Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf Biograhpy

Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Youhana, born 27 August 1974, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who has been a member of the Pakistani national cricket team since 1998. He is best known for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the great West Indian batsman, Sir Vivian Richards', world record for the most Test runs in a single calendar year. Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one of the few Christians to play in the Pakistan national cricket team. He made his Test debut against South Africa at Durban and ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare. He has scored over 9,000 ODI runs at an average of 43.63 (2rd highest batting average among Pakistani batsmen after Zaheer Abbas and 6,770 Test runs at an average of 55.49 (highest batting average amongst all Pakistani batsmen) with 23 Test centuries. He has the record of scoring the most runs without being dismissed in ODIs, 405 against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2002-03. He has also scored a 23-ball fifty in ODIs, and a 68-ball hundred. In Tests he has scored a 27-ball fifty, which is 3rd fastest by any player. He was top scorer during the successive years of 2002 and 2003 in the world in ODIs. In 2004, he scored a memorable 111 against the Australians in the Boxing Day Test. In December 2005, he scored 223 against England at Lahore, also earning him the man of the match award. Seven months later in July 2006, when Pakistan toured England, he scored 202 and 48 in the first Test, again earning himself the man of the match award. He followed up with 192 in the third Test at Headingley and 128 in the final Test at the Oval. Yousuf was named CNN-IBN.s Cricketer of the Year for 2006, ahead of the likes of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, West Indies Brian Lara, Australian spinner Shane Warne, South Africas bowling spearhead Makhaya Ntini and Sri Lankas Muttiah Muralitharan. He was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 2007 edition. Yousuf became the fourth recipient of the ICC 'Test Cricketer of the Year' award for 2007, he scored 944 runs at an average of 94.40 including five centuries and two fifties in just 10 innings and that was enough to be awarded the honour ahead of Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting. Yousuf was also named in the 2007 Test team of the Year alongside compatriot Mohammad Asif. A year that started on a promising note, Yousuf carried it forward to break two world records both held earlier by West Indian great Sir Vivian Richards. The 32-year-old smashed an unparalleled 1788 runs in just 11 Test matches with the help of nine centuries . his second record . taking him beyond the Windies great yet again. Yousuf is known for his ability to score runs at exceptional rate through his great technique and composed strokeplay. Although capable of hitting the ball hard, Yousuf is quick between the wickets, although he is prone to being run out. Yousuf is a skillful infielder, with a report prepared in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman. He is also distinguished by his characteristic celebration after hitting one hundred runs for his country, where he prostrates in thankfulness to Allah in the direction of Mecca. He has observed this act (known as the Sajdah) recently since his conversion to Islam.

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Mohammas Yousuf

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat Biograhpy

Full name Imran Farhat
Born May 20, 1982, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 32 years 21 days

Major teams Pakistan, Biman Bangladesh, Habib Bank Limited, ICL Pakistan XI, Lahore, Lahore Badshahs, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, Pakistan Reserves

Also known as Romi

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

Relation Father-in-law - Mohammad Ilyas, Brother - Humayun Farhat

A gifted young left-handed opener who threatened at one stage to solve Pakistan's perennial opening conundrum, Imran Farhat had a brief spell in the Pakistan side after success with the national under-19 and A sides. Farhat also evokes Saeed Anwar but only fleetingly; he bludgeons rather than times his runs. He was rather too cavalier in his early appearances in the Test arena, and was promptly discarded after the tour to New Zealand in 2000-01. However, he tightened his game and achieved much more success in the 2003-04 season. Tempering his impressive array of shots with better defensive technique, Farhat scored a deluge of runs in the home series against South Africa and New Zealand, being involved in a record four successive hundred partnerships with Yasir Hameed in the one-day internationals against New Zealand. He also notched up his first century in both Tests and ODIs during this season, and then went on to score a vital 101 in Pakistan's victory against India in the Lahore Test. But since the India series, he has fallen away. A mediocre series at home to Sri Lanka and away to Australia saw him falter, especially with the emergence of the other left-handed opener, Salman Butt. When Pakistan included only one specialist opener in the squad for the series against England in 2005 - Butt - seemingly it confirmed that Farhat, temporarily, was out of national reckoning. But as an opener in Pakistan, you are never out of national reckoning and sure enough Farhat was back for the final Test against India, where he scored a fifty. That performance saw him on the plane to Sri Lanka and an average series. But with openers becoming as rare as dinosuars in Pakistan, he was retained for the summer tour to England, where he again produced some mixed results. Despite failures in the first two Tests, a broken finger and a spate of dropped catches, he came back to score a cavalier 91 in the final, fateful Oval Test. Runs against West Indies at home were followed by a barren patch in South Africa. A first away hundred followed by a patient half-century in the Napier Test of 2009 has set him up for a long sojourn in the Test side. His ODI career has however hit roadblocks since he was dropped after an indifferent run of scores in 2006.

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq Biograhpy 

Full name Abdul Razzaq

Born December 2, 1979, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 34 years 190 days

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Duronto Rajshahi, Hampshire, Hampshire 2nd XI, Hyderabad Heroes, ICL Pakistan XI, Khan Research Labs, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Leicestershire, Melbourne Renegades, Middlesex, Pakistan International Airlines, Surrey, Worcestershire, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited

Also known as Abdur Razzaq

Playing role Allrounder

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Abdul Razzaq was once rapid enough to open the bowling and remains composed enough to bat anywhere, though he is discovering that the lower-order suits him nicely. His bowling - the reason he was first noticed - is characterised by a galloping approach, accuracy, and reverse-swing. But it is his batting that is more likely to win matches. He boasts a prodigious array of strokes and is particularly strong driving through cover and mid-off off both front and back foot. He has two gears: block or blast. Cut off the big shots and Razzaq gets bogged down, although patience is his virtue as he demonstrated in a match-saving fifty against India in Mohali in 2005. Just prior to that he had also played a bewilderingly slow innings in Australia, scoring four runs in over two hours. When the occasion demands it though, as ODIs often do, he can still slog with the best of them: England were pillaged for a 22-ball 51 at the end of 2005. and then again for nearly 60 runs in the last three overs of an ODI in September the following year.

It has hardly been smooth sailing though through his career. He suffered a slump, particularly in his bowling, between 2002 and 2004 when, though his place in the team wasn't under threat, there was uncertainty over how best to use him. But there were signs he was rediscovering some of his old guile if not his pace and nip. And if the pitch is in anyway helpful to seam - as it was in his first and only Test five-wicket haul at Karachi in 2004 or against India at the same venue in January 2006 - he can be a proper danger. Though Kamran Akmal's hundred overshadowed all in the Karachi win over India, Razzaq's performance was easily his most emphatic as an allrounder: he scored 45 and 90 as well as taking seven wickets in the match. A combination of injuries and poor form put his Test place into question and a knee injury days before the 2007 World Cup meant Pakistan missed his presence in a disastrous campaign.

A lackluster comeback to international cricket against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and mediocre performance in the practice matches saw Razzaq being omitted from the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship and consequently announce his retirement from international cricket. He then went on to sign for Worcestershire towards the end of the county season as well as signing up with the Indian Cricket League, which ruled him out of Pakistan contention. He took back his decision to retire but committed himself to the ICL for two seasons, during which he served the Hyderabad Heroes as one of their star players.

After a global amnesty and quitting the ICL, he was welcomed back to the Pakistan fold for the World Twenty20 in England and made an immediate impact as Pakistan won the tournament. His Test comeback also looked set to be complete after he was included in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in June. Early in his career he promised to be Pakistan's most complete allrounder since Imran Khan, and though for a variety of reasons he hasn't translated that into achievement, his country wouldn't mind having just a very solid allrounder. 
Osman Samiuddin June 2009

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq

Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shehzad Biography

Full name Ahmed Shehzad

Born November 23, 1991, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 22 years 199 days

Major teams Pakistan, Barisal Burners, Habib Bank Limited, Jamaica Tallawahs, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Ravi, Lahore Shalimar, Pakistan Under-19s

Playing role Opening batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

Ahmed Shehzad aims to be an aggressive batsman like Ricky Ponting, and he is well on his way if his top-order performances for Pakistan Under-19s are any indication. Shehzad made his first-class debut in January 2007, just two months after his 15th birthday, and has since established himself as an opening batsman for the U-19 team. His 167 in the same year helped Pakistan chase down a stiff 342 in the first Youth Test against England in Derby. He backed that up with impressive performances at home, scoring 315 runs - with a highest of 105 - as Australia Under-19s were thrashed 5-0. Another century followed in the Youth Test against Bangladesh, and he carried that form into the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in 2008, which Pakistan won. He made it to the Pakistan Test squad for the home series against Sri Lanka the following year despite not being in the probables. A century in the tour game against the visitors changed his fortunes. He returned to the Under-19 circuit to represent Pakistan in the World Cup in New Zealand.
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad
 Ahmed Shehzad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal Biography

Full name Kamran Akmal

Born January 13, 1982, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 32 years 148 days

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Lahore, Lahore City, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, National Bank of Pakistan, Punjab Stallions, Rajasthan Royals

Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Relation Brother - Adnan Akmal, Brother - Umar Akmal

Kamran Akmal may well be the most emphatic proof of cricket's changed priorities post Adam Gilchrist. Sides now search for an explosive batsman who can change a day, an innings, a phase with the bat and so long as you can identify right wicketkeeping glove from left, the place is yours.

There has been little doubt about Akmal's batting. The purity of his drives and the strength of his cutting and pulling, particularly on slower subcontinent surfaces, has always held a strong allure. And when it comes together as it did one January morning in Karachi against India - one of the Test innings of that decade - he makes it in the side as a batsman alone.

But his glovework, which began so promisingly when he effectively ended the dogfight between Rashid Latif and Moin Khan in late 2004, has deteriorated alarmingly and few Pakistan matches are complete without a clumsy Akmal error.

It wasn't always thus, for he was good when he began, good enough to impress Ian Healy. But non-stop cricket in all three formats have let technical errors creep in and critics and experts have long pushed for the need for him to take a break.

To quality spin, he is often as lost as the batsmen and Danish Kaneria, over the years, has suffered in particular. In a string of error-ridden performances, the one nobody will forget will be the four dropped catches (and a missed run-out) in the Sydney Test of 2009-10, which allowed Australia to escape with a remarkable, traumatic win. Against this the memory of his Karachi hundred will always battle, with no clear winner ever likely to emerge. The tryst with controversy does his cause no good, with his refusal to accept his demotion from the side in the aftermath of a disastrous Sydney Test in 2009, eliciting a harsh fine and a disciplinary probation from the PCB

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal 
 
Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal 

Kamran Akmal 
Kamran Akmal