Sohail Khan (cricketer)

Sohail Khan
Personal information
Full name Sohail Khan
Born 6 March 1984
Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Role Bowler
International information
National side
  • Pakistan
Only Test 21 February 2009 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 164) 30 January 2008 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI 15 February 2015 v India
ODI shirt no. 14
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2007/08– Sind
2007/08– Sui Southern Gas Corporation
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODI FC LA
Matches 2 7 57 36
Runs scored 11 4 719 167
Batting average 11.00 4.00 13.07 9.27
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/1 0/0
Top score 11 4 56 39
Balls bowled 342 313 10,884 1,827
Wickets 1 15 249 64
Bowling average 245.00 23.16 25.53 22.35
5 wickets in innings 0 2 19 0
10 wickets in match 0 n/a 3 n/a
Best bowling 1/62 5/55 9/109 6/44
Catches/stumpings 0/- 0/– 14/– 6/–
Source: CricketArchive, 28 December 2013

Sohail Khan (Pashto: سہیل خان, born 6 March 1984), is a Pakistani cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he gained instant recognition during his debut first-class season in 2007 when he broke Fazal Mahmood's record for the best bowling figures by a Pakistani in a first-class match.[1] Shortly afterwards he made his international debut, in an ODI against Zimbabwe.Sohail Khan is part of team for 2015 Cricket world Cup.[2]

Early and personal life

Sohail was born and raised in Sakhakot Malakand Division in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He played tennis-ball cricket from a young age and bowled at a lively pace, something he says he owes to the muscle strength he built up from throwing stones and swimming in rivers and streams present in the mountainous environment. Realising his potential and on the advice of a friend, he moved to Karachi to play professional cricket. Twitter: @SohailKhan_57 [3]

Domestic career

After playing some minor cricket in Karachi, Sohail entered a speed hunt talent contest held by former Pakistan bowler Sikander Bakht and attained top position, his speed of 95 mph was also the third fastest in the country. A stint at Millat Club, in Malir, was followed by a place in Sind Police's team. A few months later he was spotted by Dr. Shah, a renowned individual in Karachi's cricket fraternity, who convinced him to play for his team, A.O. Club. While playing for Shah's team, Sohail was spotted by former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif who offered him a place at his cricket academy, which he accepted. During his time at the academy he also played for Deewan group, before joining Sui Southern Gas Company's (SSGC) cricket team. He picked up 21 wickets in his initial matches for SSGC, and the team was promoted to first-class cricket shortly afterwards.[3]

Sohail made his first-class debut for SSGC against Pakistan Customs in the 2007/08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He impressed in his first innings with the ball, picking up a five wicket haul for only 59 runs off 25 overs, and followed up with another five wicket haul in the second innings for 75 runs off 23 overs, to finish with a ten wicket haul on debut.[4] In SSGC's final game of the competition, Sohail broke Fazal Mahmood's long-standing record for the best bowling figures by a Pakistani in first-class cricket with a match haul of 16–189 off 52.5 overs against WAPDA at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi.[1][5] He finished as the highest wicket-taker for the competition, with 65 wickets at an average of 18.43 including eight five wicket hauls and two ten wicket hauls.[6]

Playing for Sind in the 2007/08 Pentangular Cup, Sohail took four wickets in his team's opening match of the competition.[7] He followed that performance up with consecutive five wicket hauls against Baluchistan and Federal Areas in the next two matches.[8][9] Against Punjab he took six wickets, including Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal, helping Sind to victory in the tournament.[10] Sohail was subsequently named bowler of the tournament, leading with 23 wickets at an average of 16.69, meaning he ended his debut first-class season with 91 wickets from 14 matches.[11][12]

International career

Sohail made his international debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in the fourth match of the five ODI series. He was expensive on the flat wicket, although managed to pick up one wicket, finishing with figures of 1/38 off 7 overs.[13] He then played in the third and fourth ODIs against the visiting Bangladeshis in April 2008, going wicketless in the first and picking up three wickets in the second.[14][15]

He was selected to replace Mohammad Asif in the 16-man squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh in June 2008, which involved the hosts and India, after Asif was detained at Dubai International Airport.[16] On 7 January 2015, Chief Selector of PCB, Moin Khan announced the Pakistan Cricket team world cup squad of 2015 in which Sohail Khan was the surprise selection. He had been out of international team since 2011 and got the selection due to strong domestic performance in 2014 season and the fact that he remained one of the quickest bowlers in the country.[17]

Sohail khan made a comeback in the team on 15 feb in the Pakistan's all important and opening game vs their arch-rivals india in the world cup. He picked up 5–55 and he was on the hat-trick in the last over after dismissing the Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane but it wasn't enough as the Indian side scored 300 for 7 wickets (300/7) and Pakistan were bowled out for 224 in the end of the 47th over and thus India winning the game by 76 runs. He scored 7 runs from 10 balls including a boundary.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sohail Khan bags 16 wickets to shred record books. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  2. ↑ Sohail Khan. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Young, inexperienced and ready for Pakistan. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  4. ↑ Pakistan Customs v Sui Southern Gas Corporation. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  5. ↑ Sui Southern Gas Corporation v Water and Power Development Authority. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  6. ↑ Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 2007/08 – Most wickets. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  7. ↑ Sind v North West Frontier Province. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  8. ↑ Sind v Baluchistan. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  9. ↑ Federal Areas v Sind. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  10. ↑ Sind v Punjab (Pakistan). Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  11. ↑ Sind crowned Pentangular champs. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  12. ↑ ABN-AMRO Pentangular Cup, 2007/08 – Most wickets. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  13. ↑ Zimbabwe in Pakistan ODI Series – 4th ODI. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  14. ↑ Bangladesh in Pakistan ODI Series – 3rd ODI. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  15. ↑ Bangladesh in Pakistan ODI Series – 4th ODI. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  16. ↑ Sohail Khan replaces Asif in tri-series squad. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
  17. ↑ Pakistan pick Sohail Khan for World Cup

External links