Pakistani Cricket Players

Friday 12 April 2013

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
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

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal may well be the most emphatic proof of cricket's changed priorities post Adam Gilchrist. Sides now search for an explosive batsman who can change a day, an innings, a phase with the bat and so long as you can identify right wicketkeeping glove from left, the place is yours.There has been little doubt about Akmal's batting. The purity of his drives and the strength of his cutting and pulling, particularly on slower subcontinent surfaces, has always held a strong allure. And when it comes together as it did one January morning in Karachi against India - one of the Test innings of that decade - he makes it in the side as a batsman alone.

But his glovework, which began so promisingly when he effectively ended the dogfight between Rashid Latif and Moin Khan in late 2004, has deteriorated alarmingly and few Pakistan matches are complete without a clumsy Akmal error. It wasn't always thus, for he was good when he began, good enough to impress Ian Healy. But non-stop cricket in all three formats have let technical errors creep in and critics and experts have long pushed for the need for him to take a break.To quality spin, he is often as lost as the batsmen and Danish Kaneria, over the years, has suffered in particular. In a string of error-ridden performances, the one nobody will forget will be the four dropped catches (and a missed run-out) in the Sydney Test of 2009-10, which allowed Australia to escape with a remarkable, traumatic win. Against this the memory of his Karachi hundred will always battle, with no clear winner ever likely to emerge. The tryst with controversy does his cause no good, with his refusal to accept his demotion from the side in the aftermath of a disastrous Sydney Test in 2009, eliciting a harsh fine and a disciplinary probation from the PCB.

Kamran Akmal

Younis Khan

Younis Khan Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Full name Mohammad Younis Khan
Born November 29, 1977, Mardan, North-West Frontier Province
Major teams Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, Nottinghamshire, Peshawar Cricket Association, Rajasthan Royals, South Australia, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire
Also known as Younus Khan
Playing role Middle-order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Legbreak

Mohammad Younis Khan

Younis Khan is fearless, as befits his Pathan ancestry and will forever be remembered as the second Khan to bring home a world title for Pakistan: Younis was Pakistan's captain in the 2009 World Twenty20, leading a successful campaign with stark similarities to the one Imran Khan had led 17 years earlier. Younis retired from the format straight after, a graceful and dignified gesture from a complex but honest man.

It is as a batsman, and a fearless one, that he made his name first, playing with a flourish. He is especially strong in the arc from backward point to extra cover. He is prone to getting down on one knee and driving extravagantly. But this flamboyance is coupled with grit.

Though Younis was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003, he lost it soon after due to a string of poor scores in the home series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He came back for the one-day series against India, but failed to cement a place in the Test side. He is among the better fielders in Pakistan and he took a world-record four catches in one innings as substitute during Pakistan's demolition of Bangladesh in the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship.

But until his return to the side in October 2004, he wasn't a fixture. At the pivotal one-down, against Sri Lanka in Karachi, a century laid the groundwork for his emergence as a force in Pakistan cricket. He was the top run-getter in the disastrous 3-0 whitewash in Australia immediately after and on the tour of India, for which Younis was elevated to vice-captain, he blossomed. After a horror start to the series he came back strongly, capping things off with a match-winning 267 in the final Test. He credits the late Bob Woolmer, to whom he was close, for the turnaround in his career.

Since then, barring minor troughs such as the 2005-06 series against England at home, his career has been one elongated peak, scoring hundreds against India and England for fun and becoming Pakistan's most successful one-down in recent memory. More importantly, the tour to India also showcased his potential as a future captain of Pakistan and his energetic and astute leadership has impressed many people. As captain in Inzamam's absence he led the side to a disastrous loss against the West Indies in 2005 but also to a memorable win against India in Karachi in January 2006.

Younis Khan

Misbah-ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Full name Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi
Born May 28, 1974, Mianwali, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Khan Research Labs, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sargodha
Playing role Middle-order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi

An orthodox batsman with reasonable technique, Misbah-ul-Haq caught the eye with his unflappable temperament in the tri-nation one-day tournament in Nairobi in 2002, scoring two fifties in three innings, including one in the final against Australia. But before Pakistan could hail him as a possible middle-order mainstay, Misbah's form slumped - he didn't manage a single 20-plus score in three Tests against Australia and was duly dumped. Pakistan's abysmal World Cup campaign - and the wholesale changes to the team in its aftermath - gave Misbah another chance to redeem himself, but he did little of note in the limited opportunities he got.

Even though Misbah had not represented Pakistan for about three years, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England, and Inzamam's retirement from ODIs prompted the board to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead of Mohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors' faith by finishing the tournament as Pakistan's best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He was duly named in the team for the Test and ODI series that followed against South Africa.

After an unremarkable series against South Africa, Misbah was by far Pakistan's best batsman through the Tests against India, amassing 464 runs in three matches, including two centuries. He was ice-cool in crisis, rescuing Pakistan on several occasions with spirited rearguard efforts. His remarkable rise continued as a mere six months after being picked for the ICC World Twenty20, he was made vice-captain and handed a top-category contract in January 2008. His form deserted him again in 2009, and he dropped from all three squads for the series against New Zealand - but made yet another return to the side in October 2010, this time as captain for the Tests against South Africa .

Misbah-ul-Haq

Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik Biography

Source(google.com.pk)

Full name Shoaib Malik
Born February 1, 1982, Sialkot, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Delhi Daredevils, Gloucestershire, Gujranwala Cricket Association, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Reserves, Sialkot Cricket Association, Sialkot Stallions
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Relation Brother - Adeel Malik

There is almost no role in a cricket side that Shoaib Malik hasn't filled, so much so that over ten years into his career, nobody is sure what his precise and best role is.In essence, he is a batting allrounder, though he started his career as an off-break bowler. Partly the problem is that he is capable, as a batsman, of fulfilling many roles with some competence. He has had success as an opener in Tests and ODIs; he has been game-changing as a limited-overs one down and dangerous as a lower-order slogger; often he has been a stodgy middle-order bulwark. In Twenty20s, he can be brutal anywhere.

It is thus difficult to recall a definitive Malik high; was it his maiden Test hundred as an opener against Sri Lanka in Colombo? A few hands that led to an ODI series win against India in 2005-06? A Champions Trophy hundred against India?His basic game is tight, especially in the subcontinent. He isn't pretty, though there can be pleasantness in his high, stiff-elbowed drives and lofts. Square on both sides he is precise. Further, he runs well. With his flattish, very modern off-spin always useful for more than a few overs and a wicket here and there - less so after concerns over his action - and an athletic and languid presence in the field, Malik should be far greater a sum of his parts than he actually is.

He was for long earmarked as a potential captain - the late Bob Woolmer thought him the sharpest tack in Pakistan's set-up - but a stint with the captaincy was troubled, unimaginative and ended badly. It got even worse when the board banned him for a year in March 2010 as part of its unprecedented action on senior players after a disastrous tour of Australia.

Shoaib Malik

Junaid Khan

Junaid Khan Biography

Source(google.com.pk)

Full name Mohammad Junaid Khan
Born December 24, 1989, Matra, North-West Frontier Province
Major teams Pakistan, Abbottabad, Abbottabad Rhinos, Pakistan Under-19s
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm medium-fast
Mohammad Junaid Khan

At U-19 level Junaid Khan was among of a crop of the most promising young fast bowlers in recent years, alongside Mohammad Amir. Good pace and better stamina and an ability to move the ball around if the conditions are right, Khan finally made it to national contention when he was called up for Pakistan's 2011 World Cup squad as a late replacement for Sohail Tanvir.

Khan is from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and has built up an impressive domestic career with Abbottabad, for whom he debuted in January 2007. The record acquires greater sheen given that Abbottabad are among the weaker sides on the circuit. Those performances have led him to Pakistan A selection, for whom he has been impressive in two series now, never less than when taking nine wickets in a 'Test' against Sri Lanka A in Hambantota in September 2010.