Taufeeq Umar

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Taufeeq Umar Pakistan (Pak)
Batting style	Left-hand bat (LHB)
Bowling type	Right-arm offbreak
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	25	19
Runs scored	1729	447
Batting average	39.29	24.83
100s/50s	4/9	0/3
Top score	135	81*
Overs bowled	13	12
Wickets	0	1
Bowling average	n/a	85.00
5 wickets in innings	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a
Best bowling	0/0	1/49
Catches/stumpings	33/0	1/0
As of 28 December 2005 Source: Cricinfo.com

Taufeeq Umar (Urdu: توفیق عمر) (born 20 June 1981 in Lahore) is a Pakistani cricketer who was a regular Test opening batsman for three seasons, before being dropped ahead of the 2004–05 season. Unusually for a Pakistani player, Umar has played more Tests than ODIs, as he was not given a prolonged run in the ODI side until 2003, when he played eight ODIs in a row. However, he only missed two of 24 Tests played between August 2001 and April 2004, and after 17 Tests his batting average had reached 48.03 after he made four scores above 50 in the two-Test series with South Africa ^[1]. Possessing excellent temperament, he remains unique amongst Pakistani openers in his ability to concentrate for long periods and his ability to build innings. With exquisite drives either side of the wicket, a formidable cut and pull shot in the armory and possessing the natural gift of timing, he seemed the very answer to Pakistan's opening problem especially against a full strength South African attack in South Africa (2003). A loss of form against India (2004) resulted in Taufeeq losing his place in the team and a subsequent loss of batting confidence.

He continued to be in the Pakistani selectors' minds, playing for Pakistan against a touring England XI in 2005–06 ^[2], and continued to play for Lahore Ravi and Habib Bank Limited in Pakistani domestic competitions. It remains to be seen whether he can recover his solid technique and return to Test cricket as the formidable opener he was meant to be.

[edit] References

1. ↑  Taufeeq Umar - Test Batting - Cumulative career averages from Cricinfo Stats Guru, retrieved 14 December 2005
2. ↑  Send for Taufeeq Umar by Kamran Abbasi, published 23 March 2004.
3. ↑  Pakistan pay for failures across the board by Kamran Abbasi, published 22 April 2004
4. ↑  2nd Final: Australia v Pakistan at Sydney, 6 Feb 2005 scorecard from Cricinfo, retrieved 14 December 2005
5. ↑  Pakistan's stars in the ascendancy by Osman Samiuddin, published on Cricinfo 29 March 2005
6. ↑  Second Test v India 16-20 Mar 2005 and Third Test v India 24-28 Mar 2005, both from Cricinfo, retrieved 14 December 2005
7. ↑  Pakistan A v England XI in 2005/06 from CricketArchive, retrieved 14 December 2005
8. Player Profile: Taufeeq Umar from Cricinfo

Pakistani batsmen with a Test batting average above 40
Javed Miandad | Inzamam-ul-Haq | Mohammad Yousuf | Saeed Anwar | Zaheer Abbas
Shoaib Mohammad | Hanif Mohammad | Saleem Malik | Saeed Ahmed | Younis Khan