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.
