pakistan cricket player 2012

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Umar Gul

Born April 14, 1984, Peshawar, North-Western Frontier Province. Major teams Pakistan, Gloucestershire, Habib Bank Limited, Kolkata Knight Riders, North West Frontier Province, North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan A, Pakistan International Airlines, Peshawar, Peshawar Panthers, Western Australia.

The least-hyped but most successful and assured Pakistan pace product of the last few years, Umar Gul is the latest in Pakistan's assembly-line of pace-bowling talent. He had played just nine first-class matches when called up for national duty in the wake of Pakistan's poor 2003 World Cup. On the flat tracks of Sharjah, Gul performed admirably, maintaining excellent discipline and getting appreciable outswing with the new ball.

He isn't express but bowls a very quick heavy ball and his exceptional control and ability to extract seam movement marks him out. Further, his height enables him to extract bounce on most surfaces and from his natural back of a length, it is a useful trait. His first big moment in his career came in the Lahore Test against India in 2003-04. Unfazed by a daunting batting line-up, Gul tore through the Indian top order, moving the ball both ways off the seam at a sharp pace. His 5 for 31 in the first innings gave Pakistan the early initiative which they drove home to win the Test.

Unfortunately, that was his last cricket of any kind for over a year as he discovered three stress fractures in his back immediately after the Test. The injury would have ended many an international career, but Gul returned, fitter and sharper than before in late 2005. He returned in a Pakistan shirt against India in the ODI series at home in February 2006 and in Sri Lanka showed further signs of rehabilitation by lasting both Tests but it was really the second half of 2006, where he fully came of age. Leading the attack against England and then the West Indies as Pakistan's main bowlers suffered injuries, Gul stood tall, finishing Pakistan's best bowler.

Since then, as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar have floundered, Gul has become Pakistan's spearhead and one of the best fast bowlers in the world. He is smart enough and good enough to succeed in all three formats and 2009 proved it: he put together a patch of wicket-taking in ODIs, on dead pitches in Tests (including a career-best six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka) and established himself as the world's best Twenty20 bowler, coming on after the initial overs and firing in yorkers on demand.

Umar Gul

Umar Gul 6 Wicket Best of ODI vs England

Umar Gul

Umar Gul's best ODI figures - 6/42 - vs England - 2010

Waseem Akram

Waseem Akram Biography
Wasim Akram born in Lahore, Punjab is a former Pakistani cricketer. He was a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman, who represented the Pakistani cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals. Widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers ever, Akram holds world records for the most wickets taken in both ODIs (502) and List A cricket (881), and was one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling. The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering, although reverse swing has now been accepted as a legitimate feature of the game. Akram's later career was also tarnished with accusations of match fixing, although these remain unproven.

Wasim retired in 2003, after a brief spell with Hampshire in England. Since then, Wasim has taken up commentary and can currently be seen as a sportscaster for the ESPN Star network, and is also running shows on ARY Digital. He is married to Huma Mufti, daughter of Mr. Humayaun Mufti. Wasim and Huma have two sons from their marriage of fourteen years. Wasim has also appeared in Fuzon video as a model.

Waseem Akram

Wasim Akram- The King Of Swing !!

Waseem Akram

WASEEM AKRAM, WAQAR YOUNUS, SHOAIB AKHTAR

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Biography

Waqar Younis Maitla (born November 16, 1971) is a famous Pakistani cricketer from Burewala, Punjab, and one of the greatest bowlers the game has known. He attended Pakistani College, Sharjah and Government College, Vehari. Playing as a fast bowler, he took 373 Test wickets and 416 wickets in One-day Internationals. He debuted for Pakistan against India on November 15, 1989. It is noteworthy that Sachin Tendulkar debuted in the same match. His most lethal weapon was the in-swinging yorker, which he managed to produce at will and with a high degree of accuracy, as experienced first-hand by plenty of county batsmen who were unfortunate enough to face him at his peak.

Known as the "Burewala Bombshell", Waqar formed one half of the legendary fast bowling partnership with Wasim Akram. At his peak, most were of the view that there was no better bowler, especially with regards to wicket-taking ability and being penetrative. His tendency to aim for the stumps earned him the highest strike rate of all time, among the bowlers with 200 or more wickets. His blistering pace and toe-crushing yorkers put tremendous fear in the batsmen. Much was expected of him but he stayed out of the team for quite a long time to do his talents and fans justice because of his controversial conflicts with once bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His comeback, however, came with him being appointed the Captain of the national side - which he remained so till his side failed to make an impact in the 2003 World Cup. He was forced to retire as the Pakistan Cricket Board persistently ignored him for national selection.

Waqar was one of a long line of Pakistanis (starting with Safraz Nawaz) who mastered the art of reverse swing. It was his partnership with Wasim Akram that took this art to new levels, and their 1992 series versus England will forever be remembered as their signature series. Many sections of the English media could not fathom how an old ball could swing so much and so late, and this led to cries of foul play and the infamous allegations of "ball-tampering" from some quarteres. The passage of time, coupled with the fact that England now have their own reverse swing bowlers, has led to an appreciation of the science and skill behind reverse swing, and most now accept that Waqar was simply ahead of his time.

Waqar Younis is cited alongside Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Walsh and Ambrose as the best fast bowler of the 90s. While his contemporaries, Donald and McGrath, played most of their cricket on the fast and bouncy tracks of South Africa and Australia, backed up by the spectacular fielding sides, Waqar Younis, on the other hand, had to contend with the slow and docile tracks of the sub-continent, backed by a fielding side that had nothing so distinguished to write about. An astonishing number of Waqar's wickets have been clean bowled or have come from leg-before decisions showing how much he has had to depend on his own efforts to get his batsmen. He will be known for his attacking bowling as against the "line n' length" bowling of the most of his peers. He bowled one of his best balls to Brian Lara, another cricketing legend, which ended with Lara on the ground, his stump flipped 6 feet away. Waqar Younis has some outstanding records. He is the only bowler who has taken 5 wicket haul in 3 consecutive ODIs. He has taken 4+ wickets on 27 occasions in ODIs, which is a record. He has also taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in ODI matches and in test matches he has taken the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 wickets by lesser number of balls bowled.

Although primarily a bowler, Waqar hit 1010 Test runs; he is in fact (as of September 2005) the only man to pass the thousand mark without ever scoring a fifty. He is now married with a son and a daughter. Recently, he has become a television cricket commentator for Australia's Nine Network since a series against Australia and Pakistan.

Waqar Younis

Paksitan vs West Indies Waqar Younis World Cup 2011

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis cricket clip test

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi Biography

Shahid Afridi is a professional cricket player, who was born on March 1, 1980 in Khyber Agency, Pakistan. His parents are of the Afridi tribe in Kohat; he is married to Nadia and has two daughters, Aqsa and Ansha.

Nicknamed ‘Boom Boom Afridi’ for his aggressive batting style, Shahid Afridi is a brilliant all-rounder, as he is also a right-arm leg-spin or medium-paced bowler. In October 1998, he made his Test debut for the Pakistan team against Australia and became a reliable member of his side. Shahid Afridi scored five Test centuries in his career, as of the year 2008; three times against India (1999 and twice in 2006) and twice against the West Indies (2002 and 2005).

His first appearance in an One Day International (ODI) came on October 2, 1996 at Nairobi in a match played against the Kenya cricket team. He rose to become an indispensable member of the Pakistani ODI squad with his remarkable performances since 1996. By making the fastest hundred runs (included six boundaries and eleven 6’s) of 37 balls in an ODI match against Sri Lanka, Shahid Afridi beat the record of Sanath Jayasuriya, a famous Sri Lankan cricketer, on October 4, 1996. He was just 16 years, when he performed this feat and was the youngest player to have achieved such an accomplishment. With Brian Lara, he shares a joint record for scoring the third fastest ODI century out of 45 balls against India in April 2005. By making four of the top eight fastest ODI half centuries, Shahid Afridi has made a mark for himself in the history of ODI cricket. In 2007, he scored 32 runs (including four consecutive sixes) off six balls against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi. The over was bowled by Malinga Bandara which is considered to the second most expensive over in the ODI history.

In March 2005, his Test performance with the bat and the ball played a key role in Pakistan’s encounter against India. Shahid Afridi made 50 runs out of 26 balls and walked away with three wickets in the second innings of a Test match claiming the victory for his team and brought the series to a draw. In January 2006, he smashed four consecutive sixes against Harbhajan Singh’s bowling in a Test match against India. On achieving a combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets, Shahid Afridi is the third player (after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis, a South African cricketer) to accomplish such a feat in the ODI history.

For his commendable performances as a bowler of the Pakistan team in the international 2007 Twenty20, Shahid Afridi earned the Man of the Series award.

He represented the Deccan Chargers (DC) team under the captaincy of VVS Laxman, an Indian cricketer, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) of 2008. His sign-in price was $675,000 and played thirty matches for the DC team. Shahid Afridi scored 367 runs, which included 32 boundaries and 21 sixes with a strike rate of 171.49. By taking 35 wickets, the bowling average of Shahid Afridi was 20.05 at an economy rate of 6.81..

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi 'The Match Winner' 51 & 2-16 vs South Africa 2009 T20 World Cup Semi Final

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi 25 (12) Balls vs India 2004 ICC Champions Trophy

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik Biography

Malik married Ayesha Siddiqui of Hyderabad India through a telephone Nikah on June 3, 2002. But, in a statement in Karachi on January 21, 2008, Malik claimed that no Nikah had taken place.

Malik said his marriage plans with Siddiqui ended because both families could not reach an understanding on certain issues. "Yes, I had a long relationship with her and we planned to get married". Malik was forced by Siddiqui's family to give divorce after he claimed that there was no formal Nikah between the two in 2008.

Siddiqui's father, M A Siddiqui, had then said that the family would move court if his daughter did not get a divorce. In April 2010, Siddiqui's family released Shoaib-Ayesha 'marriage' certificate (Nikahnama). On April 2, 2010, Malik said he plans to sue Siddiqui's family for indulging in "character assasination".

On April 5, 2010, Malik admitted taking part in a telephone Nikah (marrriage) ceremony and signing the marriage certificate, but said that they are invalid because he never knowingly met her and she sent him photographs of another, more attractive, woman claiming they were her own. On April 7, 2010 Malik confirmed his marriage with Siddiqui and signed the Talaq (divorce) papers.

In 2008, there were media reports that Malik was dating former Miss India and Bollywood actress Sayali Bhagat However, Bhagat later strongly rebuked these media reports as "gossip" and "speculation".

On 29 March, 2010, Pakistani media reported that Sania Mirza, an Indian tennis player, will wed Malik in April, 2010. This news was confirmed to the media by Imran Mirza, the tennis player's father. Later, Malik also confirmed on his Twitter page that they will get married in April 2010.

On 12 April, 2010, Malik married Mirza in a Muslim ceremony at a hotel in Hyderabad, India for a mahr of Rs. 6.1 million (US$137,500).

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik Performance against India in Champions (POP)

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik Batting Cameo of 39 Runs [1st T20 Pak v England] Feb 23rd 2012

Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif Biography

Mohammad Asif is a professional cricketer born on December 20, 1982 in Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler and is also a left-handed batsman.

On January 2, 2005, Mohammad Asif made his Test debut for the Pakistani side in a match against Australia at Sydney. In the following year, he was included in the squad for the home series against India. During this series, Mohammad Asif took his first Test wicket of Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh. He proved his bowling skill in the third Test and finished with the bowling figure of 4 for 78 in the first innings that gave his team the necessary lead and contributed to his team’s victory by scalping four major wickets in the second innings, which include Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar. With his impressive performance, Mohammad Asif made a name for himself in the international cricketing world. He carried on this good form in the next series in Sri Lanka, and achieved his career best figure of 11/71 that contributed to his side’s victory in the second Test. During Pakistan’s tour to England, he made an impact in the fourth Test at Oval by picking up five wickets. He maintained his winning momentum in the following series against South Africa in 2007. In this series, Mohammad Asif claimed 17 wickets and was soon ranked eighth in the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player rankings after only nine appearances, a record, which was previously achieved by former Pakistani cricketers Waqar Younis and Pervez Sajjad. For his impressive bowling display in this series, he received appreciations from various cricketing greats such as Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan and late Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer. As of 2008, Mohammad Asif has taken a total of 51 wickets from 11 Tests at an average of 23.13 with an economy rate of 3.03.

Mohammad Asif made his One Day International (ODI) debut on December 21, 2005 in a match against England at Rawalpindi. As of 2008, he has taken a total of 36 wickets from 31 ODIs at average of 33.27 with the career best figure of 3/28.

Mohammad Asif made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut against England on August 28, 2006 in which he became the first bowler in cricketing history to bowl a maiden in T20I and also scalped the wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss.

In 2008, Mohammad Asif signed with the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Delhi Daredevils on a contract worth $650,000. During the first season of IPL, he took 8 wickets from 8 games with a personal best of 2/19 versus Deccan Chargers.

Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif At His Best CRICKET !

Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif bowls Kevin Pietersen first ball

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar Biography

Shoaib Akhtar is a former professional cricketer who played testes and One Day International matches for the Pakistan national team in ICC organized events. He has been dubbed as The Rawalpindi Express after the place where he was born and he is arguably the fastest bowler the world of cricket has ever seen, easily clocking 150 km/hour on many occasions. He became the first man to bowl a delivery over 100 miles/hour or 161.3 km/hour, which is the fastest delivery ever bowled in the history of cricket against England. Moreover, not only did he achieve a speed of 100 miles/hour on his delivery, he achieved it twice during one single match and that is something that makes him very unique in the world of fast bowlers. His prowess lay in being able to bowl fast and precise Yorkers as well as quick bouncers and these abilities made him one of the greatest as well as most feared bowlers of all time, the likes of which had not been seen in international cricket since the times of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson, Dennis Lillie, Malcolm Marshall and the likes – players who depended on raw pace to pick up wickets.

However, Shoaib Akhtar was also a very controversial figure and it followed him wherever he went. It has been said that he was very selfish and not a team man. The Pakistan team management once sent him home from Australia in the middle of a series because of an alleged poor behavior on his part. In 2006, he was perhaps involved in the biggest controversy when WADA found Shoaib Akhtar guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs and the ICC banned him from playing cricket. This ban was however lifted and he returned to the Pakistan national side the following year and almost immediately, got himself banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board or the PCB for fighting with team mate and fellow opening bowler Mohammad Asif during a training session.

He was selected to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the inaugural IPL but injuries blighted his season and he played only a handful of matches. Akhtar was so injury prone that he only managed to play a total of 46 tests and 163 One Day Internationals in his 12 year international career, taking a total of 425 wickets in all. Shoaib Akhtar, in spite of all his short comings, is truly a legend of the game and no matter what happens, cricket will always remember this flamboyant star.

Shoaib Akhtar

Best Over In ODI By Shoaib Akhtar a best of pakistan Cricket

Shoaib Akhtar

Cricket-Shoaib Akhtar, the Rawalpindi Express (by Bilal Tariq)