Abdul Razzaq a fine Pakistani All rounder

 If any Pakistani cricketer who was ever to be unfairly treated by the PCB it has to be Abdul Razzaq. Abdul Razzaq was at one time in 2010 was becoming an even better all rounder than Shahid Afridi. This can be proven by his match winning century in an ODI against South Africa which was miraculously won by Abdul Razzaq's clean striking of the ball when he literally won the match single handely smashing South African bowlers all over the ground. Pakistan won that match by just one wicket after being set a target of 280 plus by South Africa, thanks to Abdul Razzaq. After the end of 2011 World Cup Abdul Razzaq was hardly selected in the team with Afridi especially giving the reason that Razzaq's bowling was becoming exceedingly slow. It was true that Abdul Razzaq was losing pace but he could have been selected as a  batting all rounder given his great big hitting ability. 

Abdul Razzaq made an immediate impact at the 1999 World Cup with his great All round ability with both bat and ball. As a batsman he was coming at No. 3 in batting order and played useful knocks in that position by seeing off the new ball and making it easy for the rest of the batting as in England batting becomes easier as the ball becomes older when it starts swinging less. As bowler he was bowling big inswinging deliveries at high pace making it difficult for opposition batsmen to score runs and picking up useful wickets. Abdul Razzaq played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of that 1999 World Cup and was the find of the tournament for Pakistan.

The tournament which bought Abdul Razzaq instant fame was the Carlton and United Series in 2000 featuring Australia and India other than Pakistan. Abdul Razzaq's great all round performances with both bat and ball brought him the man of the tournament award in that triangular series in Australia.

Abdul Razzaq will always be remembered for his great all round ability with both bat and ball that made him a successful all rounder and also for rescuing Pakistan a number of times with his match winning performances with both bat and ball. He also played a vital role in Pakistan winning the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup by opening the bowling alongwith Mohammad Amir in that World Cup. If he wasnt treated poorly by PCB who knows he might have played beyond his retirement in 2014.

Shoaib Akhtar the Fastest bowler in the history of cricket

 I am a Pakistani and I am proud to say that Shoaib Akhtar has the world record of bowling the fastest delivery in international cricket. The delivery that he bowled against England in a pool match in 2003 World Cup at 161.3 Kilometers per hour was the fastest ball ever delivered in history of International cricket. Shoaib Akhtar was even quicker than Jeff Thomson and Brett Lee of Australia as can be judged by the comments of a Bangladeshi cricketer Alok Kapali who said that Shoaib Akhtar is so quick we use to fear he would kill one of our batsmen with his pace and we could hardly see any of his deliveries.

Shoaib Akhtar immediately made an impact after his debut in 1997 against West Indies when he bowled Pakistan to a memorable victory at Durban in the second test match against South Africa which also happened to be Pakistan's first test victory against South Africa. Shoaib Akhtar took five wickets in the first innings of that test match which was instrumental in Pakistan winning that test match held at Durban in 1998 against South Africa. 

The tournament which instantly made Shoaib Akhtar famous was the Asian test championship match in 1999 in Kolkata when Shoaib Akhtar clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar of consecutive deliveries. Those deliveries of Shoaib Akhtar which he clean bowled Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar was regarded as the balls of the Twentieth Century as those bowls were bowled with extreme pace with huge late reverse swing. Pakistan not only went onto win that test match against India but also went onto win the test championship by defeating Sri Lanka at the Final at Dhaka in 1999.

Shoaib Akhtar played a vital role in Pakistan reaching the finals of the 1999 world cup which was held in England. In that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar not only bowled the ball at extremely high speeds but also swung the ball a great deal as English conditions are tailor made for swing making Shoaib Akhtar a lethal bowler. 

Shoaib Akhtar missed a lot of international cricket because of injuries as who knows he might have taken as many wickets as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis if he had played more cricket. After playing the 2011 World Cup in India and Sri lanka and helping Pakistan reach the semi finals of that World Cup Shoaib Akhtar retired from all forms of international cricket. Shoaib Akhtar will always be remembered not only in Pakistani cricket but in international cricket history as the fastest bowler ever to have played cricket.

Pakistani Legend Saeed Anwar

 No Pakistani cricketer was ever as talented and was as perfect timer of the cricket ball as Saeed Anwar. Saeed Anwar in his playing days was ranked as talented and as gifted as Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. The Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail opening partnership was ranked as the best opening partners Pakistan has ever had. One can notice that they were the best as Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail literally silenced the Bangalore crowd in 1996 World Cup Quarterfinal when Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail smashed Indian  bowlers to all parts of the ground amassing 80 runs in the first 10 overs of the Pakistani innings. Had Saeed Anwar stayed on for a little longer who knows Pakistan might have won the match and give the Indians a huge scare in the 1996 World Cup Bangalore Quarter final but that was not to be as Pakistan chasing a huge Indian target of 288 runs could manage only 248 runs in 49 overs in that World Cup Quarter Final.

Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail partnership was unique as Saeed Anwar was usually the aggressor while Aamir Sohail was more subdued and watchful. Saeed Anwar was always more talented than Aamir Sohail and had a tremendous talent and hand eye coordination than Aamir Sohail who was less talented than Saeed Anwar and had to play risky shots in order to hit boundaries. On the otherhand Saeed Anwar was more talented and hitting boundaries came easy to him.

In the 1999 World Cup Saeed Anwar hit two consecutive centuries against Zimbabwe and New Zealand to help Pakistan reach the final. Saeed Anwar hit a vital century against Zimbabwe who were proving to be dark horses in the tournament as Pakistan reached the semi final after defeating Zimbabwe in their final Super Six match. Pakistan had lost to both South Africa and India in Super Six of the 1999 World Cup tournament so defeating Zimbabwe was important for Pakistan to reach the semi finals and Saeed Anwar  helped Pakistan reach the semi finals by scoring a century. After pairing up with Wajahat Ullah Wasti, Saeed Anwar scored another century and helped Pakistan reach the finals after defeating New Zealand. In the final Saeed Anwar failed and so did the rest of Pakistani batting line up and Pakistan were defeated by Australia in the 1999 World Cup Final.

In 2003 despite scoring a superb century against India in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa Saeed Anwar retired from all forms of cricket after the disastrous Pakistani campaign in 2003 World Cup. Saeed Anwar will always be remembered as the best Pakistani opening Batsman of all time.

Pakistan-India Cricket rivalry

 There have been many rivalries between cricket playing nations. Of all the cricketing rivalries the rivalry in cricket between England and Australia also known as the Ashes and India-Pakistan rivalry are the most famous. I will consider India-Pakistan rivalry as more interesting rather than England-Australia Ashes rivalry. Unlike England-Australia rivalry the India-Pakistan rivalry is more intense because of the political tensions between the two countries. 

In the three formats of the game Pakistan's has a better overall record than India in tests and ODI 's. India only has a better record than Pakistan in Twenty20 internationals overall. In tests Pakistan has won 12 test and India has won 9 tests, in ODI's Pakistan has won 73 matches and India has won 55 matches. In Twenty20 Internationals India has won 6 matches and Pakistan has won one match. 

Pakistan has literally dominated India in ODI's especially after Javed Miandad s six off Chetan Sharma in Austral-Asia Cup in 1986. Pakistan kept on dominating India in the 1980s and 1990's until the retirement of Wasim Akram , Waqar Younis and Inzamam ul Haq. After the retirement of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Inzamam India has now started catching up with Pakistan and has narrowed the gap of wins and losses with Pakistan. 

India has now started playing Pakistan in only ICC and ACC tournaments and they no longer play Pakistan in a bilateral series. The government of India doesnt allow India to play Pakistan in a bilateral series because of political tensions between the two nations. Also because the Indian government is now led by Narendra Modi who is an Hindu extremist and Hindu Nationalist. 

Pakistan has always come into form whenever it plays India so Pakistan's loss is greater as compared to India if India doesnt play Pakistan. I wonder why India is so scared in playing Pakistan in a bilateral series although India at present has a formidable team. I truly wish India doesnt mix politics with sport and plays Pakistan in the near future.

Pakistan is a successful cricket playing nation

 Pakistan has always done well in cricket although hockey is Pakistan's national game. Pakistan has always had a positive winning ratio throughout their history as their international record suggests. In test Pakistan has 138 wins and 131 losses, in ODI's Pakistan has 486 wins and lost 413 times and in Twenty20 Internationals Pakistan has 93 wins and 56 losses. This shows that Pakistan has constantly been a successful cricket playing nation and they have shown consistency in their performance throughout their history.

In test cricket Pakistan was briefly ranked no. 1 in test cricket under Misbah ul Haq's captaincy. In ODI cricket Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup under Imran Khan's captaincy and were runner's up in 1999 World Cup under Wasim Akram's captaincy. In recent past Pakistan won the Champions trophy in 2017 under Sarfraz Ahmed captaincy. In twenty20 cricket Pakistan won the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup, and were runners up in 2007 twenty20 World cup and semi finalists in 2010 and 2012 twenty20 World Cup's.

Of all the three formats of the game Pakistan has been most consistently successful in Twenty 20 Internationals as compared to ODI's and test match cricket. This is because Pakistani batsmen have always focused on hitting the ball and going for big shots instead of batting cautiously and watching the ball closely. Also because Pakistani bowlers have always been hard to hit because of fast bowlers giving hard ball to batsmen and their spin bowlers turning the ball hugely. 

Nevertheless Pakistan has always been a tough opponent for their opposing teams in cricket in any format because of their huge talent and huge and tremendous talent base in all aspects of the game whether it being batting, bowling or fielding.

Pakistani Legend Misbah Ul Haq

 Misbah Ul Haq is Pakistan's most successful test captain with 26 test wins. He is way ahead of Imran Khan in terms of test wins who is second on the list of most successful Pakistani test captains with 14 wins but on the otherhand Misbah ul Haq has also led Pakistan to most lost matches with 19 losses. Misbah maybe Pakistan's most successful test captain but he wasnt as successful ODI captain as Imran Khan and is often said Misbah's ODI captaincy as old fashioned and he followed old tactics that Pakistan used to follow in the 1980's and 1990's. Misbah ul Haq was following Pakistan's ancient tactics of the 1992 World Cup in the ODI format of the game. The tactics which were followed by Misbah ul Haq included preserving wickets at the start of the innings until the 35th over and then trying to increase the run rate by going for long and big hits in the last fifteen overs in the innings. All those tactics were followed by cricket teams in the 1980's and 1990's in ODI cricket but modern day tactics are different. 

In modern day cricket especially in ODI cricket you need to improvise and play innovative cricket by increasing the run rate throughout the fifty overs by playing shots all round the ground in all 360 degrees direction. On the otherhand Misbah uL Haq followed Imran Khan's tactics of 1992 world cup until he retired after the 2015 World Cup in Australia in ODI cricket. This is the reason why Misbah ul Haq wasnt  as successful ODI captain as much as he was a successful test captain. As a test captain he was as master tactician as Imran Khan and led Pakistan to a lot of test wins.

As a player he started his career late and made his test debut in 2001 tour of New Zealand. Then he failed to impress not only the selectors but also any Pakistani fan. His selection was mainly stopped due to the presence of Inzamam and Yousuf in the team. When Inzamam retired in 2007 Misbah ul Haq finally made it into the Pakistani team. His style of batting was often regarded as defensive but he could hit the ball a long way if the situation demanded big hits.

In 2017 Misbah ul Haq retired from all forms of international cricket after leading Pakistan to a historic test series win 2-1 against West Indies. Misbah Ul Haq will always be remembered in the history of Pakistani cricket as the most successful Pakistan test captain.

Pakistani Legend Shahid Afridi

No Pakistani cricketer was as attractive, crowd pleasing, enigmatic and charismatic as Shahid Khan Afridi. This Pakistani legend in only his second one day international scored the fastest century off only 37 deliveries against Sri Lanka in a four nation ODI tournament in Nairobi,Kenya in 1996. This record was a world record for many years in One Day International cricket until it was beaten by Corey Anderson of New Zealand against a weak West Indies team. Shahid Afridi was not only a very hard hitting batsman but a very skilful spin bowler too. As a bowler Shahid Afridi had a great leg break, a very effective googly, a top spinner and a quicker delivery which used to surprise many great batsmen. Shahid Afridi had all those variations as a leg spin bowler.

The tournament which really made Shahid Afridi a hero was the Carlton and United Series in Australia in 1996/1997. Shahid Afridi proved himself to be a match winning all rounder in that tournament making Man of the match performances in the finals of that tournament against West Indies. Shahid Afridi's clean bowled of Greg Blewett in a match against Australia in that tournament in Adelaide of a fast inswinging delivery brought him instant fame and was very memorable indeed. Pakistan's triumph in that tournament was Pakistan's only victory in so many triangular World Series Cup tournaments in Australia and Shahid Afridi played a key role in that victorious tournament for Pakistan. Wasim Akram was Pakistan's captain in that tournament.

In test cricket Shahid Afridi who although made a very successful test debut against Australia and made quite a memorable performances like his knock against India of 141 in the Chennai test in 1999 never regarded himself as a test cricketer. That's the reason why he abruptly retired in test cricket in 2010. Although as an ODI cricketer and as a Twenty20 cricketer he had quite a career. In Twenty20 cricket he played a key role in Pakistan's ICC WorldTwenty20 title in 2009. In ODI cricket his consecutive sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin which won a thriller against India in Asia Cup in 2014 made him a hero in Pakistani cricket. That sixes of Afridi was a big gift for Pakistan as Pakistani rarely win against India nowadays.

In 2016 after leading Pakistan to a disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in India, Shahid Afridi retired from all forms of cricket and that was an end of an era. Shahid Afridi will always be remembered for his hard hitting batting, his style of play and for his variations in bowling which was innovative and trend setting.

Pakistani Legend Wasim Akram

There has never been a greater Left hand bowler in the history of world cricket let alone Pakistani cricket than Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram alongwith his partner Waqar Younis were known as the Sultan's of swing. Wasim Akram could swing the ball both ways that is inswing, outswing and was expert in late swing also which is known as reverse swing making him a lethal pace bowler. Wasim Akram could not only swing the ball , he used to swing the ball at extremely high speeds. Alongwith his bowling partner at the other end Waqar Younis , Wasim Akram also used to bowl toe crushing lethal yorkers just like Waqar Younis. Both Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis learnt the art of reverse swing from their captain and maestro the great all rounder Imran Khan.

Wasim Akram with 502 ODI wickets is the second highest wicket taker in ODI cricket behind the retired Sri Lankan off spinner Mutaiha Muralitharan who has above 800 wickets in ODI cricket. Wasim Akram has got a lot of variety in his bowling. He can not only bowl at extreme pace but also has a very good slower ball showing variety in his bowling. He alongwith Waqar Younis bowled Pakistan to a lot of memorable victories. During Wasim-Waqar era Pakistan used to defend meagre and very low totals. They used to defend totals set by the inept Pakistani batting at that time which Pakistan were sure to lose but only Wasim-Waqar in those days were capable of defending such totals. Wasim Akram was known to get the top order batsmen out regularly while Waqar Younis was known to get the lower order and tailenders out regularly.

Wasim Akram was Pakistan's main strike bowler in the 1992 World Cup with 19 wickets. His clean bowling of Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in the 1992 World Cup Final of consecutive deliveries which swung a mile is very memorable indeed.

Wasim Akram also led Pakistan to quite a lot of memorable victories as captain, particularly the Carlton and United Series in 1996/1997, The Asian test Championship in 1999 and to the 1999 World Cup Final only to lose to a rampaging Australian team in the 1999 World Cup Final.

After the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, after Pakistan's disastrous campaign where they lost all their matches against good opposition in the league matches and won only against minnows Holland and Namibia, Wasim Akram the great Pakistani paceman retired from all forms of international cricket.

Pakistani Legend Javed Miandad.

No Pakistani cricketer was ever as charismatic and as technically sound as Javed Miandad. Javed Miandad was not only very technically sound but was also known for his exceptional fighting abilities especially against Pakistan's arch rivals India. Javed Miandad in his era was known as the finest Pakistani batsmen ever produced. When Javed Miandad retired from international cricket after the Bangalore World Cup Quarter Final against India in 1996, the entire Indian population thanked God and made huge sigh of relief which shows Javed Miandad's dominance over India.

   Javed Miandad made such a huge impact on India that after Miandad's six off the last ball win over India in Sharjah in 1986, Pakistan always started as favourites against India from there on and really dominated India after that six off the bowling of Chetan Sharma by Miandad.

Javed Miandad held the Pakistani record of scoring most runs for Pakistan in test cricket. He scored 8,832 runs in test cricket which was a record for Pakistani batsmen in test cricket until it was beaten by Younis Khan who scored over 10,000 runs in test cricket. Miandad's 23 centuries and 43 fifties were a Pakistani record until it was beaten by Inzamam ul Haq. Javed Miandad scored six double centuries during his test career which is a Pakistani record.

Pakistan recorded their first win in a major tournament in Austral-Asia Cup in 1986 in Sharjah when Javed Miandad  played that heroic innings against India in the Final. After that innings Javed Miandad became a national hero.

Javed Miandad also captained Pakistan in test cricket and was also head coach of Pakistan for many years. There has never been a Pakistani cricketer whom the opposition used to fear that he can win a match on his own for Pakistan, only Miandad could do that for Pakistan and that's why he is a Pakistani legend.

Pakistani Legend Imran Khan

There have been many Pakistani cricketers who have captained Pakistan but there has never been a Pakistani captain as inspirational, tactically proficient and shrewd as Imran Khan. Imran Khan as the statistics show is Pakistan's second most successful captain after Misbah Ul Haq with 14 test wins as captain of Pakistan cricket team. Imran Khan is the only Pakistani captain to have lead Pakistan to a World Cup win in 1992 which is Pakistan's solitary World Cup win in the 50 over format of the game. They did come close in 1999 World Cup when Wasim Akram led Pakistan team reached the final only to lose to a rampaging Australian team in 1999 World Cup final. Pakistan has never come even close to a World Cup win ever since which makes Imran Khan's achievement of a World Cup win for Pakistan even more remarkable.

Imran Khan's captaincy is not only known for the World Cup win in 1992 but also for many other memorable series victories like the Nehru Cup in India, beating England in England in a test series in 1987 and also for defeating India in India in 1987 after a thrilling test match in Bangalore.

Imran Khan is also known for being a great All rounder. He was rated as great as and in the category of great all rounders like Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Sir Garfield Sobers. He was not only known for his great pace bowling but also known for his hard hitting batting. Imran Khan took over 362 test wickets and scored over 3000 runs which proves he was a great all rounder. But after suffering from a serious back injury, Imran Khan was reduced from a fast bowler with extreme pace to a medium pacer particularly in the 1992 World Cup.

Imran Khan retired after the shock 1987 World Cup loss to Australia in the semi finals but upon the continued persuasion of Zia Ul Haq the then Pakistani president Imran Khan came out of retirement and that proved to be a wise decision because after that decision Imran Khan led Pakistan to it's only world cup win in 1992 at the age of 39.