Pakistani Cricket Stars

Friday 16 December 2011

Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal Biography
As explosive starts to one’s International careers go, few can rival Umar Akmal. He announced his entry with scores of 66 and 102* within his first 3 ODI innings (at Sri Lanka, 2009) in addition to a 129 and 75 on Test debut (at New Zealand, 2009). Those performances weren’t a surprise. At first class level, Akmal was renowned for his big scores amassed in quick time. 7 years prior to his debut, Umar’s elder brother Kamran had already gotten his taste of international cricket. By 2010, the siblings featured regularly, in tandem for Pakistan.

As a fearless, middle-order batsman, throughout Pakistan’s disappointing spree of series losses against Sri Lanka in 2009 and later at Australia in early 2010, Umar Akmal’s ascendance was one of their few positives. But as the series in Australia progressed, complacency began to creep into Akmal’s Test form, which started to dip. In ODIs though, a hundred and five fifties by his 18th outing maintained a steady average. It was enough to justify an inclusion in Pakistan’s 2010 T20 World Cup squad. He finished the tournament as Pakistan’s 3rd highest-run getter towards their semi-final run.

While still protected as a batsman, featuring at 3-down, in a Pakistan side that lacks specialist batsmen with the temperament for all forms of the game, Umar Akmal is their most proven rookie to fill the void for the years to come.

Fast Facts

Akmal’s total of 204 runs on his Test debut (against New Zealand) is the 8th highest ever.
It’s also the second highest for a Pakistani debutant behind Yasir Hameed’s 275 in 2003.
Akmal’s 129 on Test debut is the 4th highest for a Pakistani, making him one of only 7 players from his country to score a century on debut. Among those on the list, Akmal is the only centurion to have achieved the feat on foreign soil.
It took Umar Akmal 38 matches (6 Tests, 18 ODIs and 14 T20s) until playing for Pakistan in Pakistan, the third most behind teammate Mohammad Aamer (41) and Sri Lankan Greame Labrooy (53).
Along with brother Kamran Akmal, the Akmals are the 4th blood brothers to feature for Pakistan in the 60-odd years of cricket history.
Among top order batsmen, Akmal has the 4th best strike rate overall (Test, ODI and T20) for Pakistani players. (Minimum of 40 matches).

Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal 64(31) v Australia 1st T20 2010

Umar Akmal 102 off 72 First ODI century, VS Sri Lanka

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq Biography
Full Name: Asad Shafiq
Date of Birth: Jan 12, 1986, Karachi, Sind
Major Team: Pakistan, Karachi Blues, Karachi Dolphins, Karachi Whites, Karachi Whites, Karachi Zebras, North West Frontier Province, North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan A, Pakistan Cricket Academy, Sind, Sind Dolphins
Playing Roll: Wicket Keeper
Batting Style: Right
Bowling Style: Legbreak
A right-hand top order batsman, Asad Shafiq is a product of the Karachi tape ball circuit. He stormed the first-class scene in his debut season in 2007-08, scoring a double-hundred. He fell short of thousand runs that season, but attained the milestone two seasons later, when he scored 1244 runs in 12 games at 49.76. He made an impact as a limited-overs player in 2008-09, when he scored 379 runs in seven games at 54.14. The national selectors had earmarked him as one for the future in meetings and he was rewarded him with a call-up for the Asia Cup in 2010.

Asad Shafiq

brilliant run out by Asad Shafiq [HD]

Asad Shafiq - Mr Solid

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal Biography
Full name Saeed Ajmal

Born October 14, 1977, Faisalabad, Punjab

Current age 34 years 63 days

Major teams Pakistan, Faisalabad,Islamabad Cricket Association, Khan Research Labs,Water and Power Development Authority, Worcestershire

Playing role Bowler

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
A modern-day offspinner who relies on the doosra as much as on other variations of flight and speed, Saeed Ajmal made a relatively late entry into international cricket, at the age of 30, but is doing his best to make up for lost time. Ajmal received a call-up to the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup in 2008 after an impressive domestic season. He made an immediate impression with his subtle variations, unafraid to use the doosra. But his career took off with a series of ODI performances that bewildered Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; he gave away few runs and his doosra was nigh-on unreadable. The ICC called him for his action, though it was cleared soon after. The pressure didn't get to him and immediately after, he played a crucial role in Pakistan's drive to the 2009 World Twenty20 title, regularly bottling up the middle overs with Shahid Afridi. He ended the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with an exemplary economy rate as batsmen around the world struggled to pick a big turning doosra or even cope with his changes in flight, pace and angle.

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal 3 Wickets vs Australia After T20 World Cup 2010 Semi Final

Fantastic Saeed Ajmal 11 wickets.

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq Biography
Abdul Razzaq (Urdu: عبد الرزاق) (born 2 December 1979, Lahore, Punjab) is a Pakistani cricketer and member of the Indian Cricket League since 2007. Razzaq is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler. His bowling, at one time rapid, has now seen an increase on line and length, although sacrificing some pace. He emerged onto the world cricket scene in November 1996 when he made his One Day International debut against the touring Zimbabweans at his home ground in Lahore a month short of his seventeenth birthday.

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq 109 Vs South Africa Match Winning Century Highlights

Great Performance Of Abdul Razzaq Vs South Africa In Dubai 31th Oct 2010 [DesiMuzik.webs.com]

Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz Biography
Wahab Riaz's left-arm fast medium has benefited from Pakistan's chronic poor luck with fast bowlers. With Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif missing more than they play and Umar Gul injury-prone, Riaz came into national reckoning earlier than he might have reasonably expected. His early start was promising though it came in ODIs against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh early in 2008. His first real test came against India in Bangladesh, where after 9.2 expensive overs, he was taken out of the attack for bowling two beamers. But as Pakistan misses its leading bowlers Riaz's brisk pace remains in national contention.

Wahab Riaz Batting, Fielding and Bowling

The above stats are as per date of this post.

Wahab Riaz Career

Test:
2010-2011

ODI:
2008-2010

T20:
2008-2010

Wahab Riaz Test

Debut:
Pakistan Vs England at Kennington Oval (The Oval), London - Aug 18, 2010

Last played:
Pakistan Vs New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton - Jan 07, 2011

Wahab Riaz ODI

Debut:
Pakistan Vs Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura - Feb 02, 2008

Last played:
Pakistan Vs South Africa at Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, Dubai - Nov 08, 2010

Wahab Riaz T20

Debut:
Pakistan Vs Bangladesh at National Stadium, Karachi - Apr 20, 2008

Last played:
Pakistan Vs New Zealand at AMI Stadium, Christchurch - Dec 30, 2010

Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz Beauty Reverse Swinging Yorker - [Mo]-[siN]

Wahab Riaz Debut Against Zimbabve

Muhammad Hafeez

Muhammad Hafeez Biography
Mohammad Hafeez (born October 17, 1980 in Sargodha) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. Hafeez generally opens the batting and is also skillful boundary fielder. Hafeez was one of the several young all-rounders the Pakistani cricket team turned to after their poor Cricket World Cup display in 2003, in which they were eliminated in the first round. Hafeez scored a half-century on his Test debut against Bangladesh, and in his following Test hit a century. His form with bat and ball would then drop considerably and in late-2003 he was dropped from the Test squad, and soon after the ODI side. With strong domestic performances as well as good showings for the Pakistan A, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004. Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite not contributing with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 Top End Series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed a century for Pakistan A. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for Test cricket, Hafeez was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval and he scored a fluent 95. Later that year in November, Hafeez retained his place in the side for their home series against the West Indies. After getting starts in the first two Test he would go on to score his 2nd Test century in the 3rd Test in Karachi.

Muhammad Hafeez

Muhammad Hafeez Bowled Tamim Iqbal With Beauty

Mohammad Hafeez Wicket - Pakistan VS Bangladesh

Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq Biography
Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi (born May 28, 1974) is a Pakistani cricketer. Misbah is known for his cool headed batting especially under pressure. Outside of cricket he has done an MBA from the University of Management Technology, Lahore. Misbah was initially noticed for his technique and his temperament in the Tri-nation tournament in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, as he scored two fifties in the three innings in which he played, however, over the next three Tests he played against Australia, he failed to score more than twenty runs and was soon dumped from the team. Having witnessed Pakistan being eliminated in the opening phase of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Misbah was part of the changes made to the team in the aftermath of these results, but failed to make much of an impact and was soon dropped again. At the age of 33, Misbah was chosen to play in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, filling the middle order spot vacated by Inzamam-ul-Haq. He had been regularly making runs in Pakistani domestic cricket and in the years before his recall he was consistently one of the top run scorers at each season's end, with his first-class average briefly climbing above 50. Misbah was one of the stars of the tournament, playing a large part in many thrilling run chases. The first was in the group stage against India where he scored a half century in a tied match. He was run out attempting the winning run off the last ball of the match. In their Super 8s encounter with Australia he was named Man of the Match with an unbeaten 66 off 42 deliveries to see his side home with 5 balls to spare. Another unbeaten innings in the semi final against New Zealand saw Pakistan book a spot in the final against India. He played an instrumental role in Pakistan's recovery in the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 final against arch-rivals India, with 3 consecutive sixes. The sixes came off Harbhajan Singh's last over of the match. With 6 runs needed to win off 4 remaining balls, Misbah tried to scoop the ball over short fine leg, but was caught out by Sreesanth. Misbah scored his maiden Test hundred against India at Kolkata in the 2nd Test of the 2007 series. After India managed 616 in their first innings, Pakistan were at 5 for 150 in reply and in danger of following on when Misbah and Kamran Akmal put together a match saving 207 run stand. Misbah finished on 161 not out. In the 3rd & final Test of the series, Misbah made another fluent century this time finishing on 133 not out. 2008 began with some high points for Misbah as he was elevated to the post of Vice - Captain of the Pakistan team and was awarded a Grade A Contract. Since returning to International Cricket for Pakistan, Misbah has gone through a sustained patch of prolific run scoring. In his last 5 Test Match innings for Pakistan, he has notched up 458 runs at a very high batting average of 152.67 against India.In his last 5 ODIs as well, Misbah has made 190 Runs at an average of 63.33 & in Domestic Cricket for Punjab, he has amassed an astounding 586 runs at an average of 195.33 with 2 centuries and his highest first-class score of 208 not out.

Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah Ul Haq : The innings Builder

Misbah Ul Haq - Mr. Consistent