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Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, he is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket. He is the former head coach of the Pakistani cricket team. He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

As of 2021, Younis holds the record for being the youngest Pakistani Test captain and the fourth youngest Test captain in history (22 years 15 days). He played 87 Tests and 262 One Day International (ODI) matches for Pakistan during his international cricket career from 1989 to 2003.

Younis' trademark was his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed. He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. Together with bowling partner Wasim Akram, he formed one of the world's most feared bowling attacks. Younis has the second best strike rate, after Dale Steyn, for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets. He is the youngest bowler to take 400 wickets in ODI cricket.

He is also placed in the top ten of all time based on ICC rankings.

He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007. Waqar was appointed the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010. He resigned as Pakistan's cricket coach on 19 August 2011 citing personal reasons. He joined Sunrisers Hyderabad as their bowling coach for the Indian Premier League 2013 season.

On 4 September 2019, Younis was appointed by the PCB as Pakistan's new bowling coach on a 3-year contract. He replaced Azhar Mahmood, who was sacked after Pakistan's disappointing performance in the ICC World Cup 2019 tournament.

Education
Younis was born in Burewala, Vehari district, Punjab, Pakistan to a Punjabi Jat family.

He had studied in Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, the Pakistan Islamia school in Sharjah and the Government College in Burewala, Pakistan.

Athleticism during his youth
He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan and started playing cricket there during his adolescent years. He used to travel to Burewala to play cricket which garnered him the nickname of the Burewala Express.

During his school and college days he was what he himself calls an all-round athlete, being a runner, a javelin thrower, a high jumper and a pole-vaulter in different competitions, initially being a leg-spinner before choosing pace bowling.

Family
Since 2000 he is married to Faryal, a Pakistani-Australian doctor, the family residing in Castle Hill, New South Wales, in Australia. They have three children, two daughters and a son.

His younger brother Ali Younis, a former banker turned cricket commentator, is married to cricketer Aliya Riaz. Another younger brother, Captain Faisal Younis, has been a PIA pilot.

Cricket commentary
Younis has worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.

Early career
Younis began his cricket career in 1987/88 in Pakistan, playing for several first-class cricket clubs. However he suffered an injury in which he lost the 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. He had played only six first-class games when he got picked for the Pakistan camp out of the blue. Waqar says "I remember Imran was not feeling well at the time, and was not present at the camp. Luckily the Super Wills Cup was going on, and there was a match between United Bank and Delhi XI. Saleem Jaffar got injured, and I got the opportunity to play that game. Imran watched me on TV, and actually came to the ground to watch the end of the game. The very next day, he met me and told me that I will be going to Sharjah next month. Just meeting Imran at the time was enough of an experience for me, but for him to notify me of my selection was just out of this world."

Domestic
English audiences became aware of Waqar's talent during the early 1990s, when he played for Surrey. By taking 113 wickets in 582 overs for Surrey in 1991, at a mere 14.65 apiece (thereby topping the season's first-class bowling averages), and by carrying on his shoulders an otherwise moderate county attack, he announced himself as one of the finest contemporary bowlers. There he displayed excellent cricketing performances and attracted attention from the sporting public. He went on to win the English County Championship with Glamorgan in 1997. He took 7 wickets for 25 against Lancashire at Liverpool on 21 June 1997, which included a hat-trick achieved after narrowly missing a hat-trick and took 68 wickets in the season.

International
Younis made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 16 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar made his debut. Waqar 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". Waqar along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack. At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and achieved a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994. 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 Akram.

His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan. However, he had to deal with allegations of ball-tampering and a number of controversies. In July 2000 Waqar was banned for one international match for ball tampering and was fined 50% of his match fee. He was the first cricketer to be banned from playing in a match for such incident. He was involved in further controversy during 2003 World Cup matches. In the opening match against Australia, Waqar was removed from the attack after bowling a beamer at Andrew Symonds, becoming the first bowler to be disciplined in such a way during an international match. The Pakistanis then crashed out of the group stage after winning only two matches, both against associate member teams. After the tournament he conceded the captaincy and was dropped from international selection. After a nearly 15-year career, Waqar announced his retirement from cricket altogether in April 2004. At the end of his career he finished as the second highest wicket taker for Pakistani in Test cricket with 373 wickets.

Coaching career

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 also blamed captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for going with Mushtaq Ahmed instead of him for the bowling coach position. He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009. In March 2010, Waqar was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, owing to the poor 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 they were eliminated by Australia, whose Mike Hussey struck three sixes in the final over.

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 Shahid Afridi's 109 just failed to guide Pakistan to victory. In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh from 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.

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. The previous victory in 1995 was also assisted by a superb bowling spell by Waqar Younis.

This tour was followed by a controversial tour of 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 the news 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, and the subsequent ODI series was won 3–2 by England as well.

This was followed by a tour of Abu Dhabi against South Africa. Pakistan lost the first Twenty20 match by six wickets following a batting collapse. Pakistan also lost the ODI series of five matches 3–2. Pakistan won the second ODI due to Abdul Razzaq's superb performance of 109* off 72 balls. 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. Pakistan started the World Cup campaign in a strong fashion winning 5 out their 6 group matches and finishing on top of their group. Pakistan went on to beat West Indies in the quarter-finals by 10 wickets but lost to India in the semi-finals by 29 runs. Waqar eventually stepped down as Pakistan coach in August 2011 citing personal reasons but a rift with captain Shahid Afridi may have been a contributing factor.

In March 2013, it was announced that he would join Sunrisers Hyderabad as their bowling coach for the Indian Premier League 2013 season.

In May 2014, Waqar was reappointed as the head coach of Pakistan Cricket team for a period of two years, commencing from June 2014, hence serving in that capacity for the second time.

Waqar resigned from the position of Head Coach of Pakistani Cricket team, on April 4, 2016, citing the cricket board's failure to work on his recommendations and leak of a confidential report after the World T20. He will serve as the head coach for Multan Sultans During the Third season of the Pakistan Super League. On 16 November 2017 Waqar appointed as a mentor for Sylhet Sixers a team of Bangladesh Premier League for 2017. As of March 15, 2018 Waqar appointed for their head coach for the next two editions of Bangladesh Premier League

After the Cricket World Cup 2019, Waqar was reappointed as bowling coach of Pakistan Cricket team for a fourth time.

2016 ICC World Twenty20
Waqar Younis faced great criticism after Pakistan was unable to make it to the semi-finals, with less focus on the fact that the country had not seen international cricket for a number of years. After winning against Bangladesh in the Twenty20 2016, the team lost against New Zealand, India and Australia, leading to their ouster. Waqar 'begged' for forgiveness to the nation and said he was ready to retire if it was needed but also said it could have been due to the lack of cricket in their own country.

However, he later wrote in his report that he blamed Pakistan's poor performance in the matches on player Shahid Afridi. Younis submitted the report to the PCB where it was somehow leaked to the media. He expressed his anger and said that the report was confidential – it caused fans, on social media sites, to express disappointment in him to see him shifting the blame onto Afridi. Younis, in the report, accused Afridi of being 'non-serious' during the matches and said Mohammad Hafeez hid his knee injury as well, which also affected their performance. He also said Afridi either performed poorly himself, or that other players did not listen to him as a captain. Regarding the report, he said the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) were painting him as the bad guy and skipped meeting with him regarding the issue later on as it was most likely that they leaked the report. He then also scrapped plans of retirement and said he wanted to focus on the leak, despite his contract as coach ending in June 2016.

Younis said he did not want to blame individuals but largely singled out players, particularly Afridi. He said Akmal should not have been selected, instead it should have been players who were 'proud' to represent their country. He also said that the team lost the Asia cup in February 2016 because they were 'unfit' as they had not trained during PSL season and said it was like a 'holiday for them'. Overall, he blamed it on poor captaincy from Afridi. He said it was unfair for him to first use Mohammad Nawaz, a new player, as a bowler in the Asia Cup 2016 because it 'destroyed' his confidence when he was unable to handle it after being hit for 38 runs in 3 overs. Younis later posted on his Twitter – 'no one wants to hear the truth'.

On 4 April 2016, Waqar resigned as Head Coach of the team, just after Shahid Afridi resigned as T20 captain. His reason behind it was the PCB who he said had used him as the "scapegoat" and shown him as a "villain" by leaking the Twenty20 report. He stepped down as coach 3 months before his contract would end and said that his scrapped salary should definitely be invested in domestic cricket. He added that he had tried his best to revive the team but they were still unable to better their performance and his recommendations in the report were badly handled by the PCB, who refused to even talk about the leak. Waqar Younis said his services to Pakistan cricket should not be forgotten and said he was stepping down with a heavy heart.

Reverse swing
Waqar is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing, because he was used as an old-ball bowler early in his career until Imran Khan retired. 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 history, 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.

Waqar 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 Waqar having the ability to bowl inswingers and outswingers in the cricket pitch and in effect both Waqar and Akram became successful in taking wickets with this variation of swing bowling. His fastest timed delivery in cricket was 153 km/h or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993 but this was after he had suffered serious back injuries which had really reduced his bowling speeds. He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short-pitched deliveries; Waqar's 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.

Influence
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. The 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 delivered banana swing balls which were unplayable.

Criticism
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.

Usain Bolt
The world's fastest sprinter and runner Usain Bolt, who is from Jamaica (in the West Indies), once replied while being asked about who were his heroes when he was a child: "When I was really small I loved the Pakistan cricket team. Waqar Younis was one of the greatest bowlers ever, and I was a bowler so I really enjoyed watching him. I was a big Pakistan fan until I got older, when I noticed that I should actually support my home team." When asked what if there was a match between Pakistan and Windies, Bolt remarked "I would still have supported Pakistan, that's what I'm saying – when I was little, it was all about Pakistan."

ICC Hall of Fame
Younis was inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame of 9 December 2013. He became the 70th male inductee into the Hall of Fame, joining compatriot Hanif Mohammad and Zaheer Abbas as well as his former teammates Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram. On his induction he said: "It's a huge honour for me, I'm truly grateful to the people who've considered me worthy of such an honour."

Award and records

 * Waqar is the second best strike rate holder in Test Match Cricket with a minimum of 10,000 balls being bowled He has a strike rate of 43.4 even after bowling 16224 deliveries, which made him second only to Dale Steyn who has a strike rate of 42.0 after bowling 17707 deliveries in test match cricket.
 * Waqar was named among the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1992 for his sporting achievements. He is also the only bowler to have taken 5 wickets in an innings in 3 consecutive One Day International matches. In terms of deliveries bowled, he has taken the fastest 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches.
 * Although primarily a fast bowler, Waqar 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. Waqar holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.
 * Waqar Younis holds the record for the best bowling figures as a captain in an ODI(7/36) and was also the first captain to take a 7 wicket haul in an ODI innings.
 * He also holds the record for scoring the most career ODI runs when batting at number 10 (478)
 * He is the youngest ever bowler to take a five wicket haul in an ODI innings (at the age of 18 years and 164 days)
 * He holds the record for taking the most 4 wicket hauls in ODI cricket(27)
 * He holds the record for taking the most consecutive five wicket hauls in terms of innings(3) and he's also the only player to achieve this milestone for 3 successive times
 * He is the only bowler to take 3 successive 4fers in an ODI innings thrice in his career

Five wickets in an innings
Waqar Younis has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 22 occasions in Test cricket. In One Day International matches, he has taken the most five-wicket hauls (on 13 occasions).

Religious rhetoric
After Pakistan beat India for the first time in an ICC tournament (the 2021 T20 WC), Waqar said that "watching Rizwan do namaz in front of Hindus was very special." This created an uproar in both Pakistan and India and he later apologized for the comment.

title: Waqar Younis


text: Wikipedia:Grants

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wikipedia:Grants


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Funchain

Listed on cleanup for over 2 months. Ad? --Jiang 03:14, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Comment: Took the liberty of cleaning up this VFD nomination so that it has it's own vfd/subpage like the others. For what it's worth, Funchain already has a link on the Weblog page. - RedWordSmith 06:15, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Ambi 10:03, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, Wikipedia not web directory. --Ianb 11:16, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: In beta, and we're not a web directory. Geogre 12:45, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. As stated above, Wikipedia is not a web directory. Skyler 01:44, Aug 13, 2004 (UTC)


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Saeed Anwar

Saeed Anwar (born 6 September 1968) is a Pakistani former cricketer and a former captain for Tests and ODIs. An opening batsman and occasional slow left arm orthodox bowler, Anwar played international cricket between 1989 and 2003. Considered one of greatest opening batsmen Pakistan has ever produced and also regarded as one of the finest batsmen of his era. Anwar has scored twenty centuries in ODIs, more than any other Pakistani batsmen in this format. He played 55 Test matches, scoring 4052 runs with eleven centuries, average 45.52. In 247 One Day Internationals (ODIs) he made 8824 runs at an average of 39.21. Anwar is credited for being one of the most stylish batsmen of 1990s alongside Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn and Sourav Ganguly. His timing, elegance and placement of cricket shots are widely admired by cricket fans. He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Anwar got a pair at his Test debut against the West Indies in 1990, and scored 169 runs in his third Test against New Zealand in February 1994. In 1998–99, he became the third Pakistani to carry his bat through a Test innings, and scored his highest Test score of 188 not out. He made seven ODI centuries at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, including three consecutive during 1993–94. Anwar scored two successive hundreds on three occasions in his career. He is most notable for scoring 194 runs against India in Chennai in 1997, the highest score for that time, and now the tenth highest individual score in an ODI. Anwar participated in three Cricket World Cups, and captained Pakistan in seven Tests and 11 ODIs. In August 2003, he announced his retirement from International cricket. Saeed Anwar was the highest runs scoring batsman for Pakistan in 1996,1999 and 2003 World Cup.

Personal life
Saeed Anwar was born on 6 September 1968 in Karachi. In 1973, he shifted with his family to Canada and came back to Karachi in 1977. Anwar went to high school at Government Degree Science College, Malir Cantt and went to university at NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi. He graduated from NED in 1989 majoring in Computer System Engineering. He was planning to go to the United States for his Master's studies before becoming a professional Test cricketer. His father, a businessman by profession, played cricket at club level whereas his brother, Jawed Anwar, represented Lahore Under-19 cricket team.

Anwar married his cousin, Lubna, a doctor by profession, in March 1996. He faced a personal tragedy in 2001 when his daughter, Bismah, died after a prolonged illness. As a result, he turned religious and starting preaching Islam across Pakistan with the Tablighi Jamaat. He made his return to cricket after a long hiatus and was one of the most consistent Pakistani batsmen in the 2003 World Cup. However upon his return, he lost his previous touch and could not perform as he did before. He was criticized for the loss of form which led to his retirement from cricket soon. "I retired because I felt unwanted", he said. At the time he left cricket he was a computer engineer by profession. During his career, he was an elegant batsman and played particularly well on the off side, his trademark flick being a sure shot feature in almost all of his innings. He led the funeral prayers for his former teammate Wasim Akram's spouse, Huma Akram, in Lahore.

International career

Anwar was an outstanding opener in Test cricket. He played 55 Test matches for Pakistan and scored 4052 at the average of 45.52. He is the seventh-highest run scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket, and scored 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries during his international career. As an aggressive opening batsman, most of his centuries turned into relatively big scores. He scored many of his centuries away against almost every team he toured, and averaged more than 40 against three of the four nations – South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England – which have been most difficult for Asian batsmen. He has the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia, and once scored two consecutive centuries against them. Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja commented the "[Anwar] used an eclectic approach to batting – classical betrothed to unorthodox, footwork against spin as quick as a hiccup supple yet powerful to brush the field like a Picasso."

He made his Test debut against the West Indies in a match which Pakistan lost at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, in 1990. He got a pair in the match. Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop dismissed him in the first and second innings respectively. In the third Test of his career, Anwar scored 169 runs in Pakistan's solitary innings against New Zealand in February 1994; Pakistan won the match by an innings and 12 runs. Later in the same year during Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka, his 94 and 136 runs in the first match at Colombo earned him a man of the match award, and ensured Pakistan's victory by 301 runs. Scroring fifties—85 and 77 runs—in both the innings of the first Test against Australia at Karachi in September 1994, Anwar helped Pakistan led the three match series 1–0. In the same season against Zimbabwe, he was unsuccessful with bat in the away series; he only managed 45 runs playing in four innings of two Tests. Anwar scored three consecutive fifties against Sri Lanka in the 1995 home series. In the series, he played three innings scoring 154 runs with an average of 51.50.

In the 1996 Pakistan's tour of England, a three-Test match series was played between the teams. Pakistan won the series by 2–0, their fifth consecutive series win against England. Anwar remained the second highest run scorer with 362 runs – only behind Alec Stewart's 396 – with an average of 60.33. He scored 88 and 74 runs in the first Test at Lord's, and 176 and one runs in the third match at The Oval. In the 1996–97 season, he played two Tests against the touring Zimbabwe and aggregated 182 runs in three innings, the second highest after Wasim Akram's 292. In the same season, Anwar replaced injured Akram as captain for the home series against New Zealand. He was the second highest run-scorer once again, accumulating 157 runs in three innings, including 149 in the second Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. In the next home series, against South Africa in 1997–98, he only scored 40 runs in four innings at the average of 8.00. He aggregated 236 runs in the away series against the same team—only behind Azhar Mahmood's 327. He scored 118 runs in the second Test at Kingsmead Cricket Ground, which allowed Pakistan to win a Test match for the first time in South Africa. Anwar scored 150 runs at the average of 37.50, during Pakistan's tour to Zimbabwe.

In the 1998–99 season, Anwar played two Tests against the touring Australia, and scored 290 at the average of 96.66, including two centuries. His partnership of 120 runs with Mushtaq Ahmed, for the ninth, prevented Pakistan's collapse in the first innings of the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He scored 145 runs in the match, but Pakistan lost the match by an innings and 99 runs. In the next home series, Anwar played two matches against Zimbabwe, scoring 142 runs at the average of 47.33. He was ineffective against India, scoring 101 runs in two matches, during Pakistan's tour to India.

In the first Test of the 1998–99 Asian Test Championship, Anwar became the third Pakistani to carry his bat through a Test innings, following father and son Nazar Mohammed and Mudassar Nazar. Anwar's career best 188 not out in the second innings at the Eden Gardens—beating the team's total at the previous innings (185) where he made a duck—was 60 per cent of the total, 316. It was also the highest Test score by a Pakistani on Indian soil which was surpassed by Younus Khan; Younus scored 267 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the third Test of the 2004–05 series between the teams. He was the fourth highest run-scorer of the tournament, with 290 runs from five innings, averaged 72.50.

Anwar played three Test during Pakistan's tour of Australia in 1999–2000 season, scoring 282 runs at the average of 47.00. His performance in the series, a century and two fifties, could not prevent Pakistan's defeat of 3–0. Anwar captained Pakistan in the first two Tests during the Sri Lanka tour to Pakistan, and scored 217 runs at the average of 54.25. In the reply series in 2000, Pakistan and Sri Lanka played three matches and won the series 2–0. Anwar scored 185 runs, including a century and a fifty. During the 2000–01, he played five matches against England, three at home and two at away; in both the series, he scored at averages less than 31 and 16 respectively. Anwar's last Test was against Bangladesh during the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship; he scored 101 runs in Pakistan's solitary innings which ensured an innings and 264 runs win at the Multan Cricket Stadium. His daughter died the same day.

One Day International career
Anwar played 247 ODI matches for Pakistan and scored 8824 runs from 244 innings at the average of 39.21. He is third in the list of leading run-scorers for Pakistan in the format after Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf. With 20 centuries, he is Pakistan's leading century-maker in ODIs. Anwar was the first Pakistani batsman to score a century against India on Indian soil in an ODI match.

Under the captaincy of Imran Khan, Anwar started his international career in January 1989 with an ODI match played at WACA Ground which Pakistan lost to West Indies. He scored only 3 runs in the match. His first match-winning performance came against India in December 1989 at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala. He scored unbeaten 42 runs off 32 balls in the match. In the 1989–90 World Series Cup, Anwar played nine matches and scored 293 runs with the help of a century, and at the average of 32.55. His best performance in the series was 126 runs against Sri Lanka at Adelaide Oval. His next performance was against New Zealand in 1990–91, when he was the top-scorer of the series, with 203 runs. Pakistan won the three-match series 3–0. In 1993, he made four ODI centuries at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, including three consecutive centuries against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively, during 1993–94 Wills Trophy and became the second of the four players to do so. He scored two successive hundreds on three other occasions in his career, and was the first batsman to complete this feat in ODIs—in 1996, in 1999, and in 2000. In six matches of the 1994–95 Wills Trophy, he scored 202 runs at the average of 40.40, including a century. He scored a century against Sri Lanka at Gymkhana Club Ground in October 1996, while captaining the team.

On 21 May 1997 in Chennai, Anwar scored 194 against India in India in an ODI match in the 1997 Pepsi Independence Cup. Charles Coventry equalled the feat on 16 August 2009, against Bangladesh. This was the highest individual score by any batsman in the world till Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 200 against South Africa on 24 February 2010. He accumulated 315 runs from the five matches of the 1998 Silver Jubilee Independence Cup, including 140 runs in the third final against India at Dhaka; India won the match by three wickets.

World Cup Performance
Anwar played in three Cricket World Cups for Pakistan: 1996, 1999 and 2003. He played 21 matches and scored 915 runs at the average of 53.82, and his highest score in a world cup match remained 113 not out. In 1996 Cricket World Cup, Anwar made three fifties, Against India in the second Quarter-final at Bangalore, he made 48. Pakistan lost the match by 39 runs. He made 329 in the tournament. In 1999 Cricket World Cup, he made two consecutive centuries, 103 against Zimbabwe and 113 not out against New Zealand in the Semi-final, and led Pakistan into the Final. He scored 368 runs in the tournament. He played his last match against Zimbabwe during the 2003 World Cup in which he made unbeaten 40 runs. The match ended without result due to rain. In the previous match played against India which Pakistan lost by six wickets, he scored his fourth century against them and 20th overall. Anwar dedicated the century to his daughter, who died in 2001.

Captaincy
Anwar captained Pakistan in seven Tests and 11 ODIs, but his performance as captain was average.

Retirement
He announced his retirement from International cricket on 15 August 2003, after he was dropped from the squad for the upcoming One-Day International tournament in Sharjah.

Awards

 * Wisden Cricketer of the Year (1997)
 * Pride of Performance (2000)

Trivial statistics

 * Opened in 32 ODI innings with Aamir Sohail for Pakistan, in 1994–95, the most consecutive by a Pakistan opening pair and fourth overall.
 * The third Pakistan batsman after Nazar Mohammed and Mudassar Nazar to carry his bat in a test innings. He scored unbeaten 188 runs in the match and Pakistan won the match by 46 runs. it was also the highest Test score by a Pakistani on Indian soil which was surpassed by Younis Khan in 2005.
 * Anwar (194) and Charles Coventry (194*) shared the record for highest individual score in an ODI match until it was overtaken by the Sachin Tendulkar (200*) against South Africa on 24 February 2010  It remained a record for Pakistan until Fakhar Zaman made 210* against Zimbabwe on 20 July 2018.
 * Anwar scored two or more successive hundreds on four occasions, and made 20 hundreds in One Day Internationals as a Pakistani opening batsman.
 * He holds the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia in Test matches.

title: Saeed Anwar


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Rashid Latif

Rashid Latif (born 14 October 1968), is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals from 1992 to 2003 as a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. He also served as the captain of the Pakistan team in 2003, leading the country in 6 Test and 25 one-day matches.

In February 2014, he became the chief selector of Pakistan national cricket team.

Early life and domestic career
Latif was born in Karachi to Abdul Latif Quraishi, who migrated to Pakistan from Uttar Pradesh, India, during the 1950s while Rashid's half-brother, Shahid Latif, remained in India where he worked for a newspaper in Kolkata, West Bengal.

He earned a BSc in computer systems engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology with Saeed Anwar, where he joined APMSO. In April 2006, Latif retired from first-class cricket as he toured with the Pakistani senior players to play against Indian senior players in April 2006 in a series played between players who have retired from professional cricket. Latif has not participated in domestic first-class cricket since 2005. His last match was in 2006, when he played for Lashings Cricket Club, a club in England.

International career
Latif started playing for the Pakistan national cricket team in 1992 after the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He impressed the national selectors by scoring 50 runs on his Test debut, however it did not cement his place in the national squad as throughout his career he had to compete with another Pakistani wicket-keeper, Moin Khan. Despite having a significantly similar Test batting average, Moin had a higher ODI average than Latif and scored more runs than Latif in international cricket. However, Moin had the keeping record of 2.14 dismissals per test against Latif 3.51 per test. Moreover, in all time Pakistani XI Latif picks as wicket-keeper and hence 69 test matches of Moin is a question mark in Rashid Latif tenure. In 1996, Latif announced his retirement after conflicts with some players and the team management. He returned to the Pakistan team and became the captain of the National side in 1998.

Latif remained out of the national squad until 2001, when after a string of poor performances, the Pakistan team replaced Moin Khan. After returning to the squad, he secured his place by keeping the wicket and giving a string of good batting performances. The highlight of his career came after the 2003 Cricket World Cup, when he was named the captain of the Pakistan team. Under his leadership, Pakistan successfully experimented with several new players and the team gave positive results. He was also involved with uniting the players through his captaincy both on and off the cricket field. However, problems between Latif and the team management again surfaced in 2003–04, which resulted in him giving away the captaincy to former Pakistan batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. He was omitted from the squad and was never recalled in the team, despite his attempts to get back into the squad during 2003–05.

Dropped catch controversy and end of Test career
Rashid Latif claimed a catch against Bangladesh batsman Alok Kapali in Multan in 2003. However, replays showed clearly that the catch was dropped and Rashid deliberately claimed a dropped catch. At the time, he maintained his innocence and stated that had he known he had not taken a clean catch, he would have called the batsman back. Mike Procter, the match referee, found Rashid guilty and banned him for five international matches. The game was very close, and Bangladesh lost the game by just one wicket. Rashid Latif later acknowledged that he knowingly and wrongfully claimed that catch. However, he stated that he had no regret over his action. "'I did realize immediately that the ball rolled out of my hand and it touched the ground. I conveyed that to my senior players. I gave an option to recall the batsman but it was decided that we will let him go. But I have no regrets.' - Rashid Latif"He never got back in the Pakistan test squad after this incident.

Afghan coaching
In July 2010, Latif was appointed as the batting coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Latif stated that the Afghan players were keen to learn from him. Latif further added that he liked the challenge of coaching the team and helping at the grassroots level of Afghan cricket; in July 2010 he also talked about having a Pakistan-Afghanistan cricket series in late 2010 to help Pakistan return to staging international cricket. As a wicket-keeper, Latif also commented on the form of Pakistani wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal by stating that "Kamran has gained weight for a wicket-keeper, his wicket-keeping has been poor due to that and a lot of workload as a cricketer. I strongly suggest to all wicket-keepers that when they are struggling they take a rest and then comeback to the scene stronger as poor wicket-keeping can destroy your confidence as a batsman." In August 2010, the coach of the Afghan team Kabir Khan announced that he was going to leave his post because of consistent interference by the board. This led to Latif, who was the batting coach at the time, to be named his successor. However, soon after that Latif announced his resignation also, citing consistent interference by the board.

Latif's stint as the Afghan coach got off to a good start when Afghanistan registered a 162-run win over Kenya in the ICC Intercontinental Cup but then lost the first ODI by 92 runs; Kenya were bowled out for 160 but Afghanistan's batting order collapsed for 88. The team took a six-wicket victory during the second ODI as Kenya succumbed to 139 and Afghanistan suffered a poor start with opener Noor Ali retiring hurt and Karim Sadiq being caught. However, Asghar Stanikzai scored his second half-century and along with Mohammad Shahzad, who scored 37, guided the run chase. The finest moment of Latif's coaching career came at the 2010 Asian Games when Afghanistan upset the cricket super-power Pakistan in the semi-final as Afghanistan sealed a comfortable 22-run victory and set up a final tie with Bangladesh. Afghanistan lost the final but celebrated the accomplishment of collecting their first ever Asian Games medal with a second-place silver.

The next assignment of Latif's team was the ICC Intercontinental Cup where Afghanistan played Scotland in the final. Latif stated that Afghanistan liked to play aggressive cricket and the players were mentally very tough and hated to lose. On 2 December, the match against Scotland started and because of Hamid Hassan Scotland were bowled out for 212. More than half of Scotland's runs came from Neil McCallum who scored 104*. Afghanistan got off to a good start but collapsed to 171 all out, giving Scotland a 41-run lead. Despite this, another great bowling performance from Hassan and Samiullah Shenwari meant that Scotland were skittled for just 82 in their second innings. On the third day, Afghanistan sealed victory early in the day with seven wickets in hand, courtesy of a superb 56* by Mohammad Shahzad.

Controversy
In 2010, Latif responded to the spot-fixing allegations against the Pakistan team by saying that ICC needed to re-design its laws and rules to root out the match-fixing and spot-fixing problem. Latif wrote a letter to the ICC citing his concerns back in 2003. "In that letter, I told them to change the rules and laws in one-day internationals which, were more prone to spot-fixing. I even offered to assist the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit but I got no response," he said.

"The key is to design laws and rules that do not allow players and bookmakers to manipulate things. I told the ICC remove the fielding restrictions and they introduced the power-play which only encouraged fixing."

Following this statement, Latif resigned as the wicket-keeping coach at the Pakistan National Cricket Academy and subsequently reconciled with the Afghan Cricket Board and returned as the team's coach. He stated that his aim was to help the team get the status to play Test cricket in two years' time. Latif also stated that he believed that a broadcast delay of 30 seconds would help curb fixing.

Pakistan Super League
He is currently one of the members of the advisory board as well as director of PSL's franchise Karachi Kings.

title: Rashid Latif


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Ramiz Raja

Ramiz Hasan Raja (born 14 August 1962) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer who served as the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2021-2022. He was a part of the Pakistani squad which won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

As a player, Raja represented Pakistan (sporadically as a captain) during the 1980s and the 1990s.

He also talks about cricket on his YouTube channel Ramiz Speaks.

Family background
Raja was born on 14 August 1962 in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

His family roots lie in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

His father Saleem Akhtar was a cricketer during the British colonial era who played for Multan and Sargodha after the partition, while his brother Wasim Raja and cousin Atif Rauf played for the Pakistan national cricket team, with another brother Zaeem Raja having played first-class cricket as well.

Education
Raja is an alumnus of Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, Aitchison College, Lahore and Government College University, Lahore.

Marriage
Raja is married. His wife's parents had roots in British India; his mother-in-law hailed from Delhi and his father-in-law from Karnal, Haryana.

Rajasthani architecture
An admirer of Rajasthani architecture, he asked Pakistani architect Nayyar Ali Dada to design his Lahore house on the pattern of Jaipur's Rambagh Palace.

Domestic career
Raja made his first-class cricket debut in 1978, scoring over 9,000 runs in List A and 10,000 runs in first class matches. He made his Test debut against England in 1984 and ODI debut against New Zealand in 1985. Raja was regarded as one of the prominent batters playing in Pakistan's domestic cricket.

Golden years
When he got his first opportunity to play in a Test match, against England, Raja's performance was unimpressive, as he was dismissed for 1 run in each innings. However, with the retirement of several players in the Pakistan squad and with the help of his years of experience in first-class cricket, Raja was able to secure a spot in the national side.

He played international cricket for 13 years, appearing in 57 Test matches, with a career average of 31.83 and scoring two centuries. In the One Day International arena, he played 198 matches and scored 9 centuries. He was a member of the national side that reached the semi-finals of the 1987 World Cup. He scored 2 centuries in the 1992 World Cup, which was held in Australia, including a century against New Zealand, who had been undefeated during that period. He was awarded the man of the match for his match winning performance which earned Pakistan a place in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the final against England, Raja had the honour of taking the final catch which won the World Cup for Pakistan. This became the pinnacle of his cricketing career, as within a year of this triumph, he had lost form and was dropped from the national side.

Obstructing the field
Raja became the first player in One Day International history to be given out "obstructing the field" against England, in a match at Karachi in 1987. England had scored 263 runs for 6 wickets during their 44 over innings. For Pakistan, Raja opened the batting and had reached 98 runs when the last ball of the match was bowled, with Pakistan needing 25 runs to win in the last over. During this last over, he hit the ball and sprinted for two runs that would have given him his century, but was well short of the crease when the fielder's return came towards him and Raja knocked the ball away with his bat and was given out for "obstructing the field".

Late career
He was recalled to the Pakistan squad and played in the 1996 Cricket World Cup. During the 1995–1996 season, he was removed from the captaincy, after Pakistan lost their first home series to Sri Lanka. His final game in a Test match for Pakistan was as captain in the 1996–1997 tour of Sri Lanka, however the team failed to win a match during the series. He retired from all forms of cricket in 1997 and since then he has been active as a television commentator and analyst as an administrator for both Pakistan and international cricket.

Commentary career
Raja has worked as a commentator on Test Match Special and Sky Sports, during the 2006 England Test series against Pakistan. He has also worked as the chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, but resigned from his job in August 2004, citing increasing media commitments. He continues to provide commentary on Pakistan cricket team's tours as well as in many domestic tournaments and international ICC tournaments.

Cricket administration
Raja served as the 35th Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between September 2021 and December 2022.

Hosting
In 2024, Raja launched Showtime With Ramiz Raja on Suno News, a late-night entertainment show where he interviews celebrities.

title: Ramiz Raja


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title: Category:Phosphides