Saturday 9 March 2013

Rashid Latif,

Source(google.com.pk)
Rashid  Latif  Biography
Rashid Latif (Urdu: راشد لطیف‎; born 14 October 1968) is a former Pakistani wicket keeper and a right handed batsman who represented the Pakistani cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches, between 1992 and 2003. He also served as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team in 2003. Latif is the current coach of the Afghan National Cricket Team.[1]
Contents
 [hide]
    * 1 Career
    * 2 Coaching career
    * 3 Centuries by Rashid Latif
          o 3.1 Test Cricket centuries
    * 4 See also
    * 5 References
    * 6 External links
[edit] 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 in his Test debut, However it did not cement his place in the national squad, throughout his career because he was competing with another Pakistani wicketkeeper, Moin Khan. This led to ongoing changes of wicket keepers for the next decade. In 1996, he announced his retirement after conflicts with some team players and the team management. He returned back to the Pakistan team and became the captain of Pakistan in 1998.
Latif remained out of the national squad until 2001, when after a string of poor performances, the Pakistan team replaced Moin Khan, who was selected as the captain. After returning back into the squad, he somewhat cemented his place by keeping the wicket and giving a string of good batting performances. The highlight of his career came when after the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he was announced as 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 in both on and off the cricket field. However, indifferences between Latif and the team management again surfaced in 2003–2004, which resulted in him giving away the captaincy to former Pakistan batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. He was omitted from the squad and since then was never recalled in the team, despite his attempts to get back into the squad during 2003–2005.
In April 2006, Latif has retired from First class cricket as he toured with the Pakistani senior players to play against Indian senior players in April 2006. This series is played between players who have retired from professional cricket. Also, according to statistics available on ESPN cricinfo sport's website, it can be seen that Latif has not participated in first class cricket since 2005. His last international match was in 2006, when he played for Lashings cricket club, a club in England.
[edit] Coaching career
Latif has notably became batting coach of the Afghanistan National Cricket team[2] Latif also stated that the Afghan players were keen to learn from him.[3] Latif further added that he liked the challenge of coaching the team and helping at grass-roots level of Afghan Cricket [4] in July 2010 he also talked about having a Pakistan-Afghanistan cricket series in late 2010 to help Pakistan return to staging international cricket.[5] 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 work load 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 you confidence as a batsman."[6] 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 batting coach at the time to be named his successor. However just after that Latif announced his resignation also citing consistent interference caused by the board.[7]
In 2010, Latif responded to the spot fixing allegations against the Pakistan team by saying that ICC needs 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."[8]
Following this statement Latif resigned from his job as wicket-keeping coach at the Pakistan National Cricket Academy and subsequently reconciled with the Afghan Cricket Board and returned as the team's coach[1] He stated that his aim was to help the team get the status to play Test cricket in two years time.[9] Latif also stated that he believed that a broad-cast delay of 30 seconds would help curb fixing.[10]
Latif's stint as Afghan coach got of to a good start when Afghanistan registered a 162 run win of Kenya in the ICC Intercontinental Cup but then lost the first ODI by 92 runs as Kenya were bowled out for 160. But then Afghanistan's batting order collapsed for 88. The team took a six-wicket victory during the second ODI as Kenya sucummbed to 139 and Afghanistan's 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.[11] 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 setup a final tie with Bangladesh.[12] However Afghanistan lost the final but the celebrated accomplishment was that the Afghanistan collected their first ever Asian games medal with a second place silver.
Latif's team next assignment was the ICC Intercontinental Cup and Afghanistan play Scotland in the final. Latif stated that Afghanistan likes to play aggressive cricket and that the players are mentally very tough and hate to lose.[13] On 2 December the match against Scotland started and because of Hamid Hassan Scotland were bowled out for 212. More than have of scotlands runs came from Neil McCallum who scored 104*. Afghanistan got of 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.[14]
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
Rashid  Latif
          

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Muhammad yousuf

Source(Google.com.pk)
Muhammad yousuf Biography
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 Africa�s bowling spearhead Makhaya Ntini and Sri Lanka�s 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.
Muhammad yousuf  
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf 
Muhammad yousuf    

Moin khan

Source(Google.com.pk)
Moin khan Biography
Moin Khan Biography
Date of Birth : 27th Nov. 1979
e-mail: illustrator_khan@yahoo.co.in
Place : Gorakhpur
mo. : 09873759207, 09312422317
Objective : To obtain a responsible and challenging position where my education and work experience will have valuable application and seeking a challenging career with a progressive organization which will utilize my skills, abilities and education in Visual Arts.
Skills and Abilities : 2-D media: Charcoal, crayons, water color, poster, acrylic, mixed media, pastels, oil and digital. Software programs: (OSX) Adobe Photoshop (Advanced), Adobe Illustrator (Basic), Adobe Flash (Basic), Corel Draw (Basic), Corel Painter (Advanced), Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point. Fluent in both the Macintosh and Windows PC platforms. Strong experience with using a WACOM tablet. Superb project planning skills. Excellent problem solving skills. Extensive knowledge of all creative processes for print media. Good leadership, and project management skills. Expert in visual arts specially digital & manual illustration, portrait, life, landscape, mural & painting in all medium. Able to multi-task and work efficiently under demanding deadlines.
Qualification : Art Master Training Course with First Division from College of Arts, Lucknow (2001). B.F.A. of Fine Arts with First Division from College of Arts, Lucknow (2006). Master of Visual Arts with First Division from College of Arts, Lucknow (2008).
Working Experience : GPH Publication House, Gorakhpur. Kriti Prakashan Limited, Lucknow. Many Book Covers and Illustrations have done for Literacy House, Lucknow. Poster & hording designed for U.P. Government. Illustrated Orchids, New Delhi. Prints of Desire, New Delhi. LV APL (La Vision Animation Pvt. Ltd.), New Delhi. Freelance working at ‘Raj comics’, New Delhi. Planman Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd. Pen2Print Media Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Current Employment : Aptara Corp Ltd.
Current Designation : Sr. Digital Illustrator
Participations, Prizes & Shows : Ist Prize in J.C.I. Art, Gorakhpur. 1990 2nd Prize in Art Competition from Islamia College, Gorakhpur. 1993 Ist Prize in Chitragupt Sabha Art Competition, Gorakhpur. 1994 2nd Prize & Scholarship in Lalit Kala & Sangeet Academy, Gorakhpur. 1996 Ist Prize in J.C.I. Art, Gorakhpur. 1999 "Sahara Bharat Parva" decorated & Sahara show stage designed under the Art director Bijon Das Gupta. 2000 Participation in Group Show of College Arts & Crafts, Lucknow. 2000-01 2nd Prize in Cartoon Making Competition K.G.M.C. 2001 Taj Mahotsava Agra for Mural Drawing. 2002 Participation in Group Show of "A tribute to Pawar" in College of Arts, LU. 2002 Group Show "Sanyojan" in Gallery D' Arts, Lucknow. 2003 Group Show on Teachers Day in College of Arts & Crafts, Lucknow. 2003 Group Show "Kalarth" in College of Arts & Crafts, Lucknow. 2003 Participation in "Basant Mahotsava" College of Arts & Crafts, LU. 2004 Participation in "Regional Art Exhibition" in Lucknow. 2005 Participation in "Kala Mela" Allahabad. 2006 Dual Show of Painting Exhibition in Gallery D' Arts, Lucknow. 2006 Participation in "Regional Art Exhibition" in Lalit Kala Academy Lucknow. 2006
Camp/Workshop : 150 above portraits makes in Sociology Fate of P.G.I. Lucknow. 2001 Workshop "Devatma Himalaya Sanraksha" of Vishva Samvad Kendra, Lucknow. 2003 Workshop "Save Wild Life" in College of Arts & Crats, Lucknow. 2003 Apda Prabandhan Jagrukta Karyakram, by NSS, (L.U.), Lucknow. 2004 Workshop for "Book Illustration" Literacy House, Lucknow. 2005
Collections : On the Spot Portrait of Super Star Amitabh Bachchan (Presently in his Private Collection). Many Private Collections in Mumbai, Delhi, Udaipur & Lucknow.
Permanent Address : C/184/863, Turkmanpur, (Back of Paharpur Masjid), Gorakhpur.
Local Address : J-3/348 , DDA Flat , Kalkaji , New Delhi-19.
Moin Khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
Moin khan
  

Monday 4 March 2013

Salim Malik

Source(Google.com.pk)
Salim Malik Biography
Saleem Malik
سلیم ملک Personal information
Full name     Saleem Malik
Born     16 April 1963 (age 49)
Lahore, Pakistan
Batting style     Right-handed
Bowling style     Right arm off break / slow-medium
International information
National side     Pakistan
Test debut (cap 90)     5 March 1982 v Sri Lanka
Last Test     20 February 1999 v India
ODI debut (cap 38)     12 January 1982 v West Indies
Last ODI     8 June 1999 v India
ODI shirt no.     3
Domestic team information
Years     Team
1981–1999     Lahore
1982–2000     Habib Bank Limited
1991–1993     Essex
1991–1992     Sargodha
Career statistics
Competition     Test     ODI     FC     LA
Matches     103     283     269     426
Runs scored     5,768     7,170     16,586     11,856
Batting average     43.69     32.88     45.94     36.59
100s/50s     15/29     5/47     43/81     12/78
Top score     237     102     237     138
Balls bowled     734     3,505     5,784     5,745
Wickets     5     89     93     160
Bowling average     82.80     33.24     35.30     29.35
5 wickets in innings     0     1     4     1
10 wickets in match     –     n/a     0     n/a
Best bowling     1/3     5/35     5/19     5/35
Catches/stumpings     65/–     81/–     167/–     141/–
Source: Cricinfo, 8 February 2010
Saleem Malik (Urdu: سلیم ملک‎) (born 16 April 1963) (also known as Salim Malik) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1981/82 and 1999, at one stage captaining the Pakistani cricket team. He was a right-handed wristy middle order batsman who was strong square of the wicket. His legbreak bowling was also quite effective. Despite playing over 100 Tests he would go down in cricket history as the first of a number of international cricketers to be banned for match fixing around the start of the 21st century. Saleem is the brother-in-law of former teammate Ijaz Ahmed.[1]
Contents
    1 Career highlights
    2 Match fixing
    3 See also
    4 References
    5 External links
Career highlights
Malik played his first Test match in March 1982, against Sri Lanka at Karachi.[2] After making 12 in his first innings he made an unbeaten 100 in the second to set up a declaration. Aged 18 years and 323 days he was at the time the second youngest player to make a century on Test debut.[3]
During the tour of England in 1987, Malik fell for 99 at Headingley and made 102 at The Oval. He would become familiar with English conditions, playing for Essex for a couple of years during the early 1990s. He had a good season in 1991, scoring 1972 runs, the 3rd most by a non-English player for Essex.[4] In Test cricket he performed better against England than any other of his opponents, appearing 19 times and making 1396 runs at 60.70.[5]
One of his notable performances in One Day International cricket was an innings that he played against India in 1987.[6] Chasing 238 in 40 overs, Pakistan were reduced to 5/161 when Saleem arrived at the crease. He scored 72 out of the remaining 77 runs required, making them from just 36 deliveries. He finished unbeaten and Pakistan won by 2 wickets with 3 balls still to spare in the match.
He captained Pakistan in 12 Tests, winning 7. In ODI cricket he led his country 34 times and won 21 of them.
Match fixing
Malik captained Pakistan in tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe before being suspended from cricket having been accused of bribery. He was however found innocent and allowed to continue his career. Malik played his last Test match in January 1999 but ended his cricket career in disgrace, having been banned from associating himself with the game in any capacity by Justice Qayyam's enquiry in May 2000. He became the first ever cricketer to be banned for match fixing and his appeals of innocence have not borne fruit since, remaining an outcast in the cricketing world.[7]
Saleem Malik's career performance graph.
A local court of Lahore, has lifted the life ban imposed by Pakistan Cricket Board on 23 October 2008. Civil judge Malik Mohammad Altaf ruled in favour of Malik and quashed the ban imposed for alleged match fixing.[8]
He claimed to have accepted an offer by the PCB to work as the Chief Coach for country's National Cricket Academy on 3 November 2008 just days after the ban was lifted, however, the PCB denied making any such offer.[9]
In October 2012, Saleem Malik has submitted his application to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the position of batting coach. Earlier this month the PCB has placed an advertisement seeking a batting coach for the national side.
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
Salim Malik
          

Waqar Younas

Source(Google.com.pk)
Waqar Younas Biography
Waqar Younis Maitla (Punjabi: وقار یونس, born 16 November 1971) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.[4] As of 2012, he holds the record for the youngest Pakistani Test captain and the third youngest Test captain in history (22 years 15 days).[5] He played 87 Tests and 262 One Day International (ODI) matches for Pakistan during his international cricket career from1989 to 2003.[6]
Younis' trademark was his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed.[7] 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.[8] Younis has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.[9] He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007.[10] Waqar was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010.[11][12] He resigned as Pakistan's Cricket Coach on 19 August 2011 citing personal reasons.[13][14]
Contents
    1 Early and personal life
    2 Playing career
        2.1 Domestic
        2.2 International
    3 Coaching
    4 Style
    5 Fan following
    6 Award and records
        6.1 Five wickets in an innings
    7 Cricket controversies
    8 References
    9 External links
Early and personal life
Younis was born in Vehari, Punjab in a Jat Muslim family in Pakistan. He was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the Pakistani College (Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School) in Sharjah and the Government College in Vehari. He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan during his adolescent years and there, he started playing cricket.
He is married to Dr. Faryal Waqar Younis, a Pakistani Australian.[15] They have a son Azaan Waqar and a daughter Maira Waqar and now lives in Castle Hill in Australia.[16] Younis has also worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.
Playing career
Waqar began his cricket career in in 1987/88 Pakistan, playing for several First-class cricket clubs. However he suffered an injury when he had cut and removed his little finger on his left hand,[17] 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.[2] 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, and by carrying on his shoulders an otherwise moderate county attack, he announced himself as one of the finest contemporary bowlers.[18] 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 earlier in the innings.[19]
International
Waqar made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 15 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar also made his debut. Waqar took 4 wickets in the drawn match including the wickets of Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.[20] He made an immediate impression with his speed and became known in the cricket media as "Wiki"[21] or the "Burewala Express".[21] Waqar along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack.[22] At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and also became famous for achieving a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994.[22] 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.[23][24]
His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan.[25] However, he had to deal with allegations of ball-tampering and a number of controversies. The 2003 World Cup was the last straw as it was a tournament to forget for Waqar. In their opening match against Australia, Waqar was removed from the attack after bowling a beamer at Andrew Symonds.[26] 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.[27] After a nearly 15-year career, Waqar announced his retirement from cricket altogether in April 2004. [8]
Coaching
Waqar Younis captained Pakistan cricket team in Tests and ODIs.
In March 2006, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan.[28] 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.[29][30] He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009.[31] In February 2010, Younis was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, due to the low-level of performances of the national side during the tour of Australia earlier that year.[32]
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.[33][34] He guided the defending champions to the semi-final of the tournament before they were knocked out by Australia courtesy of a superb 60* by Mike Hussey who whacked three sixes in the final over to seal the victory.[35]
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 it was Shahid Afridi who scored 109 to nearly guide Pakistan to victory.[36] In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh from the third ball of the final over.[37] 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[38]
After this 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. Ironically the previous victory in 1995 was also courtesy of a superb bowling spell by Waqar Younis.[39]
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.[40] This saw the three players temporarily suspended[41] and Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs – their biggest defeat in history.[42] 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.[43]
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.[44] Pakistan won the second ODI due to Abdul Razzaq's superb performance of 109* off 72 balls.[45] 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.[46]
Style
Waqar is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing.[7][47] 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, 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.[2][22]
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.[7] 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 by this variation of swing bowling.[47][48][49] His fastest delivery in cricket was 153 km/h or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993.[50][51] He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short pitch 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.[52][53][54][55]
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.[56][57][58] 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 has delivered banana swing balls which were unplayable.[54]
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.[2]
Fan following
Considered as one of the finest bowlers in cricket, Waqar Younis has been a legend to many, both nationally and internationally, throughout his cricket career.
The world's fastest sprinter and runner Usain Bolt, who is from Jamaica (in the West Indies), once famously 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."[59]
Award and records
Waqar was named among the Wisden Cricketers of the Year[18][60] 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 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test 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.[61][62] Waqar holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.[9]
Five wickets in an innings
See also: List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 22 occasions in Test cricket, although never against Australia.[63] In One Day International matches, he has taken the most number of five-wicket hauls (on 13 occasions).
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas  
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas 
Waqar Younas