pakistan cricket palayers: March 2013

Pakistan Cricket

A miserable Pakistan were thrashed 3-0 in Tests and lost 3-2 in the one-day series, despite fighting hard, losses which Misbah attributed to poor batting.
“Those were disappointing series,” Misbah told reporters on the team’s arrival back home early Tuesday.
“We were better in the one-dayers but couldn’t do much in the Tests and it’s an alarming situation where we need improvement in a lot of things.”
Pakistan’s batting flopped against a high quality South African pace attack led by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. They lost the first Test by 211 runs, the second by four wickets and the third by an innings and 18 runs.
In between the Tests and one-days, Pakistan managed to win a two-match Twenty20 series 1-0 after the first match was abandoned due to rain.
Misbah, who was the team’s leading batsman with 227 in the one-day series, admitted it was the batting that let the side down.
“I think our batting struggled throughout the tour, whether it were the Tests or one-days but the pitches were such that even a top quality batsman like Hashim Amla (of South Africa) also struggled (in a few matches),” said Misbah.
“We also played irresponsible shots and we need to address our batting problems.”
Misbah dismissed reports in the Pakistani media of a rift between him and Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez.
“We didn’t lose because of any rift, we must admit that South Africa were the better team in both the formats,” said Misbah, who turns 39 shortly.
He refused to analyse player performances after former greats called for a clean out to prepare for the 2015 World Cup.
“It is up to the cricket board and the selectors to gauge the performance of the players. I can’t do that, everyone has seen who has performed,” he said.
Pakistan will now compete in the eight-team Champions Trophy in England in June.

Pakistan Cricket

Shoaib Akhter

source link (Google.com.pk)

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhtar is a former professional cricketer who played testes and One Day International matches for the Pakistan national team in ICC organized events. He has been dubbed as The Rawalpindi Express after the place where he was born and he is arguably the fastest bowler the world of cricket has ever seen, easily clocking 150 km/hour on many occasions. He became the first man to bowl a delivery over 100 miles/hour or 161.3 km/hour, which is the fastest delivery ever bowled in the history of cricket against England. Moreover, not only did he achieve a speed of 100 miles/hour on his delivery, he achieved it twice during one single match and that is something that makes him very unique in the world of fast bowlers. His prowess lay in being able to bowl fast and precise Yorkers as well as quick bouncers and these abilities made him one of the greatest as well as most feared bowlers of all time, the likes of which had not been seen in international cricket since the times of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson, Dennis Lillie, Malcolm Marshall and the likes – players who depended on raw pace to pick up wickets.

However, Shoaib Akhtar was also a very controversial figure and it followed him wherever he went. It has been said that he was very selfish and not a team man. The Pakistan team management once sent him home from Australia in the middle of a series because of an alleged poor behavior on his part. In 2006, he was perhaps involved in the biggest controversy when WADA found Shoaib Akhtar guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs and the ICC banned him from playing cricket. This ban was however lifted and he returned to the Pakistan national side the following year and almost immediately, got himself banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board or the PCB for fighting with team mate and fellow opening bowler Mohammad Asif during a training session.

He was selected to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the inaugural IPL but injuries blighted his season and he played only a handful of matches. Akhtar was so injury prone that he only managed to play a total of 46 tests and 163 One Day Internationals in his 12 year international career, taking a total of 425 wickets in all. Shoaib Akhtar, in spite of all his short comings, is truly a legend of the game and no matter what happens, cricket will always remember this flamboyant star.

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

Shoaib Akhter

SHAHID AFRIDI

SOURCES(Google.com.pk)

SHAHID AFRIDI BIOGRAPHY

D.O.B: March 1,1980,Khyber Agency,Karachi,Pakistan
Height: 5ft 11in (1.8M)
Family: Wife Nadiya Afridi, Daughter:Aqsa,Ansha,Ajwa
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Wrist Spin
Education: ..........College, University of Karachi
Interests: Golf, Swimming, Squash, Hunting

International Team: Pakistan
County Team: Hampshire
IPL Team: Deccan Chargers

Of Shahid Afridi it can safely be said that cricket never has and never will see another like him. To say he is an allrounder is to say Albert Einstein was a scientist; it tells a criminally bare story.
For a start, the slant of his all-round skills only became clear ten years into his career; he is a leg-spinning allrounder. Variety is his calling and as well as a traditional leg-break, he has two googlies, a conventional offie and a lethal faster one, though this is increasingly rare. All come with the threat of considerable, late drift. He fairly hustles through overs, which in limited-over formats is a weapon in itself and the package is dangerous.
In 2009 Afridi became one of the World’s most expensive cricketers in the IPL auction.

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is a cricket player for the Pakistan National team. He exploded on to the cricket scene by scoring the fastest century in ODIs in his very first innings. He was initially selected as a bowler but after his big hitting in his 1st innings, he focused more on his batting. In recent years he has gone back to focusing on his bowling . His style of play is best suited to the shortest form of the game T20s.