Best Cricket players 2012

Thursday 14 June 2012

Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Sami Biography
This blog is about Mohammad Sami
Biography
Full name     Mohammad Sami
Born     24 February 1981 (age 30)
Karachi, Pakistan
Batting style     Right hand bat
Bowling style     Right arm fast
Role     Bowler and captain of the Karachi Dolphins
Career statistics
Competition     Test     ODI     FC     LA
Matches     35     83     109     125
Runs scored     473     314     1545     71
Batting average     11.82     11.62     13.91     12.29
100s/50s     0/0     0/0     0/0     0/0
Top score     49     46     49     46
Balls bowled     7175     4094     19634     6228
Wickets     84     118     365     186
Bowling average     52.27     28.44     30.62     27.57
5 wickets in innings     2     1     20     2
10 wickets in match     0     0     2     0/0
Best bowling     5/36     5/10     8/39     6/20
Catches/stumpings     7/0     18/0     49/0     27/0
Mohammad Sami born 24 February 1981) is a Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket who is currently representing the Pakistan cricket team in Test cricket and Twenty20 cricket matches. He use to represent Pakistan in ODI's but was dropped from the squad in 2007 after an unimpressive world cup campaign.International career
Sami, initially known as the modern Malcolm Marshall by Imran Khan, made his Test cricket debut against New Zealand in 2001 by taking 8 wickets for 106 runs in the match. This was a world record for the most wickets by a debutante. During his third Test match he achieved a hat-trick against Sri Lanka and in 2002 he took his second hat-trick in his career, against the West Indies during a One Day International match. This led to him becoming one of only a two bowlers in cricket(The other who was wasim akram) to achieved this mark in both forms of the game . He also became one of two Pakistan bowlers to have taken a hat-trick in both Test cricket and One Day International matches,the other being fast bowler Wasim Akram. He also displayed excellent performances against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in 2003. On 1 December 2003, he achieved his best bowling figures in One Day International cricket by taking 5 wickets for 10 runs during a match. Earlier in April during that year in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, he had taken 4 wickets for 25 runs against Kenya during the match. Sami played his 50th One Day International match against India at Lahore in Pakistan on 24 March in 2004. He has also taken over 100 wickets in First-class cricket and in List A cricket.
Sami is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in cricket and has the ability to swing the cricket ball at high pace. He has unofficially bowled the fastest delivery in cricket when he clocked at 164 km/ph (101.9 mph) during a One Day International match. However, it was revoked by cricket officials after it found faulty speed measurements on the speed metre. But despite his talent, he has been in and out of the national side for several times. However he has received support from former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, who sees Sami's speed and wicket taking ability as an important skill for the Pakistan team.
Sami also earned the ignominy of bowling the longest over in One Day International cricket during the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in 2004, when he bowled 17 balls in one over which consisted of seven wides and four no balls.He is also the only bowler in Test cricket history to have over 50 wickets and a bowling average of 50.
After losing form and failing to achieved success for the Pakistan cricket team, the Pakistan Cricket Board and its national selectors replaced Sami for the One Day International series against England with fast bowler Mohammad Asif, however he was recalled for the series against South Africa in January and February in 2007. He was selected in the 15 man Pakistan squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, although he was named as one of five reserves.After team mates Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were dropped from the World Cup squad ,since neither of the two had been declared fit and they had not undergone official doping tests, Sami and Yasir Arafat were called up as replacements.
Sami joined the Indian Cricket League following the tour of India in December 2007. He played for the Lahore Badshahs, a team composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers, during the Indian Premier League's second Twenty20 tournament. His participation in the league meant that he, like many other Pakistan players, he was banned from representing his country at both international level and domestic cricket in Pakistan.
In 2009-2010, he was recalled back to the Pakistan team and on the 3 January 2010, during Pakistan's Test match series against Australia, he played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia and took 3 wickets for 27 runs in the first innings of the second Test match. On the 19 April he was selected in the Pakistan squad as a replacement for the injured fast bowler Umar Gul, in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournament to be held in the West Indies. In July 2010 it was rumoured that he would join Essex as replacement overseas player for Danish Kanaria who joined the Pakistan touring party for tests against Australia and England. Sami was recalled and played against South Africa in the middle east in November 2010. However since then Sami has not been selected - Pakistan have been picking right arm medium pace bowler Tanvir Ahmed effectively in his place.

Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Sami Hat Trick against West Indies

Mohammad Sami clean bowled Rahul Dravid with a quick delivery 150kph

Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad Biography

Mohammad Javed Miandad Khan (Urdu: محمد جاوید میانداد ) (born June 12, 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: جاوید میانداد) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1975-1996. After his playing career, he has at various times been a coach, as well as held positions in the Pakistan Cricket Board. He is considered among Pakistan's great batsmen, and among the top few batsmen during his career. He also had three coaching stints with the Pakistan national team, with mixed success and considerable controversy.
Description:
Javed Miandad took the cricket world by storm when he burst onto the international scene in 1976-77. Loud yet contemplative, fiercely defiant, tenacious, and singularly focused on success, he captured the popular imagination like no other Pakistani batsman. For nearly two decades, he dominated the batting scene for his country, compiling one of the game's greatest batting resumes. His feats brought Pakistan into a golden age in its cricketing history when the team started winning overseas and became recognized as one of the best in the world. In the twilight of his career, when many had written him off, Miandad produced a series of crucial batting performances in the 1992 World Cup that eventually saw Pakistan take the title for the first time. He later returned to international cricket as the national coach and guided Pakistan to famous Test victories in India.
Javed Miandad was Pakistan’s enfant terrible and a batting warrior for Pakistan cricket. He became famous after hitting the winning six on the last ball of the match in the April 1986 match at Sharjah against the Indian bowler Chetan Sharma [ who no doubt was trying to bowl a Yorker , instead let loose with the famous ball type exemplified by the joke "umpire to batsmen taking guard – yes what do you want – batsmen – a full toss on the leg side" ]. This led many a Pakistani calling up their Indian friends on the phone and saying, " This is Miandad speaking ". His other memorable, gritty performances, and there are many, are documented in this delightful book which is a must for every South Asian cricket lover for a rainy day, weekend/ bedtime as well as a serious cricketer’s reading.

Miandad will always be remembered in the annals of Pakistan as not just a street fighting cricketer but a world class batsman and one whose understanding and deep knowledge of the game has led him to become the coach for the present Pakistan team. His current task [not an easy one] is to lead the Pakistani batting line-up out of the woods.

"Cuttting Edge" is his biography written with the help of his friend Dr. Saad Shafqat .For a cricket lover this is a gem of a book, describing how time and again, the Pakistan cricket team has been blessed with raw unknown outsiders who have made their mark in International cricket. From the anecdote of Wasim Akram, who bowled to him in the nets at Karachi in 1984 [ and was so green that he asked Miandad how much money he should take when he got selected for England] , to Miandad’s early childhood days playing street cricket in Ranchore Lines in Karachi [ using the secret weapon of a tennis ball wrapped up in plastic insulating tape to give extra bounce / swing ] and making his first Test hundred [ 163 ] in his first Test appearance in Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium on October 9, 1976 against a pace attack of Hadlee [ which reduced Pakistan to 44 for 3] , this book is Miandad’s way of telling the story of his rise and rise from the humble streets of Karachi to the sophisticated cricket grounds of Lords in London.

Miandad writes endearingly of how his father [a cotton expert and grader at the Karachi Stock Exchange ] and his father’s best friend A.R.Mahmood [ who taught him to play straight bat in the V area between cover and mid-wicket in the early opening of an innings] became the influences of his boyhood cricket days as a batsman, although he would do everything – bowling off-breaks, and wicket keeping in school.

There are 23 Chapters , with a chapter on the "Sharjah" match with India , another one on "Wars with India" , his batting in the World Cup of 1992. There is one entitled " In search of 365 " [ how to get into the bowlers frame of mind and anticipate his next type of ball ] another entitled " Tit for Tat with the West Indies " [ 1987-88 when West Indies and Pakistan were at their peaks –with players such as Lloyd , Richards , Walsh , Ambrose, Marshall . In all these chapters what finally comes through is that Miandad fought for his mark as a world class batsman [ in the league of the top 10 - ]. There are places where Miandad gets stuck on a sticky issue , where he is at pains to show that there was no squabble between him and Imran Khan, but this is contradicted in another chapter called " Picking the gaps " where he rants and raves against the "Oxbridge complex ".

His apologies to Amarnath in the Jaipur match show his character. Many of his words make him come out as a God fearing humble human being. In fact what comes out of this book and this is what Miandad also says is that character is what makes a batsman. Miandad’s praise for other cricketers – especially Gavaskar, his sense of humor and his famous remark to an opposition bowler to provide him with his hotel room number for he wanted to dispatch the ball straight there. Miandad’s opinion on the best batsmen, bowlers are interesting insights into the extreme competition within the sport [ only 8 countries play this game - 4 from south Asia]. These are wonderful joyous words that make one feel the game of cricket is indeed a great game – slightly colonial in its five-day test series - and that South Asians know that and have produced masters such as Miandad.
International Debut: 1975
Batting and fielding records
M Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Test 124 189 21 8832 280* 52.57 0 - 23 43 - 48 91 1
ODI 233 218 41 7381 119* 41.70 11014 67.01 8 50 - - 71 2

Bowling records
M Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Eco SR 4W 5W 10W
Test 124 36 1470 682 17 3/74 5/94 40.12 2.78 86.47 - - -
ODI 233 12 436 297 7 2/22 2/22 42.43 4.09 62.29 - - -

Career Statistics
Test Debut: Pakistan v New Zealand at Lahore, 09-13, Oct 1976
ODI Debut: Pakistan v West Indies at Birmingham, Jun 11, 1975
Miandad is among the top cricket players in history. He is also regarded as Pakistan's greatest ever batsman. Javed had played 124 Tests and 233 one day international cricket matches.
His highest score was 280 not out vs India. His fame touched the skies after hitting the winning six on the last ball of the match Sharjah against the Indian bowler.
Mother Tongue
Urudu
Height
Official website
Father
Mother
Brother (s)
Sister (s)
Spouse
Tahira Saigol
Children
Awards

Test
ODI
Matches
124 233
Runs
8,832 7,381
Wickets
17 7
100's
23 8
50's
43 50
Average Run Rate
52.57 41.70
Bowling Average
40.11 42.42
Highest Score
280 117
Best Bowling
3/74 2/22

DesiStore # PBH01027
ISBN 0-19-579918-6
Edition First
Year 2003
Pages 344
Weight (kg) 0.62
Shipping Weight (lbs) 1.57
Pics (color) 24
Pics (b/w) 25
HB/PB Hard Back

Despite his achievements, Miandad never lacked for critics. Always enigmatic, often misunderstood, he was never far from controversy. In this riveting autobiography, written in the same no-nonsense style with which he batted, Javed Miandad finally speaks out.

From the streets of Karachi to the great Test centres of the world, from schoolboy wonder to batting legend and international hero, from an enthusiastic rookie to the architect of a nation's cricketing fortunes- here is the Miandad story...in his own words.
Miandad made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lahore on October 9, 1976. He scored 163 in this match, to become the youngest player at the time to do so at an age of 19 years and 119 days.[2] In the same series he scored a double century, and on his way broke George Headley's 47 year record, to become the youngest player to achieve the feat.[3] Miandad made his One Day International debut against the West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham in the Cricket World Cup1975. Interestingly, his last ODI was also a world cup match, in both innings he was run out and Pakistan lost the match. More, he scored 2 fours and 0 sixes and his strike rate was below 100 in both of his, first and last ODI innings.
Miandad's inclusion in the Pakistan team was itself an achievement. A formidable batting line-up of Majid Khan, Sadiq Muhammad, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Mushtaq Muhammad and Wasim Raja was hard to create any replacements, but Miandad's raw talent made it possible and he become an integral part of Pakistan's strong batting line.
Javed Miandad played 124 Test matches, batting in 189 innings. His aggregate of 8,832 Test runs is a Pakistani record. Even though his test career spanned 17 years, he failed to make it into the top-most category of batsmen with test aggregates of over 10,000 runs.[4] Miandad's 23 centuries and 43 fifties were Pakistani national records, until they were broken by Inzamam-ul-Haq. Miandad's Test career batting average of 52.57 is among the highest for Pakistani batsmen. He scored six double centuries which is the most by a Pakistani and 6th overall.[5] He made his highest score of 280 not out against India.
Javed Miandad is the first (and one of the only two, other being Sachin Tendulkar ) player to have played in six World Cups, the first six, from 1975 to 1996.

Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad 271 vs NZ 3rd test 1988/89

Javed Miandad Last Four in Pakistan 1996 World Cup

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

Waqar Younis wickets

Waqar Younis Great Slower Ball Fools Marcus Trescothick 2001

Saturday 9 June 2012

Umar Gul

Umar Gul Biography
Full name 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

Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
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.

He had hinted at that by being leading wicket-taker in the 2007 World Twenty20; over the next two years he impressed wherever he went, in the IPL for the Kolkatta Knight Riders and in Australia's domestic Twenty20 tournament. Confirmation came on the grandest stage: having poleaxed Australia in a T20I in Dubai with 4-8, he was the best bowler and leading wicket-taker as Pakistan won the second World Twenty20 in England. The highlight was 5-6 against New Zealand, the highest quality exhibition of yorker bowling. He is not a one-format pony, however, and will remain a crucial cog in Pakistan's attack across all formats.

Umar Gul

Yousuf Pathan Abuses to Umar Gul

Umar Gul Best Yorkers

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal Biography

Kamran Akmal (born 13 January 1982 in Lahore) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played 38 Test matches and 88 ODIs for Pakistan. He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved four centuries and two fifties in 31 Test innings. However, his first century was vital - his 109 from the number eight position at Mohali, coming in with Pakistan in a lead of 39 against India in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring English in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team.

Kamran Akmal

Kamran akmal great turnaround against west indies

Kamran Akmal 116* v Australia – 5th ODI – Dubai – 2009

Friday 8 June 2012

Saeed Anwar

Saeed Anwar Biography
Magnificent timing and position were Saeed Anwar’s hallmarks. He was an opener competent of exhilarating starts in all cricket all the way through elegant strokeplay more willingly than creature strength. He loved driving all the way through the off side with negligible footwork. He obliterated any bowler contribution girth exterior off stump even though he also on a regular basis guide the ball without delay hooked on the hands of fourth slither or ravine. He first came to significance as a one-day player but soon accomplished alike achievement in Test cricket. Anwar’s fielding was feeble, he was wound lying face down, and his footwork became a lesser amount of confident as his profession illustrated to a close.

Decide on to take a break from the game later than the death of his daughter in August 2001, he was a slighter strength at what time he came back, although he still dealt with a hundred in opposition to India in the 2003 World Cup. His batting competence on the diminish, Anwar to end with broadcasted his retirement just before Pakistan’s home series in opposition to Bangladesh. He detained the record for the uppermost ODI score till Sachin Tendulkar upstaged him, and on his day he was one of the the majority elegantly persuasive players on the international stage.

SAEED ANWAR

Saeed Anwar 82 Asia Cup Final 2000 Vs Sri Lanka

SAEED ANWAR

Saeed Anwar 194 World Record Vs India

WASEEM AKRAM

About Wasim Akram
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

WASEEM AKRAM
Wasim Akram : The Greatest bowler of all time. Pakistan

WASEEM AKRAM

Wasim Akram- The King Of Swing !!