Pakistani Cricket Players Biography

Misbah-ul-Haq Biography

source link (google.com.pk)

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi is a Pakistani cricketer and the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team for Tests and ODIs.

Early career
Misbah was initially noticed for his technique and his temperament in the Tri-nation tournament in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, as he scored two fifties in the three innings in which he played, however, over the next three Tests he played against Australia, he failed to score more than twenty runs and was soon dumped from the team. Having witnessed Pakistan being eliminated in the opening phase of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Misbah was part of the changes made to the team in the aftermath of these results, but failed to make much of an impact and was soon dropped again.

Comeback
At the age of 33, Misbah was chosen to play in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, filling the middle order spot vacated by Inzamam-ul-Haq. He had been regularly making runs in Pakistani domestic cricket and in the years before his recall he was consistently one of the top run scorers at each season's end, with his first-class average briefly climbing above 50.

Misbah was one of the stars of the tournament, playing a large part in many thrilling run chases. The first was in the group stage against India where he scored a half century in a tied match. He was run out attempting the winning run off the last ball of the match. In their Super 8s encounter with Australia he was named Man of the Match with an unbeaten 66 off 42 deliveries to see his side home with 5 balls to spare. Another unbeaten innings in the semi final against New Zealand saw Pakistan book a spot in the final against India.

He played an instrumental role in Pakistan's recovery in the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 final against arch-rivals India, with three sixes. He hit the first legitimate ball of the last over for six. With 6 runs needed to win off 4 remaining balls, Misbah tried to scoop the ball over short fine leg, but was caught out by Sreesanth. He repeated for the 3rd time against India in the semi final of the 2011 World Cup where India won by 29 runs.

Misbah scored his maiden Test hundred against India at Kolkata in the 2nd Test of the 2007 series. After India managed 616 in their first innings, Pakistan were at 5 for 150 in reply and in danger of following on when Misbah and Kamran Akmal put together a match saving 207 run stand. Misbah finished on 161 not out. In the 3rd & final Test of the series, Misbah made another fluent century this time finishing on 133 not out.

2008 began with some high points for Misbah as he was elevated to the post of Vice - Captain of the Pakistan team and was awarded a Grade A Contract. Since returning to International Cricket for Pakistan, Misbah has gone through a sustained patch of prolific run scoring. In his last 5 Test Match innings for Pakistan, he has notched up 458 runs at a very high batting average of 152.67 against India. In his last 5 ODIs as well, Misbah has made 190 Runs at an average of 63.33 & in Domestic Cricket for Punjab, he has amassed an astounding 586 runs at an average of 195.33 with 2 centuries and his highest first-class score of 208*.

Dropping out and the captaincy (2010-2011)
Misbah was dropped from the team after the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and missed the team's controversial tour of England in August 2010 Due to the batting-collapses that Pakistan suffered during that tour Misbah was recalled for the subsequent tour against South Africa in the UAE to lead as a captain of the team for test series. Many people expressed there surprise at the appointment of Misbah as captain. Wasim Akram stated that although the decision was surprising if Misbah bats and fields well everything else will go according to plan. Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson stated that he believed Misbah has the best cricketing brain within Pakistan and he will do incredibly well in the plans for the captaincy Misbah hit back at those who criticised the decision to appoint him captain and stated that he should be given a chance to prove himself In his first match as test captain he set an example for his team when he scored 71* in a 168 run partnership with Younus Khan this helped Pakistan salvage a draw from the match

Two-test series in New Zealand (2011)
After Three Twenty20's in which Misbah did not play as Pakistan lost the series 2-1. He returned to captaining the test side and during his third test as captain he claimed his first victory when Pakistan beat New Zealand by 10 wickets. New Zealand were bowled out for 275 and during Pakistan's first innings Misbah reached a half-century before being trapped in front on 62, however Asad Shafiq top-scored in the innings with 83. Pakistan took a slender lead of 92 and bowled New Zealand out for 110 needing just 19 runs for victory and Pakistan sealed a crushing win when Taufeeq Umar sealed the winning run as Pakistan won by ten wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series. The following match Misbah stated that the team's main focus was on improving themselves and that winning the series was a side focus. In the second and final Test of th series, Misbah yet again impressed with the bat. He was trapped in front just one short of a century in the first innings, with Pakistan taking a slender first innings lead. New Zealand posted 293 in their 2nd innings leaving Pakistan needing 274 to win on the findal day. An opening barrage from New Zealand's seamers left Pakistan struggling at 42-3, with Misbah joining Younis Khan at the crease. The two put on 118 runs and Misbah remained undefeated as Pakistan held out for a draw, finishing 226-5. This secured Pakistan's first Test series win since 2007 and helped raise Misbah's average as Captain to 112.75.

Misbah-ul-Haq

Saeed Ajmal Biograhpy

source link (google.com.pk)

Saeed Ajmal has played for Faisalabad since his debut in 1995 at the age of 18. Ajmal represented the Faisalabad Wolves in the 2005 ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup, his team won the final in which he was man of the match. When Faisalabad won the final of the ABN-AMRO Patron's Cup in March 2006 Ajmal was named the tournament's best bowler and was given a Rs 25,000 prize. He has also represented Khan Research Laboratories, who were runners-up in the final of the 2008/09 Quaid-i-Azam Trophy; though his side lost the final, Ajmal took 5/105 and 2/55 and in the process passed 250 first-class wickets.Ajmal has also played for Islamabad.

International career

Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup in June 2008; Ajmal was included in the 15-man squad and was expected to act as a foil to Shahid Afridi's leg spin. He made his debut against India on 2 July 2008. Ajmal took a single wicket, that of Yusuf Pathan, from his ten overs while conceding 47 runs (1/47) as Pakistan won by eight wickets. before taking 2/19 in a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh, although the team had no chance of progressing to the competition's final. In November that year Pakistan travelled to the United Arab Emirates to face the West Indies in a three-match ODI series. Ajmal and Afridi were the team's only spin options; the former took a single wicket while conceding 73 runs and Pakistan won all three matches.

Ajmal's next match the third ODI against Sri Lanka in January 2009. In April Pakistan faced Australia in the UAE in five ODIs. Playing in all five matches Ajmal took four wickets at an average of 39.50. He was then picked for the Sri Lankan series in Sri Lanka where he had made solid performances in theTest matches, being picked ahead of Danish Kaneria in two of the matches.

In April 2009, Ajmal was reported by umpires for having a suspect bowling action. An independent test the following month demonstrated that Ajmal's arm flexed within the 15 degree tolerance allowed by the International Cricket Council. Later that year, the Pakistan Cricket Board named a pool of 30 players from which they would chose their final squad for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, held in June. Initially left out, Ajmal was one of three players added to the list, replacing players who were dropped because they were contracted with the controversial Indian Cricket League. In the tournament, Ajmal partnered Afridi. Pakistan won the tournament, and Ajmal was the tournament's joint second highest wicket-taker with twelve dismissals from seven games (only Pakistan's Umar Gul took more wickets, with thirteen dismissals).

Ajmal's good form continued in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as he was Pakistan's leading wicket taker. However despite his good form he was known for conceding three sixes to Michael Hussey in what has been hailed as the most thrilling Twenty20 match of all time as Australia were in trouble and Ajmal was the unfortunate bowler who bowled that final over.

Shortly after this the Pakistan team began a tour of England where they would face Australia in two Tests in July, and subsequently play England in four Tests and five ODIs. Danish Kaneria was preferred to Ajmal in the first match against Australia, but after Pakistan lost the selectors considered dropping the leg-spinner and choosing Ajmal. In the event, Ajmal was not selected until the second Test against England, when Kaneria was dropped because he had been ineffective. Though Pakistan lost the match by nine wickets, Ajmal took his first five-wicket haul in Tests. In Pakistan's second innings, with his team looking to set a target for England to chase, Ajmal scored 50 from 79 balls, his first half-century in Tests, before he was dismissed by fellow off spinnerGraeme Swann.

During the series against England, Pakistan became engulfed in a spot fixing scandal after the fourth test. In a later secret interview it was unveiled by alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed that Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi were too difficult to bribe. He stated that Ajmal was too religious to get involved into fixing.

After the controversy and upheaval of 2010, 2011 saw Pakistan become a more consistent team. The year began with the World Cup held between February and April. Pakistan progressed to the semi-final, where they were defeated by India; playing in three of the team's matches, Ajmal took five wickets at an average of 18.60. After the World Cup, Pakistan played ten Tests, winning six andlosing a single match; this saw the team win series against Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and draw with the West Indies. Ajmal finished the year with 50 wickets from 8 Tests, more than any other bowler (second on the list was India's Ishant Sharma with 43). Pakistan were also largely successful in ODIs, winning 24 out of 32. After Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 4–1 in November 2011, Ajmal climbed to the number one spot in the ICC's ODI rankings. He finished the year by taking nine wickets over two Tests in Pakistan's tour of Bangladesh.

Pakistan started 2012 with a three Test series against England in the United Arab Emirates. Ajmal was named the man of the match for the first Test in Dubai, with match figures of 10 wickets for 97 runs and a career best 7/55 in England's first innings. In the second fixture he dismissed Matt Prior to become the fastest Pakistani bowler to reach 100 wickets in Tests, taking 19 matches to accomplish the feat. The series concluded with Pakistan completing a 3-0 whitewash over England, and Ajmal was named man of the series after claiming 24 wickets at an average of 14.70.

In the immediate aftermath of the Test series, following confusion over comments from Ajmal about his bowling action in an interview to the BBC, ESPNCricinfo published detailed information on the issue after a thorough investigation by journalist George Dobell with extensive discussion with ICC having been conducted. The resulting articles underlined the fact that Ajmal's bowling action falls well within the legal bounds set by the ICC for bowlers.

Bowling style

A right-arm off spinner, Ajmal's stock delivery turns into right-handed batsman but he also frequently uses the doosra which turns the other way, and he generally bowls flatter than most off spinners. The doosra has been an effective tool for Ajmal as batsmen have often failed to pick it. Explaining his bowling style in 2012, Ajmal said "If I bowl with flight I cannot bowl well. If I bowl at a quicker speed I can then use variations in pace. If I take 70% of my wickets with the doosra why should I not bowl it? Whether you bowl a doosra or an offbreak, the ball should be bowled on the right line and one should take a wicket with it."