODI Awards

Bowler of the series awards[43]

General Batting Bowling Fielding Ref

No. Season Participants Mat Runs HS 100 Avg Wkt BBI Avg 5wI Ca St

1 1997–98 Pakistan Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe

3 11 9 0 11.00 9 4/25 12.88 0 2 0

Saqlain Mushtaq