Pakistani cricket team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
| Pakistan | |
 |
|
| Test status granted | 1952 |
| First Test match | v India at Delhi, October 1952 |
| Captain | Inzamam-ul-Haq |
| Coach | Bob Woolmer |
| Official ICC Test and ODI ranking | 3rd (Test), 4th (ODI) [1],[2] |
| Test matches - this year |
325 10 |
| Last Test match | v West Indies at Lahore,10th December 2006 |
| Wins/losses - this year |
101/85 3/3 |
| As of 15 November 2006 | |
The Pakistani cricket team is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is administrated by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Pakistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and one-day international status. As of 27 October 2006, Pakistan is ranked third in the ICC Test Championship[1] and in a tie for fourth place in the ICC ODI Championship[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
- See also: India vs Pakistan rivalry
Following the Partition of India in 1947, and the establishment of the separate nation state of Pakistan, cricket in the country developed steadily and Pakistan was given Test Match status at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground on 28 July 1952. Pakistan’s first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2-1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1-1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan’s first home Test match was in Dacca in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) in January 1955 against India, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi (all five matches in the series were drawn).
The team is considered one of the best teams in international cricket, with top rankings in both Test and One-day International matches. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been filled with players of outrageous talent but limited discipline, making them a team which could play inspirational cricket one day and then perform less than ordinarily another day. Over the years, competitions between India and Pakistan have always been emotionally charged and provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams from both sides of the border elevate their game to new levels to produce high-quality cricket.
[edit] Notable players
- Abdul Qadir
- Fazal Mahmood
- Hanif Mohammad
- Zaheer Abbas
- Imran Khan
- Javed Miandad
- Mushtaq Mohammad
- Shoaib Mohammad
- Majid Khan
- Asif Iqbal
- Mudassar Nazar
- Sarfraz Nawaz
- Wasim Bari
- Saleem Malik
- Saeed Anwar
- Wasim Akram
- Waqar Younis
- Inzamam-ul-haq
- Mohammad Yousuf
- Shoaib Akhtar
- Younis Khan
- Moin Khan
The Pakistan Cricket Hall of Fame can be found at http://www.pakistancricketzone.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30
[edit] Tournament history
[edit] World Cup
- 1975: First round
- 1979: Semi Finals
- 1983: Semi Finals
- 1987: Semi Finals
- 1992: Champions
- 1996: Quarter Finals
- 1999: Runner up
- 2003: First round
[edit] ICC Champions Trophy
[edit] ICC Knockout
- 1998: Quarter Finals
- 2000: Semi Finals
[edit] Commonwealth Games
- 1998: First round
[edit] Asian Test Championship
- 1999: Won
- 2001/02: Runners-up
[edit] Asia Cup
- 1984: 3rd place
- 1986: Finals, 2nd place
- 1988: 3rd place
- 1990/91: Did not participate
- 1995: 3rd place
- 1997: 3rd place
- 2000: Won
- 2004: 3rd place
[edit] Australasia Cup
- 1986: Won
- 1990: Won
- 1994: Won
[edit] Records
Pakistan has produced many excellent bowlers such as Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar. Pakistan's bowlers are known for developing and perfecting the art of reverse swing bowling, said to be invented by Sarfaraz Nawaz, to a high degree of proficiency.
Pakistan rose to prominence and began to be considered very seriously under the captaincy of Imran Khan who led the 1992 World Cup winning team.
Some of Pakistan's most memorable matches have those played against the neighboring nation of India. Although it has been very difficult to predict which team will win on a given day, Pakistan has won 64 of the 108 ODIs played between the countries, and 12 Test match encounters to India's 8.
During the tour of India in 1997, the Pakistan team consistently outperformed the opposing side on their home turf. Batsman Saeed Anwar put on a brilliant batting performance, scoring a world record 194 in a single ODI against their arch-rivals.
Renowned Pakistani cricketers include Hafeez Kardar, Hanif Mohammad, Mushtaq Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad, Asif Iqbal, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Wasim Bari, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Aamer Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Abdul Qadir and Shoaib Akhtar.
[edit] Famous moments
[edit] 1986 Austral-Asia Cup
The 1986 Austral-Asia Cup, played in Sharjah, is remembered as a famous last-ball victory for Pakistan against arch-rivals India, with Javed Miandad emerging as a national hero.
India batted first and set a target of 245 runs, leaving Pakistan with a required run rate of 4.92 runs per over. Javed Miandad came in to bat at number 3, and Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals, leading to what looked to be an easy Indian victory. Later recalling the match, Miandad stated that his main focus was to lose with dignity. With 31 runs needed in the last three overs, Miandad hit a string of boundaries while batting with his team's lower order, until four runs were required from the last delivery of the match. Miandad received a leg side full toss from Chetan Sharma, which he hit for six over the midwicket boundary. The shot is still considered as one of the most historic moments in ODI cricket history.
[edit] 1992 Cricket World Cup
The 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia & New Zealand marked Pakistan's first World Cup victory. It is remembered for the improbable comeback Pakistan made after losing key players such as Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar, and being led by an injured captain in Imran Khan. Pakistan lost 4 of their first 5 matches and were nearly eliminated in the first round of the tournament after being bowled out for 74 against England, until the match was declared a "no result" due to rain. Captain Imran Khan famously told the team to play "as cornered tigers", after which Pakistan won five successive matches, including, most famously, the semi-final against hosts New Zealand and the final against England.
[edit] 1992 World Cup Semi-final
After winning the toss, New Zealand chose to bat first and ended with a total of 262, which was considered a very good score in 1992, when run rates were generally much lower. Pakistan batted conservatively yet lost wickets at regular intervals. With the departure of Imran Khan and Saleem Malik shortly thereafter, Pakistan still required 115 runs at a rate of 7.67 per over with veteran Javed Miandad being the only known batsman remaining at the crease. A young Inzamam ul-Haq, who had just turned 22 and was not a well-known player at the time, burst onto the international stage with a match-winning 60 off 37 balls. Once Inzamam got out, Pakistan required 36 from 30 balls, which wicketkeeper Moin Khan ended with a towering six over long off, followed by the winning boundary to midwicket. The match is seen as the emergence of Inzamam onto the international stage, and would later become the symbolic starting point of his rise to become Pakistan's top batsman, replacing Miandad, the player with whom he shared his historic partnership.
[edit] Cricket Grounds
| Stadium | City | Test matches | ODI matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jinnah Stadium | Sialkot | 4 | 9 |
| Zafar Ali Stadium | Sahiwal | 0 | 2 |
| Gaddafi Stadium | Lahore | 37 | 48 |
| Ayub National Stadium | Quetta | 0 | 2 |
| National Stadium | Karachi | 38 | 31 |
| Niaz Stadium | Hyderabad | 5 | 6 |
| Jinnah Stadium | Gujranwala | 1 | 11 |
| Ibn-e-Qasim Bagh Stadium | Multan | 1 | 6 |
| Arbab Niaz Stadium | Peshawar | 6 | 15 |
| Iqbal Stadium | Faisalabad | 24 | 12 |
| Pindi Club Ground | Rawalpindi | 1 | 2 |
| Sargodha Stadium | Sargodha | 0 | 1 |
| Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | Rawalpindi | 8 | 21 |
| Bugti Stadium | Quetta | 0 | 1 |
| Sheikhupura Stadium | Sheikhupura | 2 | 1 |
| Multan Cricket Stadium | Multan | 4 | 3 |
[edit] Notable Pakistan cricketers
[edit] Captains
Here is a list of the captains of the Pakistan team in order of which they held the title;
- Hafeez Kardar
- Javed Burki
- Majid Khan
- Saeed Ahmed
- Mushtaq Mohammad
- Asif Iqbal
- Wasim Bari
- Imran Khan
- Javed Miandad
- Rameez Raja
- Aamer Sohail
- Wasim Akram
- Waqar Younis
- Rashid Latif
- Moin Khan
- Inzamam ul Haq
Notes: Kardar led the first Pakistani team to victory over all the Test playing nations of the 1950s, including historic victories over England in England in 1954, and against Australia in Karachi in 1956. Imran Khan led Pakistan to a World Cup victory in 1992 in Australia.
[edit] Batsmen
Here is a list of some of the most memorable cricket batsmen from the team;
- Hanif Mohammad
- Mushtaq Mohammad
- Saeed Ahmed
- Zaheer Abbas
- Asif Iqbal
- Majid Khan
- Sadiq Mohammad
- Javed Miandad
- Mudassar Nazar
- Shoaib Mohammad
- Mohsin Khan
- Inzamam ul Haq
- Aamer Sohail
- Saeed Anwar
- Saleem Malik
- Ijaz Ahmed
- Mohammad Yousuf
- Aamer Sohail
- Younis Khan
- Shahid Khan Afridi
Notes: Hanif Mohammad scored 337 against the West Indies in 1958, the first triple hundred by an Asian cricketer. This is also the longest innings by any batsman in terms of time spent at the wicket. Saeed Anwar holds the record for scoring 194, the highest ODI innings, scored against the Indian cricket team in Chennai in 1997. Shahid Afridi holds the record for the fastest ODI century reaching the milestone off just 37 balls and also equalled the second fastest ODI century by scoring off 45 balls. Mohammad Yousuf holds the record for the most test match runs in a calendar year (1788), the most centuries in a calendar year (Nine) and the most centuries in successive tests (Six centuries in five successive tests).
[edit] Fast bowlers
Here is a list of the most memorable bowlers from the team;
- Imran Khan
- Wasim Akram
- Aaqib Javed
- Waqar Younis
- Fazal Mahmood
- Sarfraz Nawaz
- Shoaib Akhtar
- Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
- Umar Gul
- Mohammed Sami
- Mohammad Asif
Notes: Wasim Akram has taken 502 ODI wickets, the highest by any bowler in ODI cricket. Shoaib Akhtar is the fastest bowler in the world, regularly bowling at around 92-95 Miles/H, and also has the record of the fastest delivery ever recorded, clocking at 100.2 Miles/H.
[edit] Reverse Swing
Reverse swing happens when the ball is about 40 overs old (although some bowlers have gotten the ball to reverse swing after 15 overs) and has one side roughed up and the other side shiny. The grip and the release for reverse swing is similar to that of conventional swing. When the ball conventionally swings, the batsman expects the ball to swing towards the rough side. When the ball reverse swings, it swings towards side where the shiny side is held, which can leave a batsman confused and cause him to play a false shot.
The art of reverse swing was first discovered by Sarfraz Nawaz in the 1970s, who then passed it on to another Pakistani bowler, Imran Khan. Khan mastered reverse swing and the evidence of reverse swing by him was seen in 1983 in a Test match against India at Karachi, where he took 5 wickets in 25 balls. Imran Khan subsequently passed this skill on to Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram who made the most use of it. In 1992, when Pakistan toured England, it left England’s batsmen devastated as they had no answer to the reverse swing and they hadn’t heard about it before. Pakistan ended up winning the series 2-1.
The series was a controversial one as the Pakistani team got accused of ball tampering, particularly by the English media. They couldn’t understand how a ball that old could swing that much. But the English media got their answer as this art expanded around the cricket world and more and more bowlers started to master reverse swing. English bowlers themselves used this as one of the weapons to win The Ashes series 2-1 against Australia in 2005. In the end, it was concluded that the Pakistani bowlers were simply ahead of their time.
Ball tampering accusations re-surfaced with the forfeiture by the Pakistani team of the 4th Test against England at the Oval on 20 August 2006. On the fourth day of the Test, during England's second innings, the ball began to late reverse swing for Umar Gul in particular, resulting in him dismissing Alastair Cook LBW to an inswinging yorker. Four overs later, on examining the ball, umpire Darrell Hair decided there was evidence that the ball had been tampered with. He consulted with the other umpire, Billy Doctrove, and penalised the Pakistani team for interfering with the condition of the ball, awarding five runs to the England total and changing the ball. Following the playing conditions for that Test, the England batsmen were allowed to choose a ball from a selection of six provided. Although play continued until the end of the afternoon session, the Pakistani team failed to reappear on time at the start of the third session in protest of what was seen to be an unjust and insensitive decision. As a result, the umpires awarded the test to England. On 21 August, Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was charged with bringing the game of cricket into disrepute and with ball tampering. He was found not guilty of ball tampering but was banned for five games for the more serious charge of bringing the game of cricket into disrepute. The longer term repercussions of these events will resound for a long time to come, but it is clear that the overall issue of ball tampering will not disappear in a hurry.
Immediately following the ball tampering controversy was the news that its star pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif had both tested positive for Nandrolone, the banned anabolic steroid. Though both denied any substance abuse, on November 1, 2006 both Akhtar and Asif were banned for a period of 2 years and 1 year respectively, further tarnishing Pakistan Cricket's image and its chances of lifting the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, both bowlers were successful in their appeals with the earlier bans being revoked.
[edit] Spin bowlers
Here is a list of some of the current and most memorable bowlers from the team;
Notes: Abdul Qadir is considered the reviver of the art of leg-spin bowling.
[edit] Doosra
Saqlain Mushtaq is regarded as one of the best off-spin bowlers in cricket history, credited with inventing the delivery now known as the doosra.
[edit] All rounders
Here is a list of some of the all rounder cricketers of the team from the past and present;
- Imran Khan
- Aamer Sohail
- Moin Khan
- Abdul Razzaq
- Shahid Afridi
- Kamran Akmal
- Shoaib Malik
- Wasim Akram
- Azhar Mahmood
[edit] Current Team
The current Pakistani team includes: Inzamam-ul-Haq (Captain), Younis Khan (Vice Captain), Muhammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Faisal Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman (Pakistani cricketer), Mohammad Asif, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria, and Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Rao Ifthikar Anjum
[edit] Trivia
- Abdul Jalil aka Chacha cricket (photo) has been following the team since 1969. The PCB pays him 10,000 Pakistani rupees per month to follow the team, and he himself has a number of his own followers.
- Pakistan are the only cricket team to lose a test match by forfeiture. They did so against England at The Oval on the 20th August, 2006, following a refusal to play, in protest of their penalty of 5 runs, the changing of the ball that they were using, for being accused of unfairly altering the condition of the ball.[3]However the jury later decided that the ball was not tempered.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
Pakistani women's cricket team
