Wednesday 12 March 2014


Younus Khan

Younus Khan Biography

source(google.com.pk) 
Mohammad Younus Khan is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younus' name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as saying, "My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, but they don’t listen." He is only the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings.

On March 10, 2010, Younus, along with another player, Mohammad Yousuf were axed by the Pakistan Cricket Board from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, following an inquiry report which suggested that both the player were involved in breaches of discipline by inciting divisions within the team. The ban was overturned three months later.

Career

International career
Younus Khan made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Karachi in February 2000, and has since played over 150 ODIs for Pakistan. He has also played in over 50 Test matches. Younus was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003, but lost it soon after due to a string of poor scores in the home series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He came back for the one-day series against India, but failed to cement a place in the Test side.

It was his return to the side in October 2004, at the pivotal one-down, against Sri Lanka in Karachi that laid the groundwork for his emergence as a force in Pakistan cricket. He was the top run-getter in the disastrous 3-0 whitewash in Australia immediately after and on the tour of India, for which Younus was elevated to vice-captain, he blossomed. After a horror start to the series he came back strongly, capping things off with 267 in the final Test. It was his highest Test score and came off 504 balls in the first innings, to set up a series levelling victory in Bangalore.

As well as being an accomplished batsman, Younus is also a skilled slip fielder and a very occasional leg-spin bowler. He has performed particularly well outside Pakistan, including on tours of Australia, India, England and Sri Lanka. In the six Tests he has played against India, Younus averages an exceptional 106, the highest average against India by a Pakistani. Apart from his 267 at Bangalore, Younus also made 147 at Kolkata in 2005 and a pair of centuries during India's trip to Pakistan in 2006. More importantly, the tour to India also showcased his potential as a future captain of Pakistan and his energetic and astute leadership has impressed many people. Also in 2006, Younus made a century in the third Test against England at Headingley. On 22 January 2007, he scored a matchwinning 67 not out in the 4th innings to guide Pakistan to victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth. The five wicket win levelled the series at 1-1.

In 2005, he was one of the 15 nominees for the ICC Test Player of the Year. He is the second fastest Pakistani in terms of innings to reach 4000 Test runs, behind Javed Miandad. Younus reached the milestone in 87 innings, just one more than Sachin Tendulkar took.

Younus Khan topped the ICC's Test Batting Rankings in February 2009 after an acclaimed innings of 313 in his first test as captain, in the process of helping save the match for Pakistan. His ranking score of 880 is the third highest achieved by a Pakistani batsmen after Mohammad Yousuf (933), Javed Miandad (885) and just ahead of Inzamam-ul-Haq (870).

Captaincy situation
He first led Pakistan against the West Indies in 2005. In September 2006, he was offered the position of captain for the course of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, following the suspension of Inzamam ul Haq. He turned down the offer, stating he did not want to be a "dummy captain". However, on the morning of October 7, 2006 the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Khan would lead his team in the tournament. Following the resignation of Inzamam after the side's exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Khan was offered the captaincy on a permanent basis, but turned it down. He blamed the angry reaction by the Pakistani public to side's early exit from the tournament.

After Pakistan's 2009 2 matches to 1 defeat to Sri Lanka, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt appointed Younus Khan as the permanent captain of both the Test and ODI teams. The appointment became effective as of January 27, 2009. Shortly after accepting the post Younus was quoted as saying, "I will try and fix things that aren't right at the moment...I want our team to be consistent above all, in everything we do and that will require everyone to put their hands up." Younus went on to say that he expects full support from former captain Shoaib Malik whom he called a senior player in the side.

Resignation from captaincy
Khan resigned as captain on October 13, 2009 due to an parliamentary investigation into match fixing that was alleged to have taken place during his reign. Despite being cleared in the investigation, Khan said "Yes I have submitted my resignation because I am disgusted by these match-fixing allegations made against me and the team."

Khan also dropped a catch of Grant Elliott in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final. He had a hair-line fracture in his finger prior to the match. Later PCB Chairman requested Khan to take back his resignation and Khan did it under his conditions. However after captaining the team for a three-match series against New Zealand Younis took a break for test matches in New Zealand and the series in Australia the captaincy was given to Mohammad Yousuf and since then Younis has not captained the national team.

Post-captaincy: Sacking, Troubles & Return (2010)
Younus's career after he gave up the captaincy continued for a downwards spiral as he was banned on 10 March 2010. Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Younus Khan has been banned indefinitely for "infighting which brought down the whole team during the tour of Australia in January". His ban was however overturned three months later in June 2010. Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing, Younus was not selected for the series against England. Pakistan continued to suffer frequent batting collapses against England in test Cricket this put the Pakistan Cricket Board under pressure to restore Younus to the game, also Pakistani batsman and Test Captain Salman Butt was suspended on being involved in Spot-Fixing this resulted in several former captains including Moin Khan and Zaheer Abbas wanting Younus reinstated to the test team as captain. However the Pakistan Cricket Board did not clear Younis Khan for selection on the tours of South Africa in 2010 and despite being the first-choice captain for the selectors panel Mohsin Khan announced that Misbah-ul-Haq was recalled and made captain due to the PCB refusing to clear Younis Khan for selection. Signs of an improvement between the relationship of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Younis Khan began to emerge after the board contacted Younis to pontentially be selected for the tour Against South Africa in October 2010..

On August 31, 2010 the Daily Telegraph in its news article mentioned that Younus Khan was associated with alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed Younus threatened to sue the Dail Telegraph over the fact that they posted false information about Younus. The Daily Telegraph admitted that they incorrectly reported that Younus Khan was affiliated with Mazhar Majeed after a full public apology by the Daily Telegraph Younus dropped the defamation charges against the newspaper giant The Pakistan Cricket Board subsequently announced that they had successfully reconciled with Younus Khan and that they intended to use him on the tour of South Africa in October 2010 as a replacement for the injured Mohammad Yousuf On his comeback ODI against South Africa Younus Khan scored 54 runs. Younus then confirmed a statement by Pakistan captain Rashid Latif that he had not apologised to the PCB for his actions. As he believed he had committed nothing wrong. He also stated that the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt did not ask Younus to apologise either. His on-field comeback went well when he scored 74 runs and anchored Pakistan's innings Pakistan eventually won the fourth ODI against South Africa by 1 wicket. His first test match in over 12 months also went well when he scored a century in the second innings of the first test against South Africa this century along with a 168 run partnership with captain Misbah-ul-Haq allowed Pakistan to salvage a draw. Younus eventually finished unbeaten on 131 During this match he along with Misbah-ul-Haq led Pakistan to another feat by the end of his innings of 131 it became Pakistan's highest score of all time while batting in the fourth innings with Pakistan at 343/3.

Twenty20 Cricket (2007 - present)
Pakistan captain Younis Khan announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket after leading his team to the ICC World Twenty20 title by beating Sri Lanka at Lord's Sri Lanka suffered an 8 wicket thrashing.

"This is my last Twenty20 game [for Pakistan], so I am retiring from T20 internationals," Younis said "I am now 31, I am old for this kind of cricket." No immediate announcement was made as to the identity of his successor as 20-over captain, it was confirmed on July 29, 2009 that Shahid Afridi would succeed him as the Twenty20 Captain.

However after Younus returned to the national setup he announced that he was willing to play Twenty20 cricket for Pakistan as a senior batsman Younus then confirmed that he was available to play in all three-formats of the game. He also announced that he was no longer in the race for the captaincy After announcing his comeback to Twenty20 cricket Younus was selected for the three match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in December 2010. Younus played in all three-matches but struggled for form

Domestic career
In 2008–09, Younus is playing for the Southern Redbacks in Australia's domestic circuit on a short-term basis. He scored a century against Queensland Bulls in the first innings of a Sheffield shield match in Brisbane, which helped the Redbacks to win their first Shield match for a year.

Indian Premier League
In 2008 Younus signed with the Indian Premier League and was drafted by the Rajasthan Royals for a bid of $225,000 USD. He however played only 1 match in the tournament against Kings XI Punjab and scored 1 run.

Playing style
Younus is regarded as one of the best players of spin bowling in the world, being particularly strong on the leg side. His favourite and trademark shot is the flick, but it has also been his shortcoming, with him being particularly prone to falling lbw during the early stages of his innings. He is also prone to getting down on one knee and driving extravagantly. But this flamboyance is coupled with grit. One of his main weaknesses is playing away from the body, he also has a tendency to leave straight balls, a trait that has been exploited by bowlers in the past, particularly by the Australian attack. Along with Mohammad Yousuf and the now retired Inzamam-ul-Haq, he formed a formidable middle order batting line up for Pakistan.

Younus is a skillful infielder, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the third highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket (joint with Andrew Symonds), with the highest success rate.

Personal life
He married his wife Amna on 30 March 2007, and their son Owais was born on 26 December 2007.

Younus had to deal with a number of deaths in his family during 2005 and 2006. Earlier in 2005 he had to fly back from a tour to Australia after his father had died. Later in the year during the England tour to Pakistan, Younus' eldest brother, Mohammed Sharif Khan, aged 41, died in a car accident in Ukraine, who in Youins's words taught him to play cricket. Another older brother, Farman Ali Khan was only 39, when he was killed in a car accident in Germany, in December 2006.

Younus was batting in the second ODI against West Indies in Faisalabad when the news of his brother's death reached the team management. Younus only came to know about the situation after he returned to the pavilion at the end of his innings. Younus, immediately, left for his home town Mardan and did not participate in any of the remaining matches.

Younus also mentioned his grief at the death of Bob Woolmer in March 2007 after Pakistan's exit from the World Cup. He stated that he saw Bob as a father figure after the loss of his own father and that he was able to share many personal thoughts with the cricket coach.

During a tour of the West Indies in May 2011, Younus was given permission to return home early due to the death of his elder brother Shamshad Khan in Germany.

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Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar Biography

source link (google.com.pk)
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against England. His ability to bowl fast yorkers and quick bouncers have made him one of the best fast bowlers in cricket.

However, he has been involved in several controversies during his career, often accused of not being a team player. Akhtar was sent home during the Test match series in Australia in 2005 for alleged poor attitude. A year later, he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive to a banned substance. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on court appeal. In September 2007, Akhtar was banned for an indefinite period for his fight with Pakistan team mate and fast bowler Mohammad Asif. On 1 April 2008, Akhtar was banned for five years for publicly criticizing the Pakistan Cricket Board. In October 2008, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan suspended the five year ban and Akhtar was selected in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 Quadrangular Tournament in Canada. Pakistani judge, Rana Bhagwandas stated once that, Akhtar is a legend of Pakistan cricket. He retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.

Early years
Akhtar was born at Morgah, a small town near Rawalpindi, Punjab in Pakistan. His father was a plant operator in Attock Oil Refinery, Morgah. Akhtar started his studies at Elliott High School, Morgah and then took admission in the Asghar Mall College, Rawalpindi.

Career

International career
Akhtar's run of impressive performances started in the 1990s. In 1999, during a pre-World Cup series against India, he rose to prominence. It was followed by outstanding bowling performances in Sharjah and later in 1999 Cricket World Cup. His most significant performance was in India in 1999 when he captured eight wickets in the Asian Test championship match at Calcutta – including the wickets of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries. This was Akhtar's first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar, in which Akthar bowled him off the first delivery he delivered to the batsman.

In 2002, he was selected for the Pakistan team against Australia and achieved success. However he performed poorly during the 2003 Cricket World Cup and after the tournament he was dropped from the Pakistan squad. He was selected back into the Pakistan squad in the 2004 Test match series against New Zealand, but struggled in a losing Test series against India in 2004. The series ended with a controversy when he left the field citing an injury leading to suspicions by former Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, about his commitment to the team. As a result, his relationship with Inzamam-ul-Haq and former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer deteriorated. A medical panel was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board to investigate the nature of his injury, however Pakistan officials dispelled all suspicions.

In 2005, Akhtar regained his reputation as a fast bowler for his side. Playing in a three Test home series against England, he made a series of impressive bowling performances. His effective use of slower deliveries proved to be unplayable by the English batsmen. Akhtar emerged as the highest wicket taker of the series with seventeen wickets. His comeback was also remarkable as prior to his return, he had been criticized from all corners-such as by the Worcestershire chairman John Elliot for his celebrity attitude and lack of commitment to team. His performance was also acknowledged by the English captain Michael Vaughan, who remarked "I thought he (Shoaib) was a big difference between the two teams". He is also known as the only bowler ever to break the 100 mph barrier in cricket bowling history, with a delivery of 100.2 mph, and this delivery at stands as the fastest recorded to date.

Struggle for form and consistent injuries (2007–2009)
On 29 October 2007, Akhtar made his return to cricket, from his 13 match ban and performed well, taking 4 wickets for 43 runs against South Africa in the fifth and deciding One Day International series in Lahore in Pakistan. Subsequently, he was included in the 16 man Pakistan squad for the 2007 tour of India, which he completed successfully without further incident and injury.

Rehabilitation and final years (2010–2011)
Akhtar made a return to international cricket albeit in the shorter format of the game. In May 2010, PCB named him in a list of 35 probables for the Asia Cup. On 15 June 2010, Akhtar made his return, taking 3 wickets for 28 runs in the first match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. He narrowly missed out a spot in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in place of the injured Umar Gul.

In July 2010, he was selected for the Twenty20 series against Australia but the selectors decided not to play him in the Test squad so that he would not get injured. He was subsequently selected for the ODI and Twenty20 series against England in September 2010.

Akhtar returned to the national side representing the country against England in the Twenty20 International. He bowled an impressive spell and returned with figures of 2 wickets for 23 runs. He continued to bowl well in the ODI series in the absence of regular fast-bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were suspended by the International Cricket Council amid allegations of Spot-fixing. Despite his relatively good bowling form, Pakistani coach Waqar Younis insisted that the bowling attack must not become reliant on Akhtar, as he is 35 years of age and fitness troubles continue to affect him. Akhtar was selected for the tour of New Zealand and started his campaign off well with 3 wickets on Boxing Day in the first of two Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand.

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Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal Biography

source(google.com.pk)
Umar Akmal is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his ODI debut on August 1, 2009 against Sri Lanka and made his Test debut against New Zealand on November 23, 2009.

Personal life
Umar is the youngest brother of Adnan Akmal and Kamran Akmal who are also cricketers. While his brothers are wicket keepers, he is a right-handed batsman and a part time spinner.

Early career
Umar represented Pakistan in the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. After his success at the U-19 level he earned himself a first class contract and played the 2007-08 season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, representing the Sui Southern Gas team. He is considered a future asset for Pakistan cricket. He is an aggressive style cricketer. In only his sixth first class match he smashed 248 off just 225 deliveries, including four sixes. He followed that up with an unbeaten 186 in his 8th first class match, off just 170 balls. He fared less well in his second season of first class cricket, with a string of low scores batting at number 3. He found form in the final few matches of the 2008/09 season and then in the RBS T20 tournament thus getting the selectors nod to play for Pakistan A side on their tour to Australia A.

Australia A tour
Umar came to prominence during the Australia A tour in June/July 2009. In the two Test matches he recorded scores of 54, 100*, 130, 0. In the ODI series that followed Umar continued his fine form with a century in the opening ODI encounter off just 68 deliveries. These performances made him gather considerable praise from the media who were there to witness him and calls began to grow about his inclusion in the ODI series for the main Pakistan side against Sri Lanka.

Test career
Umar made his Test debut against New Zealand at Dunedin on November 23, 2009. On the third day of his debut test, Umar Akmal hit 129 runs from 160 balls becoming only the second Pakistani to score a hundred on debut away from home after Fawad Alam. This feat also made him the first Pakistani batsman to score both his maiden Test and ODI century away from home, following his ODI century against Sri Lanka. The innings was noted as special due to Pakistan's tough position in the match and the hundred partnership which Akmal was involved in alongside his elder brother Kamran. He followed up the century in the first innings with a fifty in the second innings.

In only his second Test match he was moved up the order to the crucial spot of number 3, where he struggled initially but managed to counter-attack the hostile bowling with his natural flair, making 46 before he was undone by an inswinger by Daryl Tuffey. In the second innings he was moved down the order to his usual batting spot of number 5 as captain Mohammed Yousuf chose to bat at number 3 himself, and Akmal looked his usual aggressive self throughout his innings of 52 which came off only 33 balls. He had his first failure in the first innings of the third test at Napier where he was caught in the gully for a duck but scored a rearguard 77 in the second, promoting him to the leading run scorer of the series. Akmal finished the tour with 400 runs at an average of 57.14.

ODI and Twenty20 career
In an interview, Umar said "My own dream is to one day play for Pakistan alongside Kamran Bhai (Brother) and I'm working hard to try and achieve that goal". Akmal was selected in Pakistan's squad for the One Day International Series against Sri Lanka in July/August 2009. Having missed out on the first ODI Umar made his debut in the second match of the series replacing Mohammad Yousuf in the middle order. In only his second career ODI Umar scored his maiden ODI fifty. Umar followed up his maiden fifty by scoring a century in the very next match. For this match winning effort he was awarded his first career Man of the Match award. His exploits in Sri Lanka earned him a place in Pakistan's champions trophy squad. He played two good innings. His 41 not out against West Indies was a match winning knock and landed him his second career Man of the Match award. His next big innings came in the semi final against New Zealand, where he scored a brisk 55 in a losing effort, before he was wrongly given out by umpire Simon Taufel, who later apologized. Despite the fact that Umar Akmal is not a wicket-keeper he kept wicket for Pakistan temporarily in the third ODI against England in 2010 from the 27th Over onwards because his elder brother Kamran was being diagnosed for an injury to his finger. Umar Akmal cracked 71 runs in 52 balls including 8 boundaries and 1 six in his debut World Cup match, he was also announced Player Of the match.

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Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq Biography

source link (google.com.pk)
Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi is a Pakistani cricketer and the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team for Tests and ODIs.

Early career
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.

Comeback
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 three sixes. He hit the first legitimate ball of the last over for six. 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. He repeated for the 3rd time against India in the semi final of the 2011 World Cup where India won by 29 runs.

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*.

Dropping out and the captaincy (2010-2011)
Misbah was dropped from the team after the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and missed the team's controversial tour of England in August 2010 Due to the batting-collapses that Pakistan suffered during that tour Misbah was recalled for the subsequent tour against South Africa in the UAE to lead as a captain of the team for test series. Many people expressed there surprise at the appointment of Misbah as captain. Wasim Akram stated that although the decision was surprising if Misbah bats and fields well everything else will go according to plan. Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson stated that he believed Misbah has the best cricketing brain within Pakistan and he will do incredibly well in the plans for the captaincy Misbah hit back at those who criticised the decision to appoint him captain and stated that he should be given a chance to prove himself In his first match as test captain he set an example for his team when he scored 71* in a 168 run partnership with Younus Khan this helped Pakistan salvage a draw from the match

Two-test series in New Zealand (2011)
After Three Twenty20's in which Misbah did not play as Pakistan lost the series 2-1. He returned to captaining the test side and during his third test as captain he claimed his first victory when Pakistan beat New Zealand by 10 wickets. New Zealand were bowled out for 275 and during Pakistan's first innings Misbah reached a half-century before being trapped in front on 62, however Asad Shafiq top-scored in the innings with 83. Pakistan took a slender lead of 92 and bowled New Zealand out for 110 needing just 19 runs for victory and Pakistan sealed a crushing win when Taufeeq Umar sealed the winning run as Pakistan won by ten wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series. The following match Misbah stated that the team's main focus was on improving themselves and that winning the series was a side focus. In the second and final Test of th series, Misbah yet again impressed with the bat. He was trapped in front just one short of a century in the first innings, with Pakistan taking a slender first innings lead. New Zealand posted 293 in their 2nd innings leaving Pakistan needing 274 to win on the findal day. An opening barrage from New Zealand's seamers left Pakistan struggling at 42-3, with Misbah joining Younis Khan at the crease. The two put on 118 runs and Misbah remained undefeated as Pakistan held out for a draw, finishing 226-5. This secured Pakistan's first Test series win since 2007 and helped raise Misbah's average as Captain to 112.75.
An orthodox batsman with reasonable technique, Misbah-ul-Haq caught the eye with his unflappable temperament in the tri-nation one-day tournament in Nairobi in 2002, scoring two fifties in three innings, including one in the final against Australia. But before Pakistan could hail him as a possible middle-order mainstay, Misbah's form slumped - he didn't manage a single 20-plus score in three Tests against Australia and was duly dumped. Pakistan's abysmal World Cup campaign - and the wholesale changes to the team in its aftermath - gave Misbah another chance to redeem himself, but he did little of note in the limited opportunities he got.

Even though Misbah had not represented Pakistan for about three years, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England, and Inzamam's retirement from ODIs prompted the board to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead of Mohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors' faith by finishing the tournament as Pakistan's best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He was duly named in the team for the Test and ODI series that followed against South Africa.

After an unremarkable series against South Africa, Misbah was by far Pakistan's best batsman through the Tests against India, amassing 464 runs in three matches, including two centuries. He was ice-cool in crisis, rescuing Pakistan on several occasions with spirited rearguard efforts. His remarkable rise continued as a mere six months after being picked for the ICC World Twenty20, he was made vice-captain and handed a top-category contract in January 2008. His form deserted him again in 2009, and he dropped from all three squads for the series against New Zealand - but made yet another return to the side in October 2010, this time as captain for the Tests against South Africa.

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Imran Nazir

Imran Nazir Biography


source(google.com.pk)
Full Name: Imran Nazir
Date of Birth: Dec 16, 1981, Gujranwala, Punjab
Major Team: Pakistan, Asia XI, ICL Pakistan XI, Lahore Badshahs, National Bank of Pakistan, North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan Reserves, Sheikhupura Cricket Association, Sialkot Cricket Association
Playing Roll: Batsman
Batting Style: Right
Bowling Style: Legbreak
 Pakistani cricketer who represents his country at international level as an attacking right-handed opening batsman.
Imran Nazir an other gift of Allah for the Pakistan in the cricket player’s team. But the distrust was that as he offers more genuine promise than most. He is predominantly strong off the back foot, loves forcing all the way through the covers. His hostile behavior towards his cricket passion has had him made as a one-day player. In the initial period of his entrance he couldn’t perform well in his first few Tests.
Ultimately, on the other hand, Glenn McGrath and Co noticed his method and deficient of footwork rather cruelly in two Tests matches against Australia. The preference of Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar moved him upward level, which enhance his career charm and He became National squad against South Africa in 2006-07 because of the consistency in performances in in-land matches. And he was selected for World Cup 2007 team on his volatile performance 39-ball 57-scores, but his three failure match series won’t polish his performance and become a slight decline of his image in the Pakistani people. Over all his performance made him one of the best fielders in the Pakistan cricket team, so he is considered as to be the 1st Pakistani to flip-flop (while intercepting a square cut).
His career-best performance of 160 adjacent to Zimbabwe in the World Cup retained him for the following such tours to Abu Dhabi and Scotland whereas Imran also is being elected for Pakistani cricket training camps. Then he was selected in Twenty20 World Championship and rewarded by a “Central Contract” in July 2007 before representing Pakistan in the home ODI series in opposition to South Africa. Later-on he coupled with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League and performed very well for the Lahore Badshahs, but when the PCB pardoned players to have severed ties with the ICL, Imran Nazir was soon called back into the ODI side.
Gujranwala, Pakistan
Batting style     Right hand bat
Bowling style     Right arm leg break
Role     Batsman
ODI shirt no.     16
Career statistics
Competition     Test     ODI     T20I     F-C
Matches     8     79     16     106
Runs scored     427     1,895     324     5336
Batting average     32.84     24.61     23.14     32.54
100s/50s     2/1     2/9     0/2     7/30
Top score     131     160     59     164
Balls bowled     –     49     49     424
Wickets     –     1     1     7
Bowling average     –     48.00     48.00     48.42
5 wickets in innings     –     0     0     0
10 wickets in match     –     0     0     0
Best bowling     –     1/3     1/3     3/61
Catches/stumpings     4/–     26/–     4/0     76/0

Imran Nazir (Urdu: عمران نذیر) (born 16 December 1981) is a Pakistani right handed batsman in cricket who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket matches.
Career

Nazir made his debut in Test cricket on March 1999, against Sri Lanka at Lahore in Pakistan and a few days later, he made his One Day International debut against the same opposition at Visakhapatnam in India. He played in 8 Test matches between 1999–2002 and secured a spot in the Pakistan squad since 2002. He also played in One Day International arena, but he could never cement his place in the squad. The emergence of several Pakistan opening batsmen such as Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt kept him out of the national side. However he displayed excellent cricketing performances in First class cricket.

Nazir made his return to the national team in the second One Day International against South Africa in February 2007 during Pakistan's tour of South Africa. He impressed the Pakistan national selectors with his innings of 57 runs from just 39 deliveries, though he struggled to score runs during the rest of the tournament.
International Debut: 1999
Batting and fielding records
M Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Test 8 13 0 427 131 32.85 730 58.49 2 1 63 4 4 -
ODI 79 79 2 1895 160 24.61 2339 81.02 2 9 235 32 26 -
T20I 16 15 1 324 59 23.14 235 137.87 - 2 32 19 6 -

Bowling records
M Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Eco SR 4W 5W 10W
Test 8 - - - - - - - - - - - -
ODI 79 4 49 48 1 1/3 1/3 48.00 5.88 49.00 - - -
T20I 16 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Career Statistics
Test Debut: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore, 04-08, Mar 1999
ODI Debut: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Visakhapatnam, Mar 27, 1999
Twenty20 Debut: South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg, Feb 02, 2007
Nazir was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2007 World Cup. He scored 160 runs against Zimbabwe in Pakistan's last match during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, after being knocked out by Ireland.

It was the second highest score by a Pakistani batsman and the eighth highest score by any batsman in World Cup history and his 8 sixes equaled the World Cup record of Australian batsman, Ricky Ponting.[1] It was also the highest runs he scored in List A cricket.[2] He now remains a regular member of Pakistan's Twenty20 squads.

In 2008, Nazir signed for the Indian Cricket League and played for the Lahore Badshahs. He scored 111 runs not out, off just 44 deliveries, against the Hyderabad Heroes in the third of the best of three finals of the tournament and helped his team to victory. After signing up for the Indian Cricket League, his chances of ever playing again for Pakistan looked slim. However, on 2 February 2009, a Pakistani court suspended the ban on Indian Cricket League players,[3] which paved the way for Nazir to make a return to the One Day International and Twenty20 squad during their tour of Sri Lanka in August 2009. He was given another chance against New Zealand int two T20I's held in Dubai which Pakistan won 2-0. Next time, he was given a chance against Australia in only T20I in Australia but could not bat much. He showed the same form against England in February 2010 in two T2OI's and was consequently dropped from the Pakistani side. Since then, he has played two National T20 cups and shown really bad form. He was selected for the Hong Kong Sixes tournament 2010 in Hong Kong as a member of Pakistani squad. There again, he showed very bad form but worst of all, in the final which was inevitably in Pakistan's favor was lost due Imran Nazir's bowling. 46 was required from the last 8-ball over but Imran Nazir gave away 48 runs in 7 balls.

In Twenty20 games he has an extraordinary bowling average of 1.00 and in his 8 deliveries he has 3 wickets a strike rate of less than 3. He has also played for Dhaka Dynamites in Bangladesh's NCL T20 Bangladesh.
Test cricket centuries

    He scored 131 runs against the West Indies at Bridgetown in the Caribbean on 18 May 2000.
    He scored 127 runs against New Zealand at Lahore in Pakistan on 1 May 2002.
One Day International centuries

    He scored 160 runs against Zimbabwe at Kingston Park in West Indies on 21 March 2007
    He scored 105 runs not out against Zimbabwe at National Cricket Stadium in Morocco on 15 April 2000 and became the second youngest batsman to score a century in a One Day International match.
Nazir was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2007 World Cup. He scored 160 runs against Zimbabwe in Pakistan's last match during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, after being knocked out by Ireland.

It was the second highest score by a Pakistani batsman and the eighth highest score by any batsman in World Cup history and his 8 sixes equaled the World Cup record of Australian batsman, Ricky Ponting. It was also the highest runs he scored in List A cricket. He now remains a regular member of Pakistan's Twenty20 squads.

In 2008, Nazir signed for the Indian Cricket League and played for the Lahore Badshahs. He scored 111 runs not out, off just 44 deliveries, against the Hyderabad Heroes in the third of the best of three finals of the tournament and helped his team to victory. After signing up for the Indian Cricket League, his chances of ever playing again for Pakistan looked slim. However, on 2 February 2009, a Pakistani court suspended the ban on Indian Cricket League players, which paved the way for Nazir to make a return to the One Day International and Twenty20 squad during their tour of Sri Lanka in August 2009. He was given another chance against New Zealand int two T20I's held in Dubai which Pakistan won 2-0. Next time, he was given a chance against Australia in only T20I in Australia but could not bat much. He showed the same form against England in February 2010 in two T2OI's and was consequently dropped from the Pakistani side. Since then, he has played two National T20 cups and shown really bad form. He was selected for the Hong Kong Sixes tournament 2010 in Hong Kong as a member of Pakistani squad. There again, he showed very bad form but worst of all, in the final which was inevitably in Pakistan's favor was lost due Imran Nazir's bowling. 46 was required from the last 8-ball over but Imran Nazir gave away 48 runs in 7 balls.

In Twenty20 games he has an extraordinary bowling average of 1.00 and in his 8 deliveries he has 3 wickets a strike rate of less than 3. He has also played for Dhaka Dynamites in Bangladesh's NCL T20 Bangladesh.

Achievement

Test cricket centuries
He scored 131 runs against the West Indies at Bridgetown in the Caribbean on 18 May 2000.
He scored 127 runs against New Zealand at Lahore in Pakistan on 1 May 2002.

One Day International centuries
He scored 160 runs against Zimbabwe at Kingston Park in West Indies on 21 March 2007
He scored 105 runs not out against Zimbabwe at National Cricket Stadium in Morocco on 15 April 2000 and became the second youngest batsman to score a century in a One Day International match.

Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir


Imran Nazir