Pakistan Cricket Players

Tuesday 7 August 2012

salman butt

Salman Butt Biography
Salman Butt (born October 7, 1984 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who regularly opens the batting for his national side in both Test and ODI matches. He made his Test debut on September 3, 2003 in the 3rd test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on September 22, 2004. He started in the Under-17s and quickly progressed through to Under-19 level, although at the time he was much younger than the age limits suggest, making his senior debut for Lahore Whites in 2000 aged only 16. His talent was noticed immediately, which led to him being given a place in the Pakistan A team against England soon after. However, instead of rushing straight for the limelight of international cricket, he got his head down and consolidated by playing consistently for his region and the youth teams, until the Pakistan selectors finally drafted him in 2003. After his debut, Butt was dropped and struggled to regain his place due to some stiff competition for the openers' spots. He returned for the Champions' Trophy in 2004 and scored his first fifty for Pakistan in the Paktel Cup against Sri Lanka. He was not yet particularly famous. In the ODI against India on 13 November 2004, as Pakistan chased down 292, he formed partnerships first with Shoaib Malik, putting on 113, and subsequently with Inzamam-Ul-Haq. Despite having to retire hurt for seven overs due to severe cramp, he returned to steer Pakistan home, finishing on 108 not out. Yet 2005 saw little improvement, and doubts circulated about his defensive technique causing him to yo-yo in and out of the side. But things started looking up again during the winter Test series against England, in which he scored a century and two fifties with a more cautious attitude to his innings-building the he had previously shown.

International Debut: 2003

Batting and fielding records

M Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St

Test 33 62 0 1889 122 30.47 4002 47.20 3 10 276 1 12 -

ODI 78 78 4 2725 136 36.82 3572 76.29 8 14 343 7 20 -

T20I 24 23 2 595 74 28.33 551 107.99 - 3 66 10 3 -

Bowling records

M Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Eco SR 4W 5W 10W

Test 33 5 137 106 1 1/36 1/41 106.00 4.64 137.00 - - -

ODI 78 6 69 90 - - - - 7.83 - - - -

T20I 24 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Career Statistics

Test Debut: Pakistan v Bangladesh at Multan, 03-06, Sep 2003

ODI Debut: Pakistan v West Indies at Southampton, Sep 22, 2004

Twenty20 Debut: Bangladesh v Pakistan at Nairobi, Sep 02, 2007

Because he is left-handed and possessed of some supple wrists, it is easy to compare Salman Butt with the delightful Saeed Anwar. His drives and cuts through the arc between extra cover and backward point are inevitably flicked, often scooped and it is a high-scoring region. He doesn't mind pulling either and off his toes, he is efficient rather than whippy as Anwar was. Further, like Anwar, Butt's footwork doesn't really hold him back. But in attitude and temperament Butt is more Anwar's long-time partner, Aamir Sohail.

He has a confident air about him, a spikiness and is one of the few younger players confident when speaking English. His breakthrough period was the winter of 2004, where he first scored an ODI century against India at Eden Gardens and then went further by scoring a fifty and a maiden Test century in Sydney later in the year. For most of 2005, he failed to build on that and despite another ODI century, also against India, doubts about his defensive technique and overt dash crept in, resulting in him dropping in and out of the team. But against England to end the year, he responded to criticism by unveiling a startling restraint and change of tempo, hitting a century and two fifties in the Tests, each innings commendably restrained. Though his consistency isn't up to the mark, he still remains a vital member of the Test team. Following the disastrous tour of Australia in 2009-10, where senior players were slapped with serious punishments by the PCB, Butt came through unharmed and was given the vice- captaincy for the Asia Cup and England tour in 2010.

He had made impressive strides at age-level matches before making his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2003-04, playing in the Under-19 World Cup and touring South Africa with Pakistan's Academy team, smashing 233 against the South African Academy side. His strokeplay has never been in doubt and he is capable of providing electrifying starts when needed but with the tightening of his defense, Butt could be one half of the opening conundrum that has so haunted Pakistan since...well, Anwar and Sohail left the scene.

SALMAN BUTT

Salman Butt Reaches Pakistan

Friday 3 August 2012

imran khan

He dazzled the world with his amazing talent, he gave cricket another name, he
is and always will be remembered by cricket fans worldwide. Imran khan, an
unbelievably talented all rounder is the Legend of cricket and has reached the
top like no one else.

This cricketer was born no differently than any other person. He was born in
Lahore, Pakistan into a family of six. He entered the world on November 25,
1952, the only boy and seventh member of his family. His parents gave him the
name Imran Khan Niazi and truly loved him since he is the only boy in their
family.

Imran was part of a well-educated family. His parents believed that their
children should get the best of education, and become something. Imran's parents
have believed this and followed through with it, and that is why Imran's sisters
are so successful today. His older sister Robina is an alumnus of the LSE and
has a senior position in the United Nations in New York; his other sister Aleema
has a master's degree in business administration and runs a successful business;
Uzma is a highly qualified surgeon is working in a Lahore hospital; while his
other sister Rani is a University graduate who coordinates charity work. When it
was time for Imran to go attend a college, he went to the prestigious public
school in Lahore, the Aitchison College. There he was by far the best player on
his team, being a very fine batsmen. He was still though quite far from becoming
the best in the world. As Imran grew older, his interests went from being a
batsmen to being a fast bowler.

When sixteen, Imran made his debut for Lahore. Imran's cousins Javed Burki, and
Majid Khan were a great part of cricket therefore when he made his test debut
people thought that he made it because his family was on the Pakistan's Cricket
Team. (Nepotism)

Later, Imran had to put cricket to the side and focus more on his studies.
Undoubtedly he was back again at the age of eighteen. He played admirably which
resulted in him moving to England as he was chosen to play for a private school
there.

As the year 1971 approached, he made his test debut while visiting England.
During this tour, he was fined many times by the management because he was
looked upon by his peers as being a very snobby and wild player. Also on this
tour, Imran did not play as well. Because of his "not so good" bowling, Pakistan
was costed to settle for a draw. This was the only test match on the tour.

When Imran was twenty-one, he was admitted in the Oxford University. For three
years he studied economics and politics. In 1974 Pakistan toured England and
therefore he was selected because of his form for Oxford University and his
experience with speaking English. He had not succeeded to make a big mark
because all three of his tests were drawn.

In 1976 Imran returned to Pakistan after being away for four years. During the
1976-77 season, Imran got a place in the Pakistan cricket team. He had impressed
the team with his fantastic bowling. Later he moved to play with Sussex. The
biggest reason for Imran to do this was because of his love affairs with the
nightlife of London. He was quite angry at Worcester (a team he played for
before he played for Sussex), because of the racism he found there. During the
time he had been playing for other teams, Imran had become quite a big star.
Everyone was able to see that this guy had talent and played very well. At this
point, not only was he playing well, but had basically become a superstar.

Imran continued to play for Sussex, because he enjoyed it there. At this point
he had become the "father" of the reverse swing. His most famous partner was
Sarfaraz Nawaz, in which the partners could make a lot of runs.

Soon after, under the orders of the top official, Imran came back to Pakistan
to play test cricket for the series against India. During this match, Imran hit
two sixes and a four with only seven balls remaining. Because of Imran's huge
success, one could easily say that Imran was one of the most adored cricketer
through the land at this point.

During the early 80's Imran was not only at his cricketing peak, but had quite
a few relations with women. He had a relationship with Susannah Costantine,
ex-model Marie Helving, and artist Emma Sargeant. Some of his relations ended
simply because of difference in culture and because of the busy and travelling
life of Imran. He brought some of his relationships back home to Pakistan in
which he was frowned upon because he was an individual of Muslim faith.

When Imran was thirty, he became the captain of the Pakistan cricket team. He
lead them to a victory against England in their second test match.

During the years of his captaincy, Imran had broken his shin. Even though this
was so, Imran continued to bowl, whether there was pain or not. Because of his
injury, Imran was able to put bowling to the side and concentrate more on his
batting. Imran improved his batting greatly which led him to his first century
in a one day match.

In 1987, Imran decided to retire from cricket. Javed Miandad took his place.
Because Pakistan's best captain was gone; the team was in somewhat of crisis.
President Zia put a lot of pressure on Imran, therefore he was back as a captain
in 1988.

In 1992, the world cup final was Imran's exit from cricket. He led Pakistan to a
great victory over India. Pakistan had won the World Cup. It was time for Imran
to retire, which brought a lot of grief to Pakistan. He ended his career with an
outstanding score of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in only test matches. During his
career, Imran had turned the Pakistan cricket stars into the stars they are
today. The day that Imran retired was a very big day. So big that the President
of that time, Zia personally tried to stop him from retiring. Imran said that he
wanted to retire at the highest point of his popularity so that people would be
able to remember him forever.4 He wanted his name to be in all hearts and be
recognized for all his accomplishments. Imran had officially ended his career as
a cricketer and is truly remembered by all.
When Imran won the world cup, he had raised twenty five million dollars to
build a cancer hospital in memory of his mother. About ten years ago when
Imran's mother had cancer; Imran was desperately looking for some place to take
her, but none of the hospital's in Pakistan had the right facilities to treat
her. When Imran took her to an outside country, it was too late; she had lost
her battle against cancer. Eversnice then, Imran has wanted to build a cancer
hospital. Today he has a wonderful hospital standing in Lahore, Pakistan. It is
named after his mother Shawkat Khanam. Imran does not charge anything to
patients who cannot afford the treatment.

In 1995, Imran decided to settle down and marry. He married Jemima Goldsmith who
is the daughter of a millionaire. She was Jewish and converted to Islam by
choice just before the two got married. Their wedding took place in Paris. When
they came back to London, they threw a party which was more for the public.

On November 18th 1996, Imran and Jemima were the proud parent's of a baby boy.
The named him Suleiman Isa. On April 10th, 1999 Jemima gave birth to yet another
baby boy. They have named him Kassim.

Today, Imran has entered the world of politics and has set up his own party. He
continues to fundraise for his hospital. He does this by taking tours with
popular stars. Some stars donate their money to Imran's hospital. Jemima designs
clothes and sells them overseas. The profit goes to the Shawkat Khanam Memorial
Hospital. Also the restaurant in London, Salt and Pepper gives its profits to
the hospital.

IMRAN KHAN

Imran Khan PTI leader interview with Mehar Bukhari

ToThePoint: Imran Khan on PTI Politics (March 31, 2012)

Thursday 2 August 2012

Shahid Afridi

Source (Google.com.pk)
Shahid Afridi Biography
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (born 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency), popularly known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani cricketer currently playing for the Pakistani national team in the international circuit. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya in Nairobi[1] and his Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia at Karachi.[2] He is known for his aggressive batting style, and currently holds the highest career strike rate in the history of international cricket. In a recent survey, Afridi was named as the most popular cricketer in Pakistan.[3] He also holds the record for the fastest one day century which he made in his debut innings, as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest scoring over ever in an ODI.

Style

His general style of batting is very aggressive and attack oriented and has earned him the nickname “Boom Boom Afridi” for his fastest One Day International century just in 37 balls. As of 22 May 2007, he has an ODI strike rate of 109.38 runs per 100 balls, the highest in the game’s history. This attitude has been transferred to Test cricket as well, with Afridi scoring at a relatively high strike rate of 86.13 in Tests. He has an approach to batting that can change the tempo of a game and inspire the mood of an audience, as shown when a mass exodus of spectators occurred in Pakistan in late 2005 following his dismissal from the crease. He hits many sixes long and high, favoring straight down the ground or over midwicket. A trademark shot is a crossbatted flick to the leg-side to a ball outside off stump.[8]. This explosive style has led to some memorable shots, most notably the first ever 12 in power cricket in 2002, where Afridi successfully hit the roof. [9] However, his aggressive style increases his risk of getting out and he is one of the most inconsistent batsmen in cricket. This is reflected by the fact that he is the only player to score more than 5000 ODI runs at an average under 25.

Bowling-wise, his stock ball is the leg break, but his armory also includes the conventional off break and a ‘quicker one’ which he can deliver at nearly 80 mph in the style of a medium-pacer. He bowls at a high speed for a spinner, resulting in lesser turn, and relying more on variations in speed. He occasionally sends down a bouncer to a batsmen, which is very rare for a spin bowler.

International career

In October 1996 at the age of sixteen he was brought into the ODI team as a legspinner as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. He then gained notability as a pinch-hitter and began opening with Saeed Anwar. He holds the record for scoring the fastest century in one-day internationals (off 37 balls)[12], scored in only his second match and his first ODI innings. He also shares with Brian Lara the record for the third-fastest century in ODIs (off 45 balls). One of Pakistan’s most useful all-rounders, he has an extremely aggressive batting style, which has garnered him over 5,000 ODI runs (including an erstwhile world-record 249 sixes, recently broken by Sanath Jayasuriya), as well as taking over 250 wickets at ODI and 47 at Test level.

For various reasons, including a perception that he lacks patience in his batting, Afridi had limited opportunity in Test matches, although he currently averages in the high thirties and mid-thirties with bat and ball respectively. As it is, Afridi has featured in less than one third of the Test Matches played by Pakistan over the course of his career.[13] However, he made his presence felt in the third Test against India in March 2005, scoring a quick-fire second-innings half-century and taking five wickets in the match (including Tendulkar twice) to help Pakistan to win the game and register a series draw.

It is perceived that his batting struggles on bouncy pitches and against opponents like Australia, although his record against the Australians has improved over time. Although he has had success as an opener on sub-continent pitches, Afridi is often moved into the lower order as well.

Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005, starting with the tours of India and West Indies and through to the England tour. The Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer helped Afridi to reach a fuller potential by improving his shot selection and giving him free rein over his batting attitude.

In the 2007 World Twenty20, he performed poorly with the bat but brilliantly with the ball, earning the Man of the Series award, though he failed to take a wicket in the final and was out for a golden duck.

Career Highlights

* On 4 October 1996, playing his maiden international innings, Afridi hit the fastest One-Day century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. His innings included 28 runs off one of Sanath Jayasuriya’s overs, whose record he broke. [15]

* Youngest player in history to make an ODI century at just 16 years and 217 days with his 37 ball ton against Sri Lanka. It included 11 sixes and 6 fours. [16]

* Made a half-century from 26 balls and took 3 second-innings wickets in Pakistan’s series-drawing Test victory against India in March 2005.[14]

* Holds the joint record with Brian Lara for the third fastest ODI century off 45 balls in April 2005 against India. [17] This actually was the first match that witnessed the Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri make him the nickname Boom Boom Afridi.

* Equal highest aggregate sixes scored in the 50-over game, shared the legendary Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, and he the most sixes per innings record.

* Scored four consecutive sixes off a Harbhajan Singh over in a Test match against India in January 2006, matching a feat that Kapil Dev achieved in 1990.

* Was the first player to score 12 runs off one ball, by hitting the roof of the Millennium Stadium. This took place in a game of Power Cricket.[citation needed][clarification needed]

* Holds four of the top eight fastest ODI half centuries, twice completed in 18 balls and twice in 20 balls. He has also scored a half century off just 21 balls.

* Made 32 runs off a Malinga Bandara over in an ODI game at Abu Dhabi in 2007. He struck four consecutive sixes and it was the 2nd most expensive over in ODI history.

* Afridi is only third player in ODI history to achieve the combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets. The other players being Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jacques Kallis.

Shahid Afridi