Monday, 30 April 2012

Imran Nazir

Imran Nazir Biography

Imran Nazir Biography Pak Player Biography Imran Nazir Digital Biography Imran Nazir New Biographpy

By mrnasirzaman on December 5, 2011 | From cricket-evenue-2012.blogspot.com

IMRAN NAZIR (Punjabi: عمران نذیر) (born 16 December 1981) is a Pakistani right handed batsman in cricket who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket matches.Nazir made his debut in Test cricket on March 1999, against Sri Lanka at Lahore in Pakistan and a few days later, he made his One Day International debut against the same opposition at Visakhapatnam in India. He played in 8 Test matches between 1999–2002 and secured a spot in the Pakistan squad since 2002. He also played in One Day International arena, but he could never cement his place in the squad. The emergence of several Pakistan opening batsmen such as Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt kept him out of the national side. However he displayed excellent cricketing performances in First class cricket.In Twenty20 games he has an extraordinary bowling average of 1.00 and in his 8 deliveries he has 3 wickets a strike rate of less than 3. He has also played for Dhaka Dynamites in Bangladesh's NCL T20 Bangladesh.

Imran Nazir

Shoaib Akhtar at his Best

Shoaib Akhtar at his Best

Shoaib Akhtar: The fastest bowler of all time. Pakistan

Sunday, 29 April 2012

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar Biography

Shoaib Akhtar Biography receives strong comments from Wasim Akram, Shahrukh, BCCI, PCB, Shoaib Malik, Tauqeer Zia and several others. Wasim Akram has termed it as a cheap publicity move by Shoaib Akhtar. He further said that Shoaib was a “problem” when he was an active player and remains just that even in retirement. Wasim Akram rubbished Akhtar’s claims of making Sachin Tendulkar uncomfortable with his pace in the Faisalabad Test in 2006 as has been claimed by Akhtar in his book titled ‘Controversially Yours’.

“I remember Sachin’s one innings when he was 16 and touring Pakistan. Sialkot Test was Sachin’s 4th Test. He made his debut in that series. There was a lot of grass on the pitch. Waqar and I bowled very fast. Waqar, I think, was 19 and Sachin was 16. Waqar hit him (Sachin) on the helmet just below the chin and he got hurt. But he put a plaster and he came back to score a 50. If a 16-year-old kid wasn’t scared, I don’t think any of the top batsmen in the world is scared of any bowler,” Akram said.

“Maybe he might play on the back foot to block the delivery or maybe he might just see it off. But I don’t think a player like Sachin can get scared of any bowler. He (Shoaib) can write anything to sell a book, but it does not affect me or Sachin,” he said. Cricblogger totally agrees with Wasim on this one. Even though we have critically analysed Tendulkar’s performances and have written about his centuries and of him not being the best of match finishers, we stand with Wasim on this one. Tendulkar is a great batsman and no top batsmen can be scared by any bowler, Ganguly included (pun intended). Cricblogger has also praised Tendulkar’s world records in another article.

On Akhtar’s allegations that Akram was responsible for destroying his career, he said no one but the Shoaib himself was responsible for destroying his career. ”He himself is responsible for destroying his career. Nobody helped him (in destroying his career).” said the King of Swing.

“There is no point in me talking about his book. I still haven’t read his book. But his idea is good. If the books get sold then good luck to him,” Akram said adding that, “You people (media) will ensure his book is a bestseller.”

Shahrukh Khan, the bollywood super star responded to the allegations made by Akhtar in a similar fashion. He said that there is just as much truth in Akhtar’s claim that we (Shahrukh and company) are cheaters as there is in the fact that Sachin fears his (Akhtar’s) bowling.

Rajiv Shukla, a senior BCCI official demanded an apology from Shoaib Akhtar for making such remarks against Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Akhtar had remarked that Sachin and Dravid lacked ability to finish off games early in their respective careers. It seems unnecessary for the BCCI to jump into the swamp, just ignore Shoaib he is just trying to sell his book.

The former PCB chairman, Tauqeer Zia has also rubbished Akhtar’s claim that Zia had helped Akhtar when Wasim Akram tried to destroy his career and threatened to walk off with have the team if Akhtar was selected. Zia said that no such thing happened. Shoaib Malik responded to the allegations by Akhtar that Malik was incompetent to be captain and said that Akhtar’s allegations were a joke.

Meanwhile, there have been some protests in India against the paceman and the opening function of the launch of the book has been cancelled without giving any reason. Shoaib has another public appearance on Monday. Lets see how it goes but one thing is for sure, there are lots of people out there looking to read his book.

Even my blog has seen an unusual rush of visitors on this particular story and the search engines are all flooded with queries about his book and who said what in response. He seems to have achieved his goal, it might just turn out to be a best seller. His slower ball usually works in the midst of bouncers and yorkers. Lets see what he does next.

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar at his Best

Shoaib Akhtar's Best in IPLIndian Premier League

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar Biography

Shoaib Akhtar

Saturday, 28 April 2012

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Biography
Waqar Younis Maitla (born November 16, 1971) is a famous Pakistani cricketer from Burewala, Punjab, and one of the greatest bowlers the game has known. He attended Pakistani College, Sharjah and Government College, Vehari. Playing as a fast bowler, he took 373 Test wickets and 416 wickets in One-day Internationals. He debuted for Pakistan against India on November 15, 1989. It is noteworthy that Sachin Tendulkar debuted in the same match. His most lethal weapon was the in-swinging yorker, which he managed to produce at will and with a high degree of accuracy, as experienced first-hand by plenty of county batsmen who were unfortunate enough to face him at his peak.
Known as the "Burewala Bombshell", Waqar formed one half of the legendary fast bowling partnership with Wasim Akram. At his peak, most were of the view that there was no better bowler, especially with regards to wicket-taking ability and being penetrative. His tendency to aim for the stumps earned him the highest strike rate of all time, among the bowlers with 200 or more wickets. His blistering pace and toe-crushing yorkers put tremendous fear in the batsmen. Much was expected of him but he stayed out of the team for quite a long time to do his talents and fans justice because of his controversial conflicts with once bowling partner and captain Wasim Akram. His comeback, however, came with him being appointed the Captain of the national side - which he remained so till his side failed to make an impact in the 2003 World Cup. He was forced to retire as the Pakistan Cricket Board persistently ignored him for national selection.
Waqar was one of a long line of Pakistanis (starting with Safraz Nawaz) who mastered the art of reverse swing. It was his partnership with Wasim Akram that took this art to new levels, and their 1992 series versus England will forever be remembered as their signature series. Many sections of the English media could not fathom how an old ball could swing so much and so late, and this led to cries of foul play and the infamous allegations of "ball-tampering" from some quarteres. The passage of time, coupled with the fact that England now have their own reverse swing bowlers, has led to an appreciation of the science and skill behind reverse swing, and most now accept that Waqar was simply ahead of his time.
Waqar Younis is cited alongside Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Walsh and Ambrose as the best fast bowler of the 90s. While his contemporaries, Donald and McGrath, played most of their cricket on the fast and bouncy tracks of South Africa and Australia, backed up by the spectacular fielding sides, Waqar Younis, on the other hand, had to contend with the slow and docile tracks of the sub-continent, backed by a fielding side that had nothing so distinguished to write about. An astonishing number of Waqar's wickets have been clean bowled or have come from leg-before decisions showing how much he has had to depend on his own efforts to get his batsmen. He will be known for his attacking bowling as against the "line n' length" bowling of the most of his peers. He bowled one of his best balls to Brian Lara, another cricketing legend, which ended with Lara on the ground, his stump flipped 6 feet away. Waqar Younis has some outstanding records. He is the only bowler who has taken 5 wicket haul in 3 consecutive ODIs. He has taken 4+ wickets on 27 occasions in ODIs, which is a record. He has also taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in ODI matches and in test matches he has taken the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 wickets by lesser number of balls bowled.
Although primarily a bowler, Waqar hit 1010 Test runs; he is in fact (as of September 2005) the only man to pass the thousand mark without ever scoring a fifty. He is now married with a son and a daughter. Recently, he has become a television cricket commentator for Australia's Nine Network since a series against Australia and Pakistan.

Waqar Younis

Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi Biography
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (born 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency), popularly known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani cricketer currently playing for the Pakistani national team in the international circuit. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya in Nairobi[1] and his Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia at Karachi.[2] He is known for his aggressive batting style, and currently holds the highest career strike rate in the history of international cricket. In a recent survey, Afridi was named as the most popular cricketer in Pakistan.[3] He also holds the record for the fastest one day century which he made in his debut innings, as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest scoring over ever in an ODI.

Style

His general style of batting is very aggressive and attack oriented and has earned him the nickname “Boom Boom Afridi” for his fastest One Day International century just in 37 balls. As of 22 May 2007, he has an ODI strike rate of 109.38 runs per 100 balls, the highest in the game’s history. This attitude has been transferred to Test cricket as well, with Afridi scoring at a relatively high strike rate of 86.13 in Tests. He has an approach to batting that can change the tempo of a game and inspire the mood of an audience, as shown when a mass exodus of spectators occurred in Pakistan in late 2005 following his dismissal from the crease. He hits many sixes long and high, favoring straight down the ground or over midwicket. A trademark shot is a crossbatted flick to the leg-side to a ball outside off stump.[8]. This explosive style has led to some memorable shots, most notably the first ever 12 in power cricket in 2002, where Afridi successfully hit the roof. [9] However, his aggressive style increases his risk of getting out and he is one of the most inconsistent batsmen in cricket. This is reflected by the fact that he is the only player to score more than 5000 ODI runs at an average under 25.

Bowling-wise, his stock ball is the leg break, but his armory also includes the conventional off break and a ‘quicker one’ which he can deliver at nearly 80 mph in the style of a medium-pacer. He bowls at a high speed for a spinner, resulting in lesser turn, and relying more on variations in speed. He occasionally sends down a bouncer to a batsmen, which is very rare for a spin bowler.

International career

In October 1996 at the age of sixteen he was brought into the ODI team as a legspinner as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. He then gained notability as a pinch-hitter and began opening with Saeed Anwar. He holds the record for scoring the fastest century in one-day internationals (off 37 balls)[12], scored in only his second match and his first ODI innings. He also shares with Brian Lara the record for the third-fastest century in ODIs (off 45 balls). One of Pakistan’s most useful all-rounders, he has an extremely aggressive batting style, which has garnered him over 5,000 ODI runs (including an erstwhile world-record 249 sixes, recently broken by Sanath Jayasuriya), as well as taking over 250 wickets at ODI and 47 at Test level.

For various reasons, including a perception that he lacks patience in his batting, Afridi had limited opportunity in Test matches, although he currently averages in the high thirties and mid-thirties with bat and ball respectively. As it is, Afridi has featured in less than one third of the Test Matches played by Pakistan over the course of his career.[13] However, he made his presence felt in the third Test against India in March 2005, scoring a quick-fire second-innings half-century and taking five wickets in the match (including Tendulkar twice) to help Pakistan to win the game and register a series draw.

It is perceived that his batting struggles on bouncy pitches and against opponents like Australia, although his record against the Australians has improved over time. Although he has had success as an opener on sub-continent pitches, Afridi is often moved into the lower order as well.

Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005, starting with the tours of India and West Indies and through to the England tour. The Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer helped Afridi to reach a fuller potential by improving his shot selection and giving him free rein over his batting attitude.

In the 2007 World Twenty20, he performed poorly with the bat but brilliantly with the ball, earning the Man of the Series award, though he failed to take a wicket in the final and was out for a golden duck.

Career Highlights

* On 4 October 1996, playing his maiden international innings, Afridi hit the fastest One-Day century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. His innings included 28 runs off one of Sanath Jayasuriya’s overs, whose record he broke. [15]

* Youngest player in history to make an ODI century at just 16 years and 217 days with his 37 ball ton against Sri Lanka. It included 11 sixes and 6 fours. [16]

* Made a half-century from 26 balls and took 3 second-innings wickets in Pakistan’s series-drawing Test victory against India in March 2005.[14]

* Holds the joint record with Brian Lara for the third fastest ODI century off 45 balls in April 2005 against India. [17] This actually was the first match that witnessed the Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri make him the nickname Boom Boom Afridi.

* Equal highest aggregate sixes scored in the 50-over game, shared the legendary Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, and he the most sixes per innings record.

* Scored four consecutive sixes off a Harbhajan Singh over in a Test match against India in January 2006, matching a feat that Kapil Dev achieved in 1990.

* Was the first player to score 12 runs off one ball, by hitting the roof of the Millennium Stadium. This took place in a game of Power Cricket.[citation needed][clarification needed]

* Holds four of the top eight fastest ODI half centuries, twice completed in 18 balls and twice in 20 balls. He has also scored a half century off just 21 balls.

* Made 32 runs off a Malinga Bandara over in an ODI game at Abu Dhabi in 2007. He struck four consecutive sixes and it was the 2nd most expensive over in ODI history.

* Afridi is only third player in ODI history to achieve the combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets. The other players being Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jacques Kallis.

Shahid Afridi