WORLD CRICKET

Saturday 17 November 2012

UMAR GUL

UMAR GUL BIOGRAPHY
Full name Umar Gul

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

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, Western Australia

Playing role Bowler

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Umar Gul

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.

UMAR GUL

SAEED AJMAL

SAEED AJMAL BIOGRAPHY
Full name Saeed Ajmal
Born October 14, 1977, Faisalabad, Punjab

Major teams Pakistan, Faisalabad, Islamabad Cricket Association, Khan Research Labs, Water and Power Development Authority
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal, an offspinner, received a call-up to the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup at the age of 30 after an impressive domestic season with Khan Research Labs in 2007-08, during which he took 38 wickets in 12 first-class matches at an average of 29 apiece, and 12 wickets in nine list A games. He made an immediate impression with his subtle variations, unafraid to use the doosra. But his career took off with a series of ODI performances that bewildered Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; he gave away few runs and his doosra was nigh-on unreadable. The ICC called him for his action, though it was cleared soon after. The pressure didn't get to him and immediately after, he played a crucial role in Pakistan's drive to the 2009 World Twenty20 title, regularly bottling up the middle overs with Shahid Afridi. He ended the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with an exemplary economy rate as batsmen around the world struggled to pick a big turning doosra or even cope with his changes in flight, pace and angle. Consistent performances in the ODI version have quickly earned him a reputation for choking the runs in the middle overs with clever variations.

SAEED AJMAL

Friday 16 November 2012

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar Biography

Shoaib Akhtar is a former professional cricketer who played testes and One Day International matches for the Pakistan national team in ICC organized events. He has been dubbed as The Rawalpindi Express after the place where he was born and he is arguably the fastest bowler the world of cricket has ever seen, easily clocking 150 km/hour on many occasions. He became the first man to bowl a delivery over 100 miles/hour or 161.3 km/hour, which is the fastest delivery ever bowled in the history of cricket against England. Moreover, not only did he achieve a speed of 100 miles/hour on his delivery, he achieved it twice during one single match and that is something that makes him very unique in the world of fast bowlers. His prowess lay in being able to bowl fast and precise Yorkers as well as quick bouncers and these abilities made him one of the greatest as well as most feared bowlers of all time, the likes of which had not been seen in international cricket since the times of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson, Dennis Lillie, Malcolm Marshall and the likes – players who depended on raw pace to pick up wickets.

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar

Waseem Akram

Waseem Akram Biography
Wasim Akram born in Lahore, Punjab is a former Pakistani cricketer. He was a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman, who represented the Pakistani cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals. Widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers ever, Akram holds world records for the most wickets taken in both ODIs (502) and List A cricket (881), and was one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling. The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering, although reverse swing has now been accepted as a legitimate feature of the game. Akram's later career was also tarnished with accusations of match fixing, although these remain unproven.

Wasim retired in 2003, after a brief spell with Hampshire in England. Since then, Wasim has taken up commentary and can currently be seen as a sportscaster for the ESPN Star network, and is also running shows on ARY Digital. He is married to Huma Mufti, daughter of Mr. Humayaun Mufti. Wasim and Huma have two sons from their marriage of fourteen years. Wasim has also appeared in Fuzon video as a model.

Waseem Akram