Pakistani Cricket Players Biography Wallpapers Pics : December 2016

Thursday, 29 December 2016

Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal biography
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Full name Umar Akmal Born May 26, 1990, Lahore, Punjab Current age 20 years 238 days Batting style Right-hand bat Fielding position Occasional wicketkeeper Relation Brother – Kamran Akmal, Brother – Adnan Akmal Umar Akmal Picture Major teams Pakistan, Lahore...

Umar Akmal (born 26 May 1990 in Lahore) is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his ODI debut on August 1, 2009 against Sri Lanka.

Current age 20 years 238 days

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Occasional wicketkeeper

Relation Brother - Kamran Akmal, Brother - Adnan Akmal

Playing Roll: Batsman

Batting Style: Right

The runs didn't cease to flow for Umar Akmal, the younger brother of Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran and Adnan, in his maiden first-class season. In a triumphant 2007-08 for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Umar failed to score in his first outing but then went on to amass 855 runs from nine matches in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, at an average of 77.72 and an impressive strike-rate of 90.18. He showed a penchant for both brisk and big scoring, with knocks of 248 off 225 balls and 186 off 170. In January 2008, he was picked in Pakistan's Under-19 team for the World Cup in Malaysia. He was the leading run-getter - with 255 runs at a strike-rate of 123.18 - in a tri-nation tournament involving England and Sri Lanka in the lead-up to the World Cup. A successful tour of Australia with Pakistan A was followed up a maiden international call-up for the ODIs in Sri Lanka, and Umar started off with a half-century in his second game and a power-packed hundred in his third. A Test call-up was inevitable and he gave an optimistic glimpse into the future of Pakistan cricket, with a century on debut, under pressure followed by a string of consistent scores in New Zealand.

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.

Batting and fielding averages

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

Tests 15 29 2 988 129 36.59 1481 66.71 1 6 115 17 12 0

ODIs 43 39 6 1249 102* 37.84 1430 87.34 1 8 98 21 18 0

T20Is 22 21 3 571 64 31.72 474 120.46 0 4 41 18 18 1

First-class 46 79 7 3346 248 46.47 4652 71.92 7 20 410 53 41 0

List A 68 63 9 2012 104 37.25 2298 87.55 3 12 150 38 32 0

Twenty20 46 43 8 1114 68* 31.82 861 129.38 0 7 107 30 35 1

Bowling averages

Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10

Tests 15 - - - - - - - - - - - -

ODIs 43 - - - - - - - - - - - -

T20Is 22 - - - - - - - - - - - -

First-class 46 1 6 10 0 - - - 10.00 - 0 0 0

List A 68 2 24 13 0 - - - 3.25 - 0 0 0

Twenty20 46 1 24 36 1 1/36 1/36 36.00 9.00 24.0 0 0 0

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.

Umar Akmal

Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shehzad biography
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Ahmad Shehzad, Pakistan's opener, is known for his ability to play eye-catching shots. His introduction to competitive cricket came at an early age of 15 when he made his First-Class debut. He went on to be a regular opener for his side, Lahore, and also got a chance to play for the Pakistani Under-19 side, where he enjoyed tremendous success. With strong performances in domestic cricket, a national call up was only a matter of time as the Pakistani side struggled to find stable openers. Shehzad found himself making his debut against Australia in April 2009, but he was in and out of the team for lack of consistency. Despite not having a great start, Shehzad was picked in the squad for the 2009 World T20 Championships, but he played only one game.

For the next one year, he remained on the sidelines as Pakistan continued their search for a stable opener. His big break came in New Zealand in 2010, where he made his first T20 international half-century. The knock helped him gain a spot in the ODI leg of the tour, and this time he grabbed it with both hands as he scored an aggressive 115 to bring up his maiden ODI century. The good show earned him a place in the squad for the World Cup 2011, but Shehzad failed to impress. He managed to retain his spot for the West Indies tour that followed, and even made his second ODI century there, but was left out of the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

He played well in the ODI series against South Africa in late 2013 by scoring consecutive fifties in the UAE, but was not able to convert good starts into a big one. When Pakistan toured South Africa immediately after that, Shehzad hit a brilliant 102 at Port Elizabeth. His strong performance continued even against Sri Lanka, scoring another century and a fifty in the five-match series. Shehzad played an integral part in giving good starts to Pakistan in the 2013 Asia Cup but unfortunately failed to make a mark in the final against Sri Lanka. Shehzad also scored a hundred against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup, but Pakistan were knocked out in the group stages.

Shehzad had to wait for almost five years to play his first Test. Even though he had made his ODI and T20I debut in 2009, he only got his first Test cap in December 2013. Shehzad gave a good account of himself in the longest format of the game, too. In only his third Test, he scored his maiden ton against Sri Lanka and accumulated 693 runs in the eight Tests he played in 2014. He scored hundreds against Australia and New Zealand, but had to miss two Tests against New Zealand after being struck on the head by a Corey Anderson bouncer. He returned in the subsequent ODI series and smashed his sixth ODI century in the third game. Shehzad is an integral part of the team that was picked for the 2015 World Cup.

Ahmed Shehzad

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf biography
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Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Youhana, born 27 August 1974, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who has been a member of the Pakistani national cricket team since 1998. He is best known for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the great West Indian batsman, Sir Vivian Richards', world record for the most Test runs in a single calendar year. Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one of the few Christians to play in the Pakistan national cricket team. He made his Test debut against South Africa at Durban and ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare.

He has scored over 9,000 ODI runs at an average of 43.63 (2rd highest batting average among Pakistani batsmen after Zaheer Abbas and 6,770 Test runs at an average of 55.49 (highest batting average amongst all Pakistani batsmen) with 23 Test centuries. He has the record of scoring the most runs without being dismissed in ODIs, 405 against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2002-03. He has also scored a 23-ball fifty in ODIs, and a 68-ball hundred. In Tests he has scored a 27-ball fifty, which is 3rd fastest by any player. He was top scorer during the successive years of 2002 and 2003 in the world in ODIs. In 2004, he scored a memorable 111 against the Australians in the Boxing Day Test. In December 2005, he scored 223 against England at Lahore, also earning him the man of the match award. Seven months later in July 2006, when Pakistan toured England, he scored 202 and 48 in the first Test, again earning himself the man of the match award. He followed up with 192 in the third Test at Headingley and 128 in the final Test at the Oval. Yousuf was named CNN-IBNs Cricketer of the Year for 2006, ahead of the likes of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, West Indies Brian Lara, Australian spinner Shane Warne, South Africas bowling spearhead Makhaya Ntini and Sri Lankas Muttiah Muralitharan. He was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 2007 edition. Yousuf became the fourth recipient of the ICC 'Test Cricketer of the Year' award for 2007, he scored 944 runs at an average of 94.40 including five centuries and two fifties in just 10 innings and that was enough to be awarded the honour ahead of Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting. Yousuf was also named in the 2007 Test team of the Year alongside compatriot Mohammad Asif.

A year that started on a promising note, Yousuf carried it forward to break two world records both held earlier by West Indian great Sir Vivian Richards. The 32-year-old smashed an unparalleled 1788 runs in just 11 Test matches with the help of nine centuries his second record taking him beyond the Windies great yet again. Yousuf is known for his ability to score runs at exceptional rate through his great technique and composed strokeplay. Although capable of hitting the ball hard, Yousuf is quick between the wickets, although he is prone to being run out. Yousuf is a skillful infielder, with a report prepared in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman.

He is also distinguished by his characteristic celebration after hitting one hundred runs for his country, where he prostrates in thankfulness to Allah in the direction of Mecca. He has observed this act (known as the Sajdah) recently since his conversion to Islam.

Mohammad Yousuf

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat Biography
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Imran Farhat came into the international arena as a teenage opener for Pakistan in the 2001 tour to New Zealand but was left out immediately after a poor start to his career. He returned in the 2003-2004 season where he impressed in the home series against South Africa. He scored 235 runs including a maiden Test century in a 1-0 series win, being the second highest run scorer behind opening partner Taufeeq Umar. The season became better in the coming months as Farhat scored 348 runs at close to 70 in the series against New Zealand, which Pakistan won 5-0. He finished the season on a high, scoring an important Test century against arch rivals India.

However, the following season turned out to be a poor one for Farhat. His average dropped drastically and aggregated only 199 at an average of around 25 runs, forcing the selectors to drop him from the Test and ODI squads. He returned to the domestic circuit and scored heavily, staying in the reckoning for the opener's spot. After a century in the tour game against the visiting Indians, he got into the Test squad again and scored an important fifty in the Karachi Test in 2006. It helped him retain his spot for the next few tours, where he produced some mixed results. In 2009, he scored a brilliant unbeaten century against New Zealand in Napier, but a poor show in England in the following year saw him get the axe again. Farhat was recalled back to the Test side after 3 years, but the joy was short lived for the opening batsman, as he was dropped only after one game against South Africa where he scored 30 and 43.

Farhat's ODI career followed a similar pattern, as he was tried out as an opener in the 2010 series against South Africa, but failed to earn a spot in the World Cup. He made a return to the ODI squad in the September 2011 tour to Zimbabwe, and scored an unbeaten 75 in his return game. His comeback to the ODI team in March 2013 lasted a bit longer than Tests, he played the bilateral series against the Proteas and was also selected for the Champions Trophy in August 2013, a string of poor performance saw him being dropped again.

Imran Farhat

Waqar Younus

Waqar Younus biography
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Waqar Younis Maitla is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of all time.

He was best known in cricket for his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed when bowling at the cricket pitch. He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. He is considered to be the best exponent of the swing bowling delivery. Younis has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007.

Younis was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010. His managerial contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board will take part in all forms of cricket, right up to December 2011, which will include all professional competitions, such as the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Younis was born in Vehari, Punjab in Pakistan in a Jatt family. He was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the Pakistani College (Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School) in Sharjah and the Government College University in Vehari. He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan during his adolescent years and there, he started playing cricket.

He is married to Dr. Faryal Waqar Younis with a son Azaan Waqar and a daughter Maira Waqar and now lives in Castle Hill in Australia. Younis has also worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.

Cricket and coaching career
Younis began his cricket career in Pakistan, playing for several First-class cricket clubs. However he suffered an injury when he had cut and removed his little finger on his left hand, after he had jumped into a canal. He recovered from this accident and went on to continue his sporting career. He was eventually discovered by former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and was selected to be part of the national side. The turning point of his career happened in England, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he played for Surrey County Cricket Club. There he displayed excellent cricketing performances and attracted attention from the sporting public.

He made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 15 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar also made his debut. Younis took 4 wickets in the drawn match including the wickets of Tendulkar and Kapil Dev. He made an immediate impression with his speed and became known in the cricket media as "Wiki" or the "Burewala Express". Younis along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack. His most recognized delivery was an inswinging yorker. At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and also became famous for achieving a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994. He won the English County Championship with Glamorgan in 1997. During the early periods of 2000, he stayed out of the Pakistan team for a brief period allegedly due to suspension and conflicts with bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan, a position he held until his team failed to make an impact in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He retired from cricket in 2003 after the Pakistan Cricket Board persistently ignored him for national selection.

In March 2006, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan. He resigned from this position on 6 January 2007 in protest against the Pakistan Cricket Board decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five One Day International matches. He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009. In February 2010, Younis was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, due to the low-level of performances of the national side during the tour of Australia earlier that year.

Waqar's first job as coach was to lead an inexperienced Pakistan side missing Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as a consolation though Waqar had two top-notch bowlers in Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif at his disposal. He guided the defending champions to the semi-final of the tournament before the were knocked out by Australia courtesy of a superb 60* by Mike Hussey who whacked three sixes in the final over to seal the victory.

The World Twenty20 was followed with the 2010 Asia Cup in which Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka by a narrow-margin as Pakistan's top order collapsed and it was Shahid Afridi who scored 112 to nearly guide Pakistan to victory. In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh an the third ball of the final over. The following match was a dead rubber between Pakistan and Bangladesh and another Afridi century meant Pakistan scored 385 runs and they comfortably won the match by 139 runs

After this a tour of England followed with two Twenty20's against Australia and two Test matches. Pakistan won both Twenty20's comfortably and the first test saw Pakistan defeated by 154 runs. Pakistan rallied in the second test and for the first time in 15 years Pakistan defeated Australia in a Test match. Ironically the previous victory in 1995 was also courtesy of a superb bowling spell by Waqar Younis

This tour was followed by a controversial tour against England as Pakistan headed in to the final Test match needing to win it to level the series 2-2 the News of the World broke a story that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt were involved in Spot-fixing. This saw the three players temporarily suspended and Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs their biggest defeat in history. Low team-morale meant the next two T20 matches were won comfortably by England. Following an ODI series which Pakistan lost 3-2.

This was followed by a tour of Abu Dhabi playing against South Africa Pakistan lost the first Twenty20 match by six-wickets following a batting-collapse which meant that no partnerships were formed. Pakistan also lost the ODI series of five matches by 3-2. Pakistan won the second one day due to Abdul Razzaq's superb performance scoring 109* off 72 ball. The test series of two matches with South Africa was drawn. He also stated that now it was the time for Pakistan to rally and prepare for the World Cup

Skills in cricket
Younis is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing. In partnership with Akram, Younis opened the Pakistan bowling attack in the 1990s. Cricket critics and scholars attribute Younis and Akram to be one of the most effective fast bowling partnerships in cricket, due to their ability to swing the ball at high speed. The ability to reverse swing and his speed led to him becoming one of the most talented bowlers in modern cricket.

Younis explained his ability to reverse swing by the manipulation of an old ball; with one side shiny, one side rough, the ball would move in the opposite direction to conventional swing. This led to Younis having the ability to bowl inswingers and outswingers in the cricket pitch and in effect both Younis and Akram became successful in taking wickets by this variation of swing bowling. His fastest delivery in cricket was 153 km/h or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993. He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short pitch deliveries; Younis' bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura in Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short pitched delivery.

Following Pakistan's victory during the Test match series versus England in 1992, the English media were suspicious of the reverse swing delivery. It was relatively unknown to the cricketing world during that period and this led to accusations of foul play by critics, however cricket officials found no evidence of foul play and the skill of the reverse swing delivery has been accepted in cricket.

Sri Lanka fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, who became the first bowler in World Cup history to take two hat-tricks, has said that he learnt to bowl his deadly yorkers by watching Pakistan's legendary pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. No doubt over the years several bowlers have learned and mastered the skill of reverse swing but there are still some techniques which haven't have been explored e.g. banana swing. Title of Banana swing bowler was given to Waqar Younis because of his unique technique of swinging the ball in the air at very high speed before hitting the ground. In most of his hat tricks he has delivered banana swing balls which were unplayable.

Despite his qualities as a fast bowler, he was expensive at times and sometimes lacked the consistency of bowlers such as West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath. This may be partly due to the mentality of his former captain, Imran Khan, who prioritised aggression and speed.

Award and records
See also: List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Waqar Younis
Younis was awarded Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1992 for his sporting achievements. He is also the only bowler to have taken a 5 wickets in an innings in 3 consecutive One Day International matches. He has taken a 5 wicket hauls on 13 occasions in One Day International matches. In terms of deliveries bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Younis scored 1010 Test match runs during his career. As of September 2005, he was the only non-batsman to achieve a thousand runs without scoring a fifty.

Younis holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets.

Cricket controversies
In July 2000 Younis became the first cricketer to be banned for ball tampering and was fined 50% of his match fee.

There has been some controversy about his date of birth and age. According to ESPN cricinfo sports, Younis was born in 1969 and others including Yahoo! Cricket and CricketArchive claims he was born in 1971.

Waqar Younus