Pakistani Cricket Players Biography Wallpapers Images

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Umar Gul

Umar Gul Biography

source link google.com

Full name Umar Gul

Born April 14, 1984, Peshawar, North-Western Frontier Province

Current age 29 years 303 days

Major teams Pakistan, Gloucestershire, Habib Bank Limited,Kolkata Knight Riders,
North West Frontier Province,North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan A
,Pakistan International Airlines, Peshawar, Peshawar Panthers,Sussex, Uva Next, Western Australia

Playing role Bowler

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Profile

The least-hyped but most successful and assured Pakistan pace product of the last few years, Umar Gul is the latest in Pakistan's assembly-line of pace-bowling talent. He had played just nine first-class matches when called up for national duty in the wake of Pakistan's poor 2003 World Cup. On the flat tracks of Sharjah, Gul performed admirably, maintaining excellent discipline and getting appreciable outswing with the new ball.

He isn't express but bowls a very quick heavy ball and his exceptional control and ability to extract seam movement marks him out. Further, his height enables him to extract bounce on most surfaces and from his natural back of a length, it is a useful trait. His first big moment in his career came in the Lahore Test against India in 2003-04. Unfazed by a daunting batting line-up, Gul tore through the Indian top order, moving the ball both ways off the seam at a sharp pace. His 5 for 31 in the first innings gave Pakistan the early initiative which they drove home to win the Test.

Unfortunately, that was his last cricket of any kind for over a year as he discovered three stress fractures in his back immediately after the Test. The injury would have ended many an international career, but Gul returned, fitter and sharper than before in late 2005. He returned in a Pakistan shirt against India in the ODI series at home in February 2006 and in Sri Lanka showed further signs of rehabilitation by lasting both Tests but it was really the second half of 2006, where he fully came of age. Leading the attack against England and then the West Indies as Pakistan's main bowlers suffered injuries, Gul stood tall, finishing Pakistan's best bowler.

Since then, as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar have floundered, Gul has become Pakistan's spearhead and one of the best fast bowlers in the world. He is smart enough and good enough to succeed in all three formats and 2009 proved it: he put together a patch of wicket-taking in ODIs, on dead pitches in Tests (including a career-best six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka) and established himself as the world's best Twenty20 bowler, coming on after the initial overs and firing in yorkers on demand.

He had hinted at that by being leading wicket-taker in the 2007 World Twenty20; over the next two years he impressed wherever he went, in the IPL for the Kolkatta Knight Riders and in Australia's domestic Twenty20 tournament. Confirmation came on the grandest stage: having poleaxed Australia in a T20I in Dubai with 4-8, he was the best bowler and leading wicket-taker as Pakistan won the second World Twenty20 in England. The highlight was 5-6 against New Zealand, the highest quality exhibition of yorker bowling. He is not a one-format pony, however, and will remain a crucial cog in Pakistan's attack across all formats.

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

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

Umar Gul played his first international Twenty 20 (T20I) match on September 4, 2007 against Kenya in Nairobi. He took three New Zealand wickets conceding 15 runs of just four overs at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20 of 2007. His achievement helped Pakistan to win the semi-final against New Zealand. Umar Gul took three wickets in the final match against India and became the highest wicket-taker in the series.

Umar Gul

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal Biography

source link google.com

Full name Kamran Akmal

Born January 13, 1982, Lahore, Punjab

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Lahore, Lahore Blues, 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

International career

He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in Test innings. However, his first century was vital - his 109 from the number eight position at Mohali, coming in with Pakistan in a lead of 39 against India in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring English in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team. Naturally, he is a batsman that plays lower down the order but has sometimes opened in both Test and One-day cricket. As an opener he has scored two back to back centuries in ODIs against England. Coming in lower down the order in Test matches, he played one memorable innings. He saved Pakistan from a score of 39/6, scoring a century, to a competitive 245 which helped Pakistan win the match and the series.

His batting was highly productive in early 2006 as he scored seven international hundreds within the space of 6 months. Since his tour of England in Summer 2006 however his batting form dwindled and steadily become worse. His wicket-keeping also worsened and dropped many catches on both the England tour and on a tour to South Africa in early 2007. He then scored an international hundred in the Bangladeshi tour of Pakistan in 2008.

In the 2nd Test match on the 2009-10 tour of Australia, Akmal dropped four catches in the Australian innings, three of those coming from Michael Hussey. Hussey went on to score 134* and was involved in a massive 9th wicket partnership stand of 133 runs with Peter Siddle. Pakistan eventually went on to lose the match by 36 runs, after being dismissed for just 139 in the second innings. Later it was alleged that he, along with pace bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were involved in match fixing, and were questioned by Pakistan Cricket Board and subsequently dropped for the twenty20 series against England.

In early September 2010 The International Cricket Council sent an official notice to Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal telling him that he is under investigation for allegedly fixing the Sydney Test.[1] For the subsequent series against South Africa in October 2010 Akmal had an operation to remove his appendix and was unavailable for the limited-overs squad. Akmal was able to recover from the operation to participate in the two-match test series but Zulqarnain Haider was selected ahead of him Another reason also emerged that Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin and Yasir Hameed weren't selected for the tour due to the fact that suspicions were raised that they were involved with the spot-fixing scandal that included Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Another player Wahab Riaz was under investigation for fixing but the ICC had interrogated him and he was no longer part of the investigation therefore he was allowed to take part on the tour of South Africa that included two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODI matches and two Test matches. Though this hasn't been confirmed by the board it is believed that the reason they weren't picked was until there suspicion was cleared. The ICC confirmed that Akmal had been barred from entering the team. Once his investigation was completed he was allowed to be available for national selection

Kamran Akmal has been constantly criticized for his lack of consistent wicket-keeping. After another horrendous series behind the stumps against Sri Lanka in January 2009 journalists and former players called for his removal from the national team. His wicket-keeping steadily improved, with a very strong showing in the 2009 T20 World Cup, including a world-record performance of four stumpings in a single match against the Netherlands. However during the second test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground he dropped four catches, including three chances from Michael Hussey in one session on Day 4. Hussey went on to score a match winning century with the Pakistan team losing in a shock result after dominating the first three days of play.

Kamran Akmal

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq Biography

source link google.com

Full name Abdul Razzaq

Born December 2, 1979, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 34 years 71 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

Profile

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.

Razzaq made his One Day International debut in November 1996, againstZimbabwe, but had to wait just over three years to make his Test cricket debut for Pakistan, eventually doing so against Australia in Brisbane on November 1999. In the 1999–2000 Carlton and United Series, he rose to fame and was named man of the series for his all round performance. During a match in Hobart against India, Razzaq scored a half century and took five wickets. In the same tournament, he hit former Australian fast bowler, Glenn McGrath for 5 fours, which totaled to 20 runs in one over.

Razzaq became a regular member of his national side during the 1999 world cupheld in England. During the event, he got the attention of selectors as he performed well both with the ball and bat. His brilliant performance with the bat came in the group match against Australia, where he went on to score his first half century making 60 runs in a long and stable partnership with Inzamam-ul-Haq, which helped Pakistan reach a defendable target of 275.

Abdul Razzaq

Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal Biography

source link google.com

Full name Umar Akmal

Born May 26, 1990, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 23 years 261 days

Major teams Pakistan, Barbados Tridents, Lahore Lions,Pakistan Under-19s, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited

Playing role Middle-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Relation Brother - Kamran Akmal, Brother - Adnan Akmal

Umar represented Pakistan in the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. After his success at the U-19 level he earned himself a first class contract and played the 2007-08 season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, representing the Sui Southern Gasteam. He is considered a future asset for Pakistan cricket. He is an aggressive style cricketer. In only his sixth first class match he smashed 248 off just 225 deliveries, including four sixes.^[2] He followed that up with an unbeaten 186 in his 8th first class match, off just 170 balls. He fared less well in his second season of first class cricket, with a string of low scores batting at number 3. He found form in the final few matches of the 2008/09 season and then in the RBS T20 tournament thus getting the selectors nod to play for Pakistan A side on their tour to Australia. Umar came to prominence during the Australia A tour in June/July 2009. In the two Test matches he recorded scores of 54, 100*, 130, 0. In the ODI series that followed Umar continued his fine form with a century in the opening ODI encounter off just 68 deliveries. These performances made him gather considerable praise from the media who were there to witness him and calls began to grow about his inclusion in the ODI series for the main Pakistan side against Sri Lanka. Umar made his Test debut against New Zealandat Dunedin on 23 November 2009. On the third day of his debut test, Umar Akmal hit 129 runs from 160 balls becoming only the second Pakistani to score a hundred on debut away from home after Fawad Alam. This feat also made him the first Pakistani batsman to score both his maiden Test and ODI century away from home, following his ODI century against Sri Lanka. The innings was noted as special due to Pakistan's tough position in the match and the hundred partnership which Akmal was involved in alongside his elder brother Kamran. He followed up the century in the first innings with a fifty in the second innings. In only his second Test match he was moved up the order to the crucial spot of number 3, where he struggled initially but managed to counter-attack the hostile bowling with his natural flair, making 46 before he was undone by an inswinger by Daryl Tuffey. In the second innings he was moved down the order to his usual batting spot of number 5 as captain Mohammed Yousuf chose to bat at number 3 himself, and Akmal looked his usual aggressive self throughout his innings of 52 which came off only 33 balls. He had his first failure in the first innings of the third test at Napier where he was caught in the gully for a duck but scored a rearguard 77 in the second, promoting him to the leading run scorer of the series. Akmal finished the tour with 400 runs at an average of 57.14. Umar Akmal's early success was briefly tarnished by a controversy during Pakistan's 2009–10 tour of Australia. It was widely reported that Umar had feigned an injury to protest the dropping of older brother Kamran for the final Test match against Australia. Umar denied such rumors and played in the final match without his brother. He was later fined 2-3 million rupees by the PCB for breaching his contract and speaking to the media without approval. In an interview, Umar said "My own dream is to one day play for Pakistan alongside Kamran Bhai (Brother) and I'm working hard to try and achieve that goal". Akmal was selected in Pakistan's squad for the One Day International Series against Sri Lanka in July/August 2009. Having missed out on the first ODI Umar made his debut in the second match of the series replacing Mohammad Yousuf in the middle order. In only his second career ODI Umar scored his maiden ODI fifty. Umar followed up his maiden fifty by scoring a century in the very next match. For this match winning effort he was awarded his first career Man of the Match award.His exploits in Sri Lanka earned him a place in Pakistan's champions trophy squad. He played two good innings. His 41 not out against West Indies was a match winning knock and landed him his second careerMan of the Match award.

Umar Akmal

Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shehzad Biography

source link google.com

Full name Ahmed Shehzad

Born November 23, 1991, Lahore, Punjab

Current age 22 years 80 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

Profile

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 was born on 23 November 1991 in a Pashtun family in Lahore,Punjab, Pakistan. He is a fluent speaker of Pashto.Ahmed Shehzad is also active on a social networking site twitter (@iamahmadshahzad). In limited-overs domestic cricket Ahmed Shehzad plays for GRW CRICKET and in June 2011 during the Faysal Bank T20 Super Eights Shehzad top scored with 220 runs off 147 balls posting a mammoth total of 218^{[citation needed]} against the opposition GRW CRICKET who in turn were bowled out for 173. Shehzad took two catches and a wicket as well; he was rewarded Man-of-the-Match for his superb performance.

Against Australia, in his debut match, he scored one boundary before he was ran-out. The following match he scored 40 in an innings that included 4 fours. The third match he scored 43 but this time just scored 2 fours and in the final match of the series he scored 19 with 1 boundary to his name before he was given out leg-before.

These consistent performances meant that Shehzad made his Twenty20 debut against Australia scoring a single boundary before being caught in the deep. Despite a failure in the Twenty20 Shehzad was selected for the Pakistan squad in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and he only played one game which was the opening game against England, being caught by Paul Collingwood. Thereafter, Pakistan changed their opening combination removing Shehzad and his partner Salman Butt and replacing them with Shahzaib Hasan and Kamran Akmal.

After spending most of the sidelines on the fringes of national selection Shehzad played in the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand scoring 14 runs of just 7 balls in an innings that included 2 fours and 1 six. Shehzad showcased his ability to time the ball and to score runs at a quick pace therefore in the following match he started to feel comfortable on New Zealand wickets scoring a watchful 15 of 14 balls in an innings that included 1 four, this time he showcased his ability to remain calm in a situation while the middle order was collapsing around him. After batting at number 3 for these two matches Shehzad replaced Shahid Afridi as opener and scored his maiden Twenty20 half-century scoring 54 of just 34 balls in an innings that included 10 fours. After performing well in the three Twenty20's the Pakistan selectors selected Shehzad for the six-match ODI series against New Zealand with a potential place as a World Cup opener also available.After scoring 115 an ODI against New Zealand during the series, Shehzad was given a place in the Pakistan world cup squad.

The Barisal Burners bought Shehzad for $50,000 to pay in the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League. With 486 runs from 12 matches, Shehzad was the tournament's leading run-scorer. Ahmed Shehzad was shortlisted for the Pakistan A match against South Africa in the UAE in October 2013. He scored a fifty in the game and was selected for one of the 3 remaining slots in the Test squad alongside Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq. He was, however, not selected in the playing XI in either of the 2 Tests against South Africa. Shehzad again selected for the three Tests against Sri Lanka, also in the UAE, starting on 31 December 2013, and stretching to January 2014. This was based on good showing in the limited overs leg of the tour. He debuted in the first Test, and was presented his first Test cap by Younis Khan.

Ahmed Shehzad