All comments made on this forum are very befetting for a great player like saeed. he is the best opener and batsman we had in the last decade and shd figure in the last of pakistan's all time greats. its sad that his career ended the way it didthanx to the selectors and the board.
a great batsman. if pakistan can find a opener who is even 50% as good as him inshallah we will be in business. that 194 run ass kicking he gave india was just magical. I just stood in front of tv awestruck and clapped for 10 minutes. thankfully he has found a good time to retire. unlike some other pakistani players who are wayyy over the hill but you can't get them out of the way even if allah gave them the signal and then have the audacity to bitch about the barbaric pakistan cricket board. SAEED BHAI, I HOPE YOU WILL TAKE YOUR TALENT TO COACHING UP FUTURE GENERATION OF PAKISTANI BATSMAN. YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU. WORDS CAN'T DESCRIBE WHAT YOU GAVE TO OUR COUNTRY THROUGH YOUR BAT.
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*Originally posted by LahoriMunda: *
Chanda koi nai baat karo I answered all those questions in my previous post. Thats the reason I suggested glasses too.
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AND THEN I ANSWERED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. READ. NO YOUR OPINION IS NOT A PROVEN FACT. GIVE ME STAT'S ON WHAT THE PREVIOUS SELECTORS DID OVER THEIR LAST THREE TOURNAMENT. AND WHEN HE SAID "POPULAR CHOICE" HE MEANT THE SELECTORS NOT THE COUNTRY.
Saeed bhai u and your dari(beard) will be missed..
well played saeed anwar
i wish and pray that u get more in ur life head then in ur playing days.
every thing has to end and this is how life goes on, but the sad part is to see such a gr8 player leaving like this.
ALL the best man !!
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*Originally posted by rana no.1: *
AND THEN I ANSWERED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. READ. NO YOUR OPINION IS NOT A PROVEN FACT. GIVE ME STAT'S ON WHAT THE PREVIOUS SELECTORS DID OVER THEIR LAST THREE TOURNAMENT. AND WHEN HE SAID "POPULAR CHOICE" HE MEANT THE SELECTORS NOT THE COUNTRY.
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Its a little annoying to argue with someone who just WONT READ THE PREVIOUS POSTS. You asked anything that the previous seletors did and I gave you the answer, none of them made absurd comments and insisted that their preferred team combination be followed. As far as Imran Nzair's inclusion termed as popular choie, GO BACK and read my previous post where I provided a link that includes Amir's statement about Imran's inclusion and it clearly says Imran was included because he was a popular choice of the FOLLOWERS of the game, nowhere it said selectors. Where did you get the SELECOTRS idea by the way??
and then i told you that he can cuss out me and my family for all i care and i don't give a damn as long as team is performing. i would rather have a controversial figure who leads us to wins rather than a sorry ass selector who sugarcoats things but fails to perform on the field. and if amir did say that imran was included because of the follower of the game then he should also include wasim, waqar, saeed hell even imran khan according to some on this board. i personally think he just had a slip of tongue. he meant to say selectors and cricket officials. trust me if pakistan does'nt perform in coming home series against bangladesh, south africa and new zealand i will be jumping on amir just like you are doing right now. but i won't dawg on him now cuz the team is performing really well. I don't blindly hate cricketers or selectors. I jump on them when they are not performing. you on the other hand keep coming back with the "he's an idiot" theory to justify why you don't like amir.
I had nothing agaisnt him until he made some stupid decisions. First of all they way the the selection commitee and the board have treated some senior players is just wrong. Wasim, Waqar and Saeed should not have eeb dropped without even talking to them and explaining them where they stand. Akram and Saeed announced retirement because they had no choice. Thats no way of treating national heroes who gave given so much over the years. Both Anwar and Akram performed better then most of the team in the world cup and the players of their stature dont deserve to be kicked out the way they were.
Then there is the case of Misbah-ul-Haq, who has performed so well in the ODI's whenever he is given a chance, yes he failed in test but you gotta remember that that was the time everyone failed. Misbah deserved a chance in Tests agaisnt Bangladesh. Instead he was sent with the "A" team and uncapped players were given a chance. Faisal Iqbal was given so many chances Misbah deserves a chance too.
We have always had a problem with the opening slot and we have been trying all kinds of combination. Taufeeq Umar and Imran Nazir have been given so many chances, its time we give Imran Farhat another chance. He is an attacking left hand opener and have been a constant performer in domestic cricket. But instead of giving him a chance we call up other openers. Its always nice to have a left hand -right hand combination of openers as it disturbs the bowlers line and length. In any case my only problem is why do some players get so many chances to prove themselves and others dont.
Saqlain was dropped after the world cup though he barley played in the world cup. He is a very effective ODI bowler, one of the rare off spinner along with Murali who is a strike bowler. Look at his strike rate, keeping in mind he got all that with Wasim and Waqar and later on Shoaib in the team. All others have a great average and strike rate too so Saqlain's achievements are huge. We drop him agaisnt everybody and then call him against Bangladesh. Why??? Why wasnt he asked to play in Sharjah or Srilanka or Natwest Series in England where he is very familiar with the conditions.
The team is performing well right now but if we keep making changes in every tour we will never be able to find the right combination. Hell we are the only team in the world without an opening pair.... three tournaments after the world cup and we still dont have regualr openers.
Anyway I hope Amir makes some sensbile changes in the upcoming series agaisnt South Africa as we could get away with a few blunders against Bangladesh but not against South Africa.
and despite all these bad decision-your opinion not mine- the team played really well. wwaaaaay better then the previous team. so what's the problem. and three tourney is not enough to bring stability to the team. if after june'04 the team is still being shuffled around then, even i will call for amir's head.
The previous selection commitee did not select a bad team it was the great PCB that selected the wrong captain. Players were not happy under Waqar's leadersahip. When the team left for the WC '03 everyone called it a strong squad. The only thing wrong with that was there was too much speculation even before the cup about the change of captaincy. If we had a bettwe cpatain, in my opinion Wasim Akram ahead of the world cup we might have had a shown a better result. Waqar was not using his players effictivley, he had communication problems with some of them. Senior players were not happy with Waqar yet our big shot Tauqir Zia insisted on Waqar being the captain of the side.
Rana and Lahori Munda please stick to the thread.
no matter what happened, the team did not perform. that's the bottom line. and ehsan, don't you think you are taking this "moderator" status a bit too far. no one is insulting anyone else. we are just carrying on a civil argument as to why saeed and other seniors should retire and give younger players a chance. what's the problem.
The problem is that the thread is about Saeed Anwar retiring. If you wish to discuss other arguments open up a seperate thread.
if we go by your rule then all the threads needs to be locked RIGHT NOW. message boards have a weird way of deviating from the topic at about the 15th post.
**Saeed was as good as Tendulkar, Lara: Imran **
KARACHI, Aug 16: Former Pakistan greats paid glowing tributes Saturday, to record breaking opener Saeed Anwar saying he savoured and served cricket to the hilt and will never be forgotten.
“**Saeed savoured and served cricket and was as gifted a batsman as India’s Sachin Tendulkar and West Indian Brian Lara,” former Pakistan captain Imran Khan told AFP. **
Anwar, 34, retired from cricket Friday saying he enjoyed the 15-year stint at the top.
“I place him in the same bracket as Tendulkar and Lara because he was the best timer of the ball of his era. But Saeed did not have the hunger for runs of a Tendulkar and Lara,” said Imran for whom Saeed made his debut in 1990-91.
A swashbuckling left handed opener, Anwar made 4,052 runs in 55 Tests and 8,823 runs in 247 one-day matches - statistics below Tendulkar and Lara.
Fellow opener, Aamir Sohail, said Anwar will never be forgotten.**“Anwar has retired but his achievements and records will never be forgotten,” said Sohail, now Pakistan’s chief selector. **
Anwar was one of eight players axed after Pakistan’s first round exit from the World Cup earlier this year and with selectors opting for young talent Anwar chose to hang up his boots.
**“We never wrote him (Anwar) off but were trying new options,” said Sohail. **
Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam said Anwar deserved a better farewell.
**“Anwar was a wonderful player and deserved a better farewell and not the way he was forced to call it a day,” said Alam.
“He lacked consistency, otherwise he would have achieved better results than Tendulkar and Lara.” **
Pakistan’s current captain **Rashid Latif called Anwar the “Viv Richards of the era.”
“After West Indian Richards I never saw a better, aggressive one-day player than Anwar,” Latif said. **
“I played street cricket, club cricket and international cricket with Anwar and knew that he was destined for greatness and I wish him all the best,” said the Pakistan captain.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia said his Board would pay Anwar the richest of tributes.
“Players like Anwar are born once in a lifetime. He served Pakistan cricket to the best of his abilities and we will give him a befitting farewell,” Gen Zia said.-AFP
Saeed Anwar has given us all many a classy innings to relish. When in form, he was most elegant to watch.
He will be missed!
I hope we are able to see him in commentary boxes and helping produce players of his calibre for Pakistan.
Yea and come here I will give you the smashing of your life 
are you sitting there to give farewells to greats? Stupid Generals ruining any good thing that was left in Pak
And no they don’t even need your tributes cause the world knows what they are even if you don’t!!!
Poetry in motion is what would describe him. Such effortless ease and timing, ruthless yet elegantly and graciously arrogant with such awesome timing.
He was one of the most decent and most humble cricketer. Flamboyant and mesmerizing in the ground, with strokes all round the ground. Equally capable against spin and pace. He made cricket look so simple. For me he was the best. His wristy strokes on the all around the and his elegant drives on the off side. He was the reason I restarting playing cricket so many times . Every time I saw him play I came out of my self exile from cricket cuz I was not so good at it. Ever time I saw an innings of Saeed Anwar I once again hit the nets. He played with such ease, it looked so easy...
If the mind disapproved of him as the best, the heart surly said Saeed Anwar . Call me partial, call me blind but truly I do not see any one as elegant and stylish than him. His quality was how he got his runs and the manner in which he did. He liked to dominate the bowlers and he did but with such calm brutality that even the bowler would not know.
Almost all his innings special because they would have at least that one classy stroke that would make you say “wow”.
He made even the special strokes so simple. Take for example back in WC99 in the semi final when he scored a smooth 100 against the tournaments best bowler Jeff or Mathew Elliot (Some Elliot). His 100 looked so easy. Gave you the impression how simple the art of playing swing is, made me think if I spend a few months in the net I could do it. But once our Ejaz Ahmed came in it seemed this guy Elliot was untouchable. The ball started to swing, Ejaz could not even nick it. And then I was not sure if Cricket at the very top was as simple.
Even now in the recently concluded series against England it got me so frustrated to watch Mohd Hafeez leaving all those deliveries.(I had not watched Hafeez before but had heard he was good.) And then I realized this is Mohd Hafeez not Saeed Anwar. The class difference between then two was evident. *.
He was a really intelligent cricket so I would want him to Coach. I think he has coaching ability and potential, even Pybus acknowledged that Saeed’s comments were insight full and beneficial.
Take for example the last 100 of his.It was special in so may ways. Lets ignore the fact that it was from Saeed Anwar. It was after he had grown a beard. (I wanted him score all these people who think some how the beard is going to stop him from playing.) He was on a kind of comeback trail and I wanted him to score. It was in the world Cup. It was against India.
But the thing that was interesting was how he played in that match. He generally played off the front foot and loves to get on his front foot but in this particular inning he played of the back foot and he waited for the ball and let the ball come on to him. (Late cutting Nehra… Fast Bowler being late cut … you will not see that very often. )
He along with Younis Khan scored a considerable amount of runs just by running between the wickets. That was smart cricket.
After the match he was asked and he explained that once a player is not it touch of out of form he is eager to get bat on ball and push forwards, showing impatient, not watching the swing or spin and so that is fatal. [Watch all Imzamam’s dismissals in the World Cup].
Lets also not forget his low profile through out this career. He wasn’t never in the Captaincy controversy, only when no other capable candidate was available, that he was given the captaincy and he was more than happy to give it up to and concentrate on his batting. Talking about captaincy he was unfortunately the captain that send in Afridi in the one down position and he scored the fastest hundred. Pakistan to qualify had to score over 300 and had to get Sri Lanka less then a certain runs. So to get an over 300 runs it was a courageous move to send in Afridi, untested player, who joined the squad as a leg spinner. He himself played a captian’s inning, making and 115. Thus demonstrating his eye for talent and ability but also making Pakistan having to put up with Mr. Afridi. Nevertheless he did spot the talent. It is Afridi who never could improvise and work.
Talking about improvising Saeed was one of the best.
Talking about his retirement I think it was the right time only because I have doubts about his fitness. Otherwise he is still capable. Had he been fit I would have wanted him to open. Play long innings like Kerstin does and he could be a live, on the wicket coach encouraging the younger players. He is of the type that can talk with the youngsters and guide them. Right both now Youhana and Inzamam the two senior batsmen are not that talking type.
So now that he has retired I think he should be coaching. I would want him to coach the A team for a start and later maybe Pakistan Team. In fact I rate him above Miandad for the position of a Batting coach.
Sorry about the long text but Saeed is special so sorry guys but I just could not resist it…*
Kamran Abbasi - August 22, 2003
When Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez eventually fill their boots against the gentle souls of Bangladesh, spare a thought for the man who would have destroyed the same opposition with little more than a flick of his wrists. Pakistan’s new openers have an eye for a bad ball, but they will rarely destroy a bowling attack with the grace and timing that Saeed Anwar brought to almost every innings.
Anwar carried the torch for Pakistan’s lineage of artists whose batting arc was free of swing and true of radius. Zaheer Abbas and Majid Khan were fellow spirits, and only Yousuf Youhana of the current crop can lay claim to the same torch of gracefulness.
There is more cricket left in Anwar, but that does not mean he has a divine right to a place in the international team. Pakistan had to rebuild, and after a period of watchful waiting it became obvious that he should make way for younger, hungrier men. This is a shame for cricket fans from all countries. Anwar’s minimal foot movement meant that he relied almost entirely on a highly evolved hand-eye co-ordination that could thread a ball between two fielders three yards apart but 30 yards away from the bat and hell bent on stopping it. And all this with a bat flashing so dangerously away from his body that each delivery could have brought his downfall - it usually did, but usually too after he had already raised his bat to acclaim yet another half-century or hundred. This was genius at work - genius on a knife-edge - and fans were thrilled by it.
In the beginning his impetuosity brought accusations of a lack of concentration, a fly-by-night character. Instead Anwar showed that his destructive one-day talent could be harnessed into a formidable Test-match force, so much so that he became Pakistan’s best opener since Majid Khan, and perhaps even surpassed Hanif Mohammad, who is usually acclaimed as the greatest of all Pakistan’s opening batsmen. Imran Khan always rated Anwar highly, and someone of doubtful temperament would never receive Imran’s praise. He wasn’t quite on a par with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, as Imran claims - but few batsmen are. Nor was he a natural athlete: indeed he was sometimes a liability in the field. And when the captaincy came to him, he seemed surprisingly uncomfortable. Perhaps it should not have been a surprise, because it was batting that Saeed Anwar loved most.
Two events changed that. Early on in the 1999 World Cup final, Anwar asked for the rubber on his bat-handle to be changed. He was out next ball, and Pakistan crumbled. Had the change been necessary? Had it broken his concentration? This thought tormented him, and some of his hunger ebbed with that disappointment. Two years later his young daughter died. Anwar’s mind turned to religion. What did cricket matter after that?
Still he insisted that he wanted his place back. And the sole pleasure that Pakistani fans derived from a disappointing World Cup in South Africa was Anwar’s farewell one-day century against India. This was fitting because despite his general success against all countries, two of his most memorable successes had come against India in India. The third Test that Pakistan played in India in February 1999 was the first in the Asian Test Championship. India and Pakistan had drawn the preceding Test series, so this match in Calcutta was effectively the decider. Pakistan, put into bat, collapsed to 26 for 6. They recovered to 185, and in the second innings Anwar carried his bat for a magnificent 188 not out in a total of 316, which turned out to be a winning score.
Two years earlier in Chennai, Anwar posted 194, the highest one-day score to date and possibly for years to come. Pakistan will not replace him easily.
Kamran Abbasi, born in Lahore, brought up in Rotherham, is deputy editor of the British Medical Journal.
© Wisden CricInfo Ltd
Saeed Anwar
Now that Saeed Anwar has retired, has he become the first pakistani player to score a century in his last test match? Also, he maybe one of the very few players (if not the only player) to have scored a Pair in his first test and then a century in his last.