Current Pakistani Cricket Players

n btw saeed anwar is far from being a technical player. give him a good length ball offside off n get ur slips some catching practice.. youhana has a good technique but lacks concentration. inzi is solid but lazy at times, n no hes not the best in the world.
only thing i agree on is ur comment about akram, he rulz.
btw i,m goodlooking too, want my number

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ok ok kiddin bro, dont u dare PM me now!

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[This message has been edited by KAKA-ATOM-BUM (edited June 10, 2002).]

Qrius · June 11, 2002, 10:48am

Umair, i must say that i like your idea to post the pics here..

Sorry for my ignorance..i haven’t seen cricket for a long long time..so if you don’t mind can you give some description of their roles in the team as well..thanks

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samb · June 11, 2002, 1:45pm

Seeing that Umair seems to be busy or hasn't seen your message Q jee, I think I will give it a shot. Plus I have an exam in a couple of hours and am definitely aiming to fail and there is nothing better than GS to waste time on.

Nawabzada Shahid Khan Afridiis our team's utility man. The man came into the side as a legspinner, samshed the world's fastest century in only his second ODI and was promoted to open the innings shortly. He is known for his extremely powerful hitting, inconsistency and poor shot selection. His bowling is underused these day nevertheless he remains a fine partnership breaker. He is one of Pakistan's most athletic cricketers and thus a very agile fielder.

Imran Nazir is one of Pakistan's many young openers and like all others is a dashing strokemaker many sides would love to have at the top of their order. It is his ability to sight the ball very early on that separates him from other internationals. But like most Pak bats, his ability to concentrate has been questioned many a times and has been the cause for his long hiatus away from the team. Now, he's back but with Anwar raring to have a final fling and either Shoaib Malik or Afridi being preferred to Nazir due to their multidimensional game, Nazir will most likely sit out of the game for some series.

Yousuf Youhana is a rarity in modern Pakistan cricket. Since Miandad's departure Pakistan has been looking for a batsman who would put down his head and make the bowler work for his wicket. Finally, the search might have ended. This middle order batsman of humble origins has paid his dues while on his rise to the top. He is now reknowned for his ablility to play long reliable innings and to bail the team out when needed most.

Inzimam-ul-Haq:

Many cricket pundits predicted a very bright furture for this Multani boy ever since he stole the show since the 1992 CWC. Hsi supporters include the prophetic Imran Khan no less. In Imran's book, Inzi is the best player offast bowling since Sir Viv Richards. For all the potential that Inzi has, he certainly has not done justice to himself or his fans. But he seems to have realized that and is keen to make ammends. He started correcting the record books by smashing a Pakistan record of 329 runs in the recently concluded NZ tests. If he continues to bat like that Inzi could well retire as one of the top batsmen of the game
not only qualitatively but also quantitatively.

Waqar Younis

Waqar, the current Pakistan skipper and one half of the fearsome W's as his partnership with Wasim is affectionately known as, is a living picture of resiliance and fighting till the end. He started his cricket journey as fearsome tearaway who threatened to blow away everything that came in his way including the bastman's feet with his fearsome yorkers. The English had to coin a new cricket term to explain that a batsman had been shown the way to the pavilion by Waqar. They referred to such a batsman as having been Waqared. But those were his glory days. Like all other greats before him, Waqar lost his incredible speed and consequently his assured place in the team. He would, however, resurrect his career and end up taking the team over as the captain of the team. Waqar though not the Waqar of the old still forms a deadly duo with the evergreen Wasim the like of which this world will not see after the 2003 CWC.

Saeed Anwar

Saeed started out as an inconsistent pinch hitter as nearly have a lot of Pakistani batsmen. When told by Imran that his batting was too inconsistent for the middle order and that he should reinvent himself as an opener and try a comeback. Saeed did just that and more. One in a long line of Saeed's
many glorious innings is the record shattering 194 epic he stroked against India in Chinai. His trademarks are his abilility to time the ball like very few can and the ability to destroy any bowler's confidence within a couple of overs.

Abdul Razzaq

Razzaq has been earmarked as Imran's successor since the 1999 CWC where he performed brilliantly and maturely. His bowling is punctuated by discipline and not by fearsome speed which is an oddity for an upcoming Pakistan youngster. He is, however, capable of even hitting high eighties and low nineties without too much trouble. His batting is very verstaile and the team should thank him for that. He has played every role from the sheet anchor in the 1999 CWC to late order hard hitting batsman with a lot of confidence and success. Of all Pakistan youngsters, he probably has the brightest future.

Rashid Latif

Many thought Latif's career was over when Moin took over the team as Captain and lead it to many resounding successes. But such are the vagaries of Pakistan cricket that Rashid not only finds himself back in the team as a permanent member but also as a pivot of the side. Rashid always has been a very spectacular performer behind the stumps. It was his ability in front of the wicket that meant that Moin often pipped him for a spot in the side. However, in this rebirth, it seems that Rashid has adapted to the team's changes and worked very hard on his batting. It does not seem very likely that anybody will replace Rashid the side now unless he decides to call it a day.

Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain or Saqi as he is affectionately known as is yet another of one Pakistan's cricketing prodigys. He has been battling with Muttiah Murlitharan for the tag of the world's best off-spinner for years now. Of late his form seems to have lagged of a little. But for someone who already has over 200 wickets in both test and one-day cricket at the age of 24-25, only sky is the limit.

Shoaib Malik

This 20-year old has not gotten many chances to play for his side but whatever he has gotten, he has made sure that he left an indelible mark. He is easily Pakistan's best fielder and is a very handy off-spinner much in the same mould as Saqi but not the same class. It is his batting, however, that has left many a critics thinking. He has produced two centuries at the top of the order in his very limited showings. He seems to be the perfect foil for Saeed and may be asked to open in the Australian ODI series. All in all, he's a brilliant talent who's here to stay for some time.

Younis Khan

Younis came in with a high reputation and did not disappoint. He took an adversary in the form of Murli in his very first ODI and scored a fighting 46 punctuated with innovation and confidence. Many thought that he was here to stay. A srting of low scores followed and the middle order batsman was left out to settle his poor form. The strongly built Pathan has however come back and looks set to stay. As of late, he has lessened the burden on Youhana as Pakistan's sheet anchor and starred in some very useful partnerships with the former. Khan also has a very safe pair of hands.

Mohammad Sami

The Karachi Express is yet another ultra fast speedster who seems to rolled out of Pakistan's unending line of fast bowlers. Speed is not however this young man's only weapon. He has a very sensible head on his shoulders and means business when he says that he wants to get wickets and doesn't care much about speed records and the like. The only reason he is sitting out is because of Pakistan's embarassing lineup of talent. Any other team could certainly use a bowler who can easily get into the low nineties and has a hattrick in both forms of the game.

Shoaib Akhtar

A ride on the Pindi Express promises to be a real rollercoster one. The saying that he came, he saw and he conquered seems to fit this man very well. He made waves on the international scene by clocking 95 mph and thus recording the fastest delivery on South African soil in 1997. His main speciality is his stunningly fast yorker which many deem to be simply unplayable. He recently broke the 100 mph speed barrier amid controversy. If he can stay fit, the batsman of this world will certainly need to be on his good side in order to survive.

Chauhdry Wasim Akram

And lastly, the icon, the man who defined Pakistan cricket with Waqar Younis during the ninties. Wasim is regarded by many as the greatest left armer the game has ever seen. I personally feel that it just a farce to deny the man the credit he deserves. He is no doubt the greatest fast bowler that ever set foot on the cricket field. Curtly Ambrose the fearsome WI strike bowler said if fully fit, Wasim can get the ball to do anything bar talk and is the best in the business ever. And Ambrose is not the only one who feels that way. Imran when asked for the name of the most talented cricketer had no hesitation in bestowing the honour on his prodigy, friend, and matchwinner, Wasim. Wasim is renkowned for his ability to deliver six different deliveries with the same action. Another aspect of Wasim's bowling that sets off batsmen is his ridiculous runup. The man has literally half the runup of bowlers of similar pace. His pace comes from his huge frame (shoulders) and his slinging action. Bowlers come and go. They come with pace and lose it midway of their career. Wasim has been here for over 15 years terrorizing batsmen with every trick possible in the fast bowler's arsenal.

World cricket will be very poor the day Wasim says goodbye to the world stage, a stage that he has made his own.

Note: I have been typing this thing up for the last half hour and thus am submitting without doing spelling checking. So, please forgive the mistakes.

Qrius · June 11, 2002, 2:10pm

sambrialian, thank you thank you and once again thank you for the well written introduction. I enjoyed it a lot

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UMAIR316 · June 11, 2002, 3:28pm

WOW Samb, you really want to fail that exam

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Great post!

samb · June 11, 2002, 5:59pm

Yaar Umair, khetay hain kay jazba saccha ho to sab kuch mumkin hai.

_pyari_sii_bachi · June 11, 2002, 11:14pm

Moin Khan is no more on the team, Umair?...howz Rashid Latif playing?...

AND the World Cup is in 2003 i guess, rite?

tipz · June 12, 2002, 12:20am

wow...surprisingly this thread hasn't been moved to Khail Khilari...
actually not surprised at all...usall

UMAIR316 · June 12, 2002, 8:48am

[quote]
Originally posted by ^pyari^sii^bachi^:
**
Moin Khan is no more on the team, Umair?...howz Rashid Latif playing?...

AND the World Cup is in 2003 i guess, rite?**
[/quote]

Well Rashid Latif have proved himself to be a much better keeper than Moin, so he has kept the job, and his batting has improved very much.