Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal Biography

Solurce(google.com.pk)
Saeed Ajmal, Cricketers is famous for Cricket, Pakistani celebrity. Born on 14 October, 1977

Saeed Ajmal is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who also uses the Doosra to good effect.

Early life and domestic cricket
Ajmal has played for Faisalabad since his debut in 1995 at the age of 18, also representing Khan Research Laboratories and occasionally Islamabad. After a successful season in 2007–08 for Khan Research Laboratories, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2008 Asia Cup.

In a domestic match Faisalabad vs Rawalpindi , the Pindi coach told ajmal that camera footages could be sent to board . Thus Saeed did not bowl any doosra , as Pindi hampered to a win.

International career
He made his debut against India, taking the wicket of Yusuf Pathan in an eight-wicket before taking two wickets in a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh, although the team had no chance of progressing to the competition's final.

From there he has had a rapid rise in the team in just over a full year. He had an excellent time at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, bowling at an economical rate and regularly taking wickets along with his spin partner Shahid Afridi. He was then picked for the Sri Lankan series in Sri Lanka where he had made solid performances in the Test matches, being picked ahead of Danish Kaneria in two of the matches.

Ajmal's good form continued in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as he was Pakistan's leading wicket taker. However despite his good form he was known for conceding three sixes to Michael Hussey in what has been hailed as the most thrilling Twenty20 match of all time as Australia were in trouble and Ajmal was the unfortunate bowler who bowled that final over.

Shortly after this the Pakistan team began there long tour of England and in the two Test matches played against Australia spinner Danish Kaneria was selected ahead of him. In the 1st Test against England Kaneria was selected ahead of Ajmal as well. However after poor bowling by Kaneria, Ajmal was selected and he took his career best bowling figures of 5/82 Despite Pakistan restricting England the team suffered a top order collapse and Zulqarnain Haider scored 88 and Ajmal also showed that he has the abiltiy to bat when he scored 50 runs these two men helped Pakistan lead a revival after being bowled out for 72 on the first day. Along with Zulqarnain Haider they together continued to frustrate the England and when it was stumps on day three Pakistan had a 112-run lead however Zulqarnain Haider and Ajmal were out on 88 and 50 respectively and so Pakistan were left on the final wicket with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul. During the series against England Pakistan became englufed in a spot fixing scandal after the fourth test and in a later secret interview it was unveiled by alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed that Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi were difficult to bribe. He stated that Ajmal was too religious to get involved into fixing.

Skills in the art of spin
“ "With HawkEye coming in, left-arm spinners slide the ball on for lbws. Offspinners get a lot of lbws from round the wicket, so you [batsman] have to work really hard, and a bloke who's got a doosra you have to work extra special hard. ”
—England batsman Kevin Pietersen

Ajmal is known as an excellent spinner of the ball and strong especially against left-handers. He has a well disguised doosra and keeps it as a mystery while he bowls. His technique is noted for causing more spin than speed as that is what Ajmal prefers Which in a sense is similar to Danish Kaneria who likes to bowl slow spin but Kaneria has a different case as when he picks up more speed he tends to loose the spin of the ball. When Pakistan started there tour of England in 2010 former Pakistani off-spinner and the founder of the doosra, Saqlain Mushtaq had a coaching session with Ajmal to advise him on his spin techniques Ajmal's spin technique came in special hand against England in 2010 has he took his first 5-wicket haul to help restrict England. Kevin Pietersen congratulated Ajmal on the amount of spin he achieved. Ajmal though started his international cricket in limited-overs cricket and was one of the early off-spinners to possess the skills of the doosra. A stat shows that out of Ajmal's 38 wickets in Twenty20 cricket 13 of them have been stumped the most for any bowler in the game. Also it was of Ajmal's off-break that Zulqarnain Haider collected his maiden international stumping.

In 2009, University of Western Australia test indicated that his arm is 8.5° tilted due to accident and 23.5° bowling action is allowed for him. Saeed Ajmal also said in an interview that he had learned the doosra on his own and that the rated Saqlain Mushtaq as the best off-spinner ever and rated Muttiah Muralitharan in second-place. He also stated that Muralitharan was a very nice and down to earth person. Ajmal said that he planned to introduce a new delivery at the 2011 Cricket World Cup

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal     

    

Saeed Ajmal

Umer Gul

Umer Gul Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Umar Gul is a talented cricketer, who was born on April 14, 1984 in Peshwar, North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan. He is a right-handed batsman and a specialist in medium-fast bowling.

He made his Test debut in the home series against Bangladesh, in Karachi in August 2003. By taking 15 wickets in his first Test series, he became the second Pakistani bowler, next to Shabbir Ahmed, his teammate, to secure more number of wickets in the series. In the same season, he played in two other Test matches against New Zealand claiming four wickets in one Test match that ended in a draw. Umar Gul came in as a replacement in the second Test of the three-Test series against India. He scalped five wickets, which included top-order batsmen like Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. For his impressive five wickets and 31 runs in the second Test, Umar Gul was given the ‘Man of the Match’. Of his 16 Test matches, he picked up 67 wickets with a bowling average of 31.55 and made 136 runs. With his good control of line and length in fast bowling, he has managed to take three five-wicket hauls in Test matches.

Umar Gul began his One Day International (ODI) career on April 3, 2003 in a match against Zimbabwe at the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup. He played in all the three group matches of the 2007 World Cup picking up four wickets with an impressive economy rate of 3.13. Having played 48 ODIs, he holds a good bowling average of 28.45 for 64 wickets, which includes one five-wicket haul.

Umar Gul played his first international Twenty 20 (T20I) match on September 4, 2007 against Kenya in Nairobi. He took three New Zealand wickets conceding 15 runs of just four overs at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20 of 2007. His achievement helped Pakistan to win the semi-final against New Zealand. Umar Gul took three wickets in the final match against India and became the highest wicket-taker in the series. He played three matches for Peshawar team at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and represented the Pakistan A in a few matches. Before being selected in the 2006 Pakistani squad for the England tour, Umar Gul played some warm-up matches with Pakistan XI.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 campaign, he was purchased for a price of $150,000 to represent the Kolkata Knight Riders team. On May 25, 2008, in a match against Kings XI Punjab, he claimed four wickets for 23 runs. For his commendable performance in the game, Umar Gul won the Player of the Match award. He played six innings scoring 39 runs with a strike rate of 205.26. Umar Gul took 12 wickets conceding 184 runs with a bowling average of 15.33 and an economy rate of 8.17.

Umer Gul

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Umer Gul 

Wasim Akram

Wasim  Akram Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Wasim Akram Biography
Wasim Akram Biography
Full name Wasim Akram
Born June 3, 1966 Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Role Bowler
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Left-arm fast
International information
Test debut (cap 102) 25 January 1985: v New Zealand
Last Test 9 January 2002: v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 53) 23 November 1984: v New Zealand
Last ODI 4 March 2003: v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
Years Team
2003 Hampshire
2000/01 Lahore Blues
1992/93 – 2000/01 Pakistan International Airlines
1988 – 1998 Lancashire
1997/98 Lahore City
1985/86 Lahore City Whites
1984/85 – 1985/86 Pakistan Automobiles Corporation

Wasim Akram (Urdu: وسیم اکرم)(born June 3, 1966 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. He is widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers ever and holds world records for the most wickets taken in both ODIs (502) and List A cricket (881). Domestic career
Wasim signed for Lancashire in 1988 and went on to become one of their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he spearheaded their attack in their NatWest Trophy, Benson & Hedges Cup and Sunday League winning sides. He was a favourite of the local fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches.

International career
Wasim made his Test debut for Pakistani cricket team against New Zealand in early 1985 and in only his second Test he made his presence felt with a ten-wicket haul. Like a few other Pakistani cricketers of his time, he was identified at club level and bypassed first-class domestic competition, entering international cricket directly. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistani team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to even make it to his college team. He was spotted by Javed Miandad, and as a result of his insisting was it that Wasim was given an oppurtunity to play for Pakistan. Later that season he paired with Imran, who became his mentor, at the World Championship of Cricket in Australia.

Wasim's rise in international cricket was rapid during the initial years. When Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the quickest bowler between the two sides. However, a serious groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in 1990 as a bowler who focused more on swing and control than speed.

One-Day success
Wasim was instrumental in Pakistan's famous World Cup victory in 1992 in Australia. In the final against England his late flurry of an innings, 33 off 19 balls, pushed Pakistan to a respectable 249 for 6. Wasim then took the all-important wicket of Ian Botham early on, and when brought back into the attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a devastating spell which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being clean-bowled in successive deliveries. His excellent performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.

He also captained Pakistan with some success. The high points of his captaincy were the 1996-97 victory in the World Series in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998-99 and in 1999, when Pakistan reached the World Cup final for the second time. The low point was the 1996 World Cup in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out of the crucial quarter final match against India. After Pakistan's defeat, there were angry protests outside his homes, and a government inquiry was launched into the failure.

In 1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before they rolled over and gave the final to Australia. This was the start of the match-fixing controversies, as people believed Wasim had set up the match for Australia. He was pardoned by Justice Qayyum.

He was Pakistan's top bowler in the 2003 World Cup taking 19 wickets in 7 matches. However, Pakistan failed to reach the "Super Six" phase of the tournament, and Wasim was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.

Wasim was diagnosed with diabetes at the peak of his career, but despite the initial psychological blow, he managed to regain his form and went on to produce fine cricketing displays. Since then he has actively sought to be involved in various awareness-raising campaigns for diabetes.

Playing style
“ Over my 15 or 16 years of playing international cricket in Tests and one-day internationals, Wasim Akram is definitely the most outstanding bowler I've ever faced. ”
— Former West Indies batsman Brian Lara.

An immensely talented player first discovered by Javed Miandad, Wasim played for his college(Govt. Islamia College Civil Lines, Lahore) as an opening bowler and batsman. As a bowler, Wasim possessed genuine pace, accurate control of line and length and seam position, and could swing the ball both in and out. With a very deceptive ball-concealing action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the old ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards the end of an innings, and earned him the nickname Sultan of Swing.

As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Wasim would also focus his attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken LBW and 102 were bowled. In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships ever.

Wasim was also skilled with the bat and was regarded as a bowling all-rounder. He was especially effective against spinners. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of big scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply for a player of his talent. He did silence his critics in October 1996 when he scored 257, not out, of the team's total of 553 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. He also made good scores in difficult times for the Pakistan team such as his 123 against Australia and his 45 not-out to take Pakistan to victory in a low-scoring match. Pakistan, needing six runs in two balls two win the Nehru Cup saw Wasim come out to bat. The first ball he faced was hit out of the ground and secured the cup. Ahmed Bilal was his coach who gave him tricks on reverse swing.

Records
In his Test career, Wasim took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62, and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.
In One-Day Internationals, Wasim took a world record 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52, and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.
Wasim was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game, and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.
Wasim also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups — a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches. On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there."
Uniquely, Wasim took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests and ODIs. He is one of only three bowlers to have taken two Test hat-tricks (the others being Hugh Trumble and Jimmy Matthews), and also one of only three bowlers to have taken two ODI hat-tricks (the others being fellow Pakistani Saqlain Mushtaq and Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka). Wasim's Test hat-tricks are unique, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, against Sri Lanka in 1999. Wasim is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test and ODI hat-trick (the other being fellow Pakistani Mohammad Sami).
Playing in a Test against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990-91, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Wasim's case, the feat was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball of the series being a dropped catch, which allowed a single.
Wasim has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket — 257 not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.
He also has the joint-highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, along with South African Jacques Kallis, with 17.

Controversies
In 1992, after he had been successful against English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English press, though no video evidence was ever found. Wasim and Waqar had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from old balls. This phenomenon, termed reverse swing was relatively unknown in England at the time.

A far larger controversy was created when he was alleged to be involved in match fixing. An enquiry commission was set up by Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge Malik Mohammed Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:

This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion.

Retirement
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. Huma and Wasim have two sons from their marriage of thirteen years.

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Wasim  Akram

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Nickname: Lala
D.O.B: March 1,1980,Khyber Agency,Karachi,Pakistan
Height: 5ft 11in (1.8M)
Family: Wife Nadiya Afridi, Daughter:Aqsa,Ansha,Ajwa
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Wrist Spin
Education: ..........College, University of Karachi
Interests: Golf, Swimming, Squash, Hunting

International Team: Pakistan
County Team: Hampshire
IPL Team: Deccan Chargers

Of Shahid Afridi it can safely be said that cricket never has and never will see another like him. To say he is an allrounder is to say Albert Einstein was a scientist; it tells a criminally bare story.
For a start, the slant of his all-round skills only became clear ten years into his career; he is a leg-spinning allrounder. Variety is his calling and as well as a traditional leg-break, he has two googlies, a conventional offie and a lethal faster one, though this is increasingly rare. All come with the threat of considerable, late drift. He fairly hustles through overs, which in limited-over formats is a weapon in itself and the package is dangerous.
In 2009 Afridi became one of the World’s most expensive cricketers in the IPL auction.

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is a cricket player for the Pakistan National team. He exploded on to the cricket scene by scoring the fastest century in ODIs in his very first innings. He was initially selected as a bowler but after his big hitting in his 1st innings, he focused more on his batting. In recent years he has gone back to focusing on his bowling . His style of play is best suited to the shortest form of the game T20s.



Achievements:
Career Highlights of SHAHID AFRIDI :

(1) 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.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

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

(5) 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.

(6) 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.

(7) 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.

(8) 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 of just 21 balls.

(9) 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.

(10) 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.

(11) Bernie Geoffrion, a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach was also nicknamed "Boom Boom" Geoffrion

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi