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12/02/2011

Chris Gayle | Best of Chris Gayle | Images of Chris Gayle | Photos of Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle at the Docklands, 2005
Personal information
Full name Christopher Henry Gayle
Born 21 September 1979 (age 32)
Kingston, Jamaica
Nickname Galy
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting style Left-handed
Bowling style Right arm off break
Role All-Rounder
International information
National side West Indies
Test debut 16 March 2000 v Zimbabwe
Last Test 5 December 2010 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut 11 September 1999 v India
Last ODI 6 February 2011 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no. 45
Domestic team information
Years Team
1998–2008, 2010 - Jamaica
2005 Worcestershire
2009–11 Western Warriors
2008–2010 Kolkata Knight Riders
2011- Royal Challengers Bangalore
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 91 223 165 284
Runs scored 6,373 7,917 12,127 10,138
Batting average 41.65 39.00 44.74 39.60
100s/50s 13/33 19/42 29/59 21/58
Top score 333 153* 333 153*
Balls bowled 6,857 6,900 12,133 8,930
Wickets 72 156 129 210
Bowling average 41.59 34.91 38.87 32.17
5 wickets in innings 2 1 2 1
10 wickets in match 0 n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling 5/34 5/46 5/34 5/46
Catches/stumpings 85/– 96/– 143/– 118/–
Source: Cricinfo, 6 February 2011

Chris Gayle

Christopher Henry "Chris" Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricketer who
currently plays international cricket for the West Indies. He captained the West Indies'
Test side from 2007 to 2010. He plays domestic cricket for Jamaica, and has also
represented Worcestershire, the Western Warriors and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
He is currently signed with Royal Challenger Bangalore in the Indian Premier League
(IPL) and the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. He is one of only four players
who have scored two triple centuries at Test level: 317 against South Africa in 2005,
and 333 against Sri Lanka in 2010.

Christopher Henry Gayle

Career

Gayle played for the West Indies at youth international level prior to making his first-class debut aged 19 for Jamaica. He played his first One Day International 11 months later, and his first Test match 6 months after that. Gayle, who normally opens the innings when he plays for the West Indies, is a destructive batsman who is most effective playing square of the wicket. In July 2001, Gayle (175), together with Daren Ganga (89) established the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo when they put on 214 together against Zimbabwe.

However, generally speaking he had a slow start to his international career, but invigorated it in 2002, ending the year with three centuries against India in November and becoming the third West Indian to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year, along with Vivian Richards and Brian Lara. He is one of only six players in One Day International history to have three or more scores of 150. In 2005, Gayle was dropped for the first Test against South Africa along with six other players following a dispute over sponsorship issues (see below). He returned for the second test but had a poor series until the fourth Test, where he made a match-saving 317. It was the first ever triple century against South Africa and up until Mahela Jayawardene made 374, it was the highest individual Test score against them.

In August 2005, Gayle joined Worcestershire for the rest of the English season, playing eight matches. He made two half-centuries in three first class matches and two half-centuries in five one-day matches, and won one Man of the Match award in the one-day National League. However, Worcestershire were relegated after Gayle made 1 in the final match against Lancashire. Gayle was named Player of the 2006 Champions Trophy, where the West Indies nearly defended the title which they won in 2004, being defeated in the final by Australia. Gayle scored three centuries and totaled 474 runs, 150 more than any other batsman, and also took eight wickets in as many matches. Gayle, in keeping with the rest of the West Indies team, had a poor World Cup in 2007. He recorded a series of low scores; the one exception being a blistering 79 off 58 balls against England in the West Indies' final match.

On 17 December 2009 in the Australia v West Indies 3rd Test Chris Gayle scored the fifth fastest century in Test match history. He reached the century in just 70 balls. However he was shortly after dismissed for 102 runs. This feat included a flurry of runs thanks to some big hitting sixes. One of the sixes hit the Lillee Marsh stand's roof in a monstrous hit that was estimated by commentator, Ian Healy, to be approx 140 metres long. On 16 November 2010, he became the fourth cricketer to score two triple centuries in Test cricket after Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.[2]

Twenty20

Gayle holds the record for the highest innings in a Twenty20 International, having scored 117 against South Africa in the first match of the 2007 World Twenty20,[3] His innings was the first century in international Twenty20 cricket, and one of only four scored to date (the other three being Brendon McCullum's 116 not out, Suresh Raina's 101 and Mahela Jayawardene's 100). Because of this, he, Jayawardene, Suresh Raina and McCullum share the honour of being the only batsmen to score a century in each of international cricket's three formats.[4] In the semi-final match of the 2009 World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka, he became the first international player to carry his bat through the entire innings in this format of the game. In April 2008, Gayle was auctioned by the franchise Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, but missed the opening games due to a Sri Lanka tour to the Caribbean. When he finally joined the team, he missed out on the action due to a groin injury he picked up during that tour. Afterwards, he left to join the West Indies team for a home series against Australia, therefore not playing in the inaugural version of the IPL at all. On 1 July 2009, Gayle signed with the Western Australia Warriors for the Australian Domestic Twenty20 tournament known as the Big Bash for the 2009–10 season.

He played in the second IPL competition in early 2009, arriving for an away Test series against England very late, earning criticism about his commitment.[5] His Test series went poorly, and the West Indies went on to lose both the Test and ODI series. Gayle, however, went to on score a match winning 88 in the first official match of the 2009 Twenty20, in a surprise victory over Australia.[6]

In 2011, after being left out of the initial part of the West Indies T20 and one-day home series against Pakistan, Gayle opted to join the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.[7] In his first game against his previous team Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 102 off 55 balls, hitting 10 fours and 7 sixes.[8] On May 6, 2011, he scored another century, 107 off 49 balls against the Kings XI Punjab, which included 10 fours and 9 sixes.[9] In the next match against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, he scored 37 runs in one over, which included 3 sixes, 3 fours and a no ball which was hit for a six.[10] Although many people cite him as having hit the over for 37, one run was awarded as an extra due to the no ball. He can therefore be said to have hit 36 off an over which went for 37. Gayle won the Orange Cap Award for scoring the most runs in the tournament amassing 608 runs in 12 matches.[11] He was instrumental in many victories for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and received five man of the match awards for his performances.[12]

One Day International Centuries of Chris Gayle[21]

# Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year Result
1 152 32 Kenya Nairobi, Kenya Simba Union Ground 2001 Won
2 103 54 India Nagpur, India VCA Ground 2002 Won
3 140 56 India Ahmedabad, India Sardar Patel Stadium 2002 Lost
4 101 57 India Vadodara, India Reliance Stadium 2002 Won
5 119 68 Kenya Kimberley, South Africa De Beers Diamond Oval 2003 Won
6 153* 79 Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club 2003 Won
7 112* 83 Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club 2003 Won
8 152* 88 South Africa Johannesburg, South Africa The Wanderers Stadium 2004 Lost
9 132* 100 England London, England Lord's 2004 Won
10 132 116 South Africa Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 2005 Lost
11 124 124 Pakistan Gros Islet, St Lucia Beausejour Cricket Ground 2005 Lost
12 123 134 India Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2006 Lost
13 104* 145 Bangladesh Jaipur, India Sawai Mansingh Stadium 2006 Won
14 101 149 England Ahmedabad, India Sardar Patel Stadium 2006 Lost
15 133* 150 South Africa Jaipur, India Sawai Mansingh Stadium 2006 Won
16 110* 186 Canada King City, Canada Maple Leaf Cricket Club 2008 Won
17 113 187 Pakistan Abu Dhabi, UAE Sheikh Zayed Stadium 2008 Lost
18 122 189 Pakistan Abu Dhabi, UAE Sheikh Zayed Stadium 2008 Lost
19 135 189 New Zealand Napier, New Zealand McLean Park 2008 Lost

Ross Taylor | Best of Ross Taylor | Images of Ross Taylor | Photos of Ross Taylor

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Personal information
Full name Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor
Born 8 March 1984 (age 27)
Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
Nickname Rosco
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm off break
Relations Wife : Victoria Jayne Brown
International information
National side New Zealand
Test debut (cap 234) 8 November 2007 v South Africa
Last Test 15 January 2011 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 144) 1 March 2006 v West Indies
Last ODI 29 March 2011 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years Team
2002–present Central Districts
2008–2010 RC Bangalore
2009–2010 Victoria
2010 Durham
2011–present Rajasthan Royals
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC List A
Matches 30 107 76 152
Runs scored 2,221 3,055 5,054 4,707
Batting average 41.12 36.80 40.11 37.95
100s/50s 5/12 4/20 10/29 8/31
Top score 201* 131* 217 132*
Balls bowled 90 42 660 318
Wickets 2 0 6 3
Bowling average 21.50 – 59.83 81.00
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 2/4 0/2 2/4 1/13
Catches/stumpings 52/– 78/– 96/– 103/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 30 March 2011

Ross Taylor

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor (born 8 March 1984), abbreviated in cricket scorecards to LRPL Taylor, but more commonly known as Ross Taylor, is a New Zealand cricketer and the current captain, preferred ahead of wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. He has also captained the New Zealand Under-19 side in youth internationals. Taylor has a highest first-class score of 132* in the State Shield domestic one-day competition in 2003–04, and 217 in the State Championship in 2007–08.

International career

He made his debut for the New Zealand team in international cricket on 1 March 2006, in a one-day match against the West Indies. He became the second male player of Samoan heritage to play for New Zealand after Murphy Su'a.[1] Taylor's full name is Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor; however, some sources have inaccurately recorded his name as Ross Luteru Taylor. This is because Taylor grew up answering to both Luteru and Ross when playing cricket, and did not realise he needed to write down his full name for the official New Zealand Cricket records when he was asked to fill in a questionnaire at a first-class match early in his career.

Taylor captained New Zealand for the first time in an ODI against Australia in Napier on 3 March 2010, when Daniel Vettori dropped out of the side less than 30 minutes before the start with a neck ache. Taylor top-scored with 70 and New Zealand won by two wickets with four balls to spare. Taylor was also awarded the Man of the Match and donated the $NZ 500 prize to the Landsdowne Cricket Club in Masterton.

Taylor has been a dominant batsman on the domestic scene for the past couple of seasons. He is a clean striker of the ball, and a useful off-break bowler. Taylor scored his maiden one day century in front of a delighted crowd in Napier, playing against Sri Lanka on 28 December 2006. Unluckily for him, New Zealand were comprehensively beaten in that game, his innings aside. He also suffered dehydration and required a short hospital trip during the second innings. Taylor hit 84 against Australia in their opening game in the 2007 Commonwealth Bank series.

Taylor has also played English cricket for Norwich and Coltishall Wanderers in Norfolk. He was their key player and he was consistent in scoring runs.

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor

Domestic career

In the Indian Premier League he plays for the Rajasthan Royals, his domestic team in New Zealand is the Central Stags, in 2009/10 he played for the Victorian Bushrangers in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash as one of two overseas players (the other being Dwayne Bravo from the West Indies). In the 2009 2009-10 HRV Cup Final against the Auckland Aces, Taylor scored a match-winning 80 off 30 balls, and in a partnership with Kieran Noema-Barnett they scored 133 of 53. Taylor also hit Michael Bates for 27 in one over, including three consecutive sixes. In total Taylor hit eight sixes and five fours for the Stags. In 2010 he played for Durham in the Friends Provident T20 tournament, his most substantial contribution being a brutal 80 not out from only 33 balls including 3 fours and 9 sixes

Achievements

Taylor's first ODI century came against Sri Lanka on 28 December 2006, scoring 128* off 133 balls. The innings included 12 fours and 6 sixes. Taylor scored his second century in his ODI career on 18 February 2007 against Australia. He scored 117, the 2nd highest score by a New Zealander against Australia.

He made his highest ODI score of 131* which came off 124 balls against Pakistan on 8 March 2011 at the ICC Cricket World Cup. His innings included seven (7) 6's and eight (8) 4's and contributed to New Zealand making 127 runs in the final 9 overs of the game for their highest total ever against Pakistan (302) in ODI cricket. It is from this match that Taylor earned his nickname 'The Pallekele Plunderer' after he blasted a staggering 55 runs from the last 13 deliveries he faced.[2]

He scored his maiden Test century, a patient and restrained 120, in March 2008 at Hamilton in the first Test of the 2007–08 series against England and went on to be the leading run scorer for the series.

Aside from national duties for the New Zealand team, Taylor also plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and for his domestic team, the Central Districts Stags. Taylor scored a match winning innings of 81 from just 33 balls for Bangalore against Kolkata to seal an improbable victory for his team in 2009.

Known for his explosive style, combining flair and aggression with proper, elegant strokes, Taylor has been a match-winner in many of the RCB's wins. He has one of the highest strike-rates as an RCB batsman and known to be a 'finisher'. After RCB's win over Delhi Dare Devils at Airtel Champions League Twenty20 2009, captain Anil Kumble said that Taylor was a "murderer" of spinners, referring to his explosive innings of 65. In 38 balls, Taylor had scored six 4s and four 6s, and was declared Man of the Match.[3]

Ross Taylor scored a Test match career-best of 154* against England at Old Trafford in May 2008, a brilliant innings including 5 sixes and 17 fours.

His third Test century, an aggressive and chancy innings of 151 runs off 204 balls, came against India at Napier in March 2009. His fourth Test century, in the next Test, was a serene 107 which delayed India's victory long enough to force a draw.

His fifth century was 138 against Australia at Hamilton, in March 2010, which was also the fastest Test century ever by a New Zealander.

Personal life

Taylor and New Zealand women's cricketer Victoria Jayne Brown got married on 25 June 2011. Victoria gave birth to a daughter named Mackenzie on 24th September 2011.

Test centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the Test centuries scored by Ross Taylor.
In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's careerTest Centuries of Ross Taylor
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 120 3 England Hamilton, New Zealand Seddon Park 2008
2 154* 7 England Manchester, England Old Trafford 2008
3 151 16 India Napier, New Zealand McLean Park 2009
4 107 17 India Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 2009
5 138 24 Australia Hamilton, New Zealand Seddon Park 2010

ODI centuries

The following table illustrates a summary of the ODI centuries scored by Ross Taylor.
In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's careerODI Centuries of Ross Taylor
Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 128* 3 Sri Lanka Napier, New Zealand McLean Park 2006
2 117 17 Australia Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park 2007
3 103 48 Bangladesh Chittagong, Bangladesh Chittagong Divisional Stadium 2008
4 131* 99 Pakistan Kandy, Srilanka Pallekele International Cricket Stadium 2011

Umar Akmal | Best of Umar Akmal | Images of Umar Akmal | Photos of Umar Akmal

admin 12:14 Umar Akmal No comments

Umar Akmal walking back to the pavilion in December 2010.
Personal information
Full name Umar Akmal
Born 26 May 1990 (age 21)
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Batting style Right hand bat
Role Batsman
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I
Matches 15 43 22
Runs scored 988 1249 571
Batting average 36.59 37.84 31.72
100s/50s 1/6 1/8 0/4
Top score 129 102* 64
Balls bowled – – –
Wickets – – –
Bowling average – – –
5 wickets in innings – – –
10 wickets in match – – –
Best bowling – – –
Catches/stumpings 12/– 18/– 18/1
Source: Cricinfo, 20 August 2011

Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal (Urdu: عمر اکمل; born 26 May 1990) is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his ODI debut on 1 August 2009 against Sri Lanka and made his Test debut against New Zealand on 23 November 2009.

Personal life

Umar is the youngest brother of Adnan Akmal and Kamran Akmal who are also cricketers. While his brothers are specialistwicket keepers, he is a right-handed batsman and a part time spinner. He can also keep wicket - in recent times he has kept wicket for Pakistan in the shorter forms of the game.

Early career

Umar represented Pakistan in the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia. After his success at the U-19 level he earned himself a first class contract and played the 2007-08 season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, representing the Sui Southern Gas team. He is considered a future asset for Pakistan cricket. He is an aggressive style cricketer. In only his sixth first class match he smashed 248 off just 225 deliveries, including four sixes.[1] He followed that up with an unbeaten 186 in his 8th first class match, off just 170 balls. He fared less well in his second season of first class cricket, with a string of low scores batting at number 3. He found form in the final few matches of the 2008/09 season and then in the RBS T20 tournament thus getting the selectors nod to play for Pakistan A side on their tour to Australia A.

Umar Akmal.

Australia A tour

Umar came to prominence during the Australia A tour in June/July 2009. In the two Test matches he recorded scores of 54, 100*, 130, 0. In the ODI series that followed Umar continued his fine form with a century in the opening ODI encounter off just 68 deliveries. These performances made him gather considerable praise from the media who were there to witness him and calls began to grow about his inclusion in the ODI series for the main Pakistan side against Sri Lanka.[2]

Test career

Umar made his Test debut against New Zealand at Dunedin on 23 November 2009. On the third day of his debut test, Umar Akmal hit 129 runs from 160 balls becoming only the second Pakistani to score a hundred on debut away from home after Fawad Alam. This feat also made him the first Pakistani batsman to score both his maiden Test and ODI century away from home, following his ODI century against Sri Lanka. The innings was noted as special due to Pakistan's tough position in the match and the hundred partnership which Akmal was involved in alongside his elder brother Kamran. He followed up the century in the first innings with a fifty in the second innings.

In only his second Test match he was moved up the order to the crucial spot of number 3, where he struggled initially but managed to counter-attack the hostile bowling with his natural flair, making 46 before he was undone by an inswinger by Daryl Tuffey. In the second innings he was moved down the order to his usual batting spot of number 5 as captain Mohammed Yousuf chose to bat at number 3 himself, and Akmal looked his usual aggressive self throughout his innings of 52 which came off only 33 balls. He had his first failure in the first innings of the third test at Napier where he was caught in the gully for a duck but scored a rearguard 77 in the second, promoting him to the leading run scorer of the series. Akmal finished the tour with 400 runs at an average of 57.14.

Umar Akmal

ODI and Twenty20 career

In an interview, Umar said "My own dream is to one day play for Pakistan alongside Kamran Bhai (Brother) and I'm working hard to try and achieve that goal".[3] Akmal was selected in Pakistan's squad for the One Day International Series against Sri Lanka in July/August 2009. Having missed out on the first ODI Umar made his debut in the second match of the series replacing Mohammad Yousuf in the middle order. In only his second career ODI Umar scored his maiden ODI fifty. Umar followed up his maiden fifty by scoring a century in the very next match. For this match winning effort he was awarded his first career Man of the Match award.[4] His exploits in Sri Lanka earned him a place in Pakistan's champions trophy squad. He played two good innings. His 41 not out against West Indies was a match winning knock and landed him his second career Man of the Match award.[5] His next big innings came in the semi final against New Zealand, where he scored a brisk 55 in a losing effort, before he was wrongly given out by umpire Simon Taufel, who later apologized.[6] Despite the fact that Umar Akmal is not a wicket-keeper he kept wicket for Pakistan temporarily in the third ODI against England in 2010 from the 27th Over onwards because his elder brother Kamran was being diagnosed for an injury to his finger. Umar Akmal cracked 71 runs in 52 balls including 8 boundaries and 1 six in his debut World Cup match, he was also announced Player Of the match.[7]

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Personal information
Full name Kamran Akmal
Born 13 January 1982 (age 29)
Lahore, Pakistan
Batting style Right hand bat
Role Wicketkeeper/Batsman
International information
National side Pakistan
Test debut (cap 172) 9 November 2002 v Zimbabwe
Last Test 26 August 2010 v England
ODI debut (cap 143) 23 November 2002 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI 30 March 2011 v India
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODI T20I
Matches 53 130 38
Runs scored 2,648 2,772 704
Batting average 30.79 27.44 23.46
100s/50s 6/12 5/9 0/5
Top score 158* 124 73
Catches/stumpings 184/22 129/21 17/28
Source: Cricinfo, 12 September 2010

Kamran Akmal (Urdu: کامران اکمل; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played Tests, ODIs and T20Is for Pakistan as a wicket-keeper.

International career

He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in Test innings. However, his first century was vital - his 109 from the number eight position at Mohali, coming in with Pakistan in a lead of 39 against India in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring English in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team. Naturally, he is a batsman that plays lower down the order but has sometimes opened in both Test and One-day cricket. As an opener he has scored two back to back centuries in ODIs against England. Coming in lower down the order in Test matches, he played one memorable innings. He saved Pakistan from a score of 39/6, scoring a century, to a competitive 245 which helped Pakistan win the match and the series.

His batting was highly productive in early 2006 as he scored seven international hundreds within the space of 6 months. Since his tour of England in Summer 2006 however his batting form dwindled and steadily become worse. His wicket-keeping also worsened and dropped many catches on both the England tour and on a tour to South Africa in early 2007. He then scored an international hundred in the Bangladeshi tour of Pakistan in 2008. He later moved to have some injuries and did not play for some days but later he was again brought into the team.

Akmal was dropped for the Asia Cup 2008 as a result of his poor wicket-keeping. He was replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed who performed very well at the domestic level and also because of Sarfraz's strong showing in the U-19 World Cup. Akmal was named in the 30 man probable squad for the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy.

Akmal was part of the Pakistan team that won the T20 World Cup in 2009. He was notable for his quick stumpings, dismissing 4 batsmen in one match against Netherlands.

On 12 November 2008, Akmal hit two consecutive 6s in the last over. As a result Pakistan won the first ODI in Abu Dhabi against West Indies.

On 17 July 2010, Akmal was appointed the vice-captain of the Pakistani test squad but later removed because of his alleged involvement in spot fixing.[1]

Kamran Akmal

A Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal

Match fixing allegations

In the 2nd Test match on the 2009-10 tour of Australia, Akmal dropped four catches in the Australian innings, three of those coming from Michael Hussey. Hussey went on to score 134* and was involved in a massive 9th wicket partnership stand of 133 runs with Peter Siddle. Pakistan eventually went on to lose the match by 36 runs, after being dismissed for just 139 in the second innings. Later it was alleged that he, along with pace bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were involved in match fixing, and were questioned by Pakistan Cricket Board and subsequently dropped for the Twenty20 series against England.[2]

In early September 2010 The International Cricket Council sent an official notice to Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal telling him that he is under investigation for allegedly fixing the Sydney Test.[1] For the subsequent series against South Africa in October 2010 Akmal had an operation to remove his appendix and was unavailable for the limited-overs squad. Akmal was able to recover from the operation to participate in the two-match test series but Zulqarnain Haider was selected ahead of him [3] Another reason also emerged that Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin and Yasir Hameed were not selected for the tour due to the fact that suspicions were raised that they were involved with the spot-fixing scandal that included Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Another player Wahab Riaz was under investigation for fixing but the ICC had interrogated him and he was no longer part of the investigation therefore he was allowed to take part on the tour of South Africa that included two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODI matches and two Test matches. Though this has not been confirmed by the board, it is believed that the reason they were not picked was that the suspicion had not been cleared.[4] The ICC confirmed that Akmal had been barred from entering the team. Once his investigation was completed he was available for national selection.[5]

Wicket-keeping

Kamran Akmal has been constantly criticized for his lack of consistent wicket-keeping. After another horrendous series behind the stumps against Sri Lanka in January 2009 journalists and former players called for his removal from the national team.[6] His wicket-keeping steadily improved, with a very strong showing in the 2009 T20 World Cup, including a world-record performance of four stumpings in a single match against the Netherlands. However during the second test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground he dropped four catches, including three chances from Michael Hussey in one session on Day 4. Hussey went on to score a match winning century with the Pakistan team losing in a shock result after dominating the first three days of play.[7][8] He was subsequently dropped for the third test, being replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed. After this tour Akmal saw a steady improvement in his wicket-keeping for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, 2010 Asia Cup and against Australia in July 2010 however the next test series against England saw Akmal drop three easy catches and miss a stumping. The match as a consolation saw Akmal take a superb catch of Kevin Pietersen before dropping a catch on the very next ball against Paul Collingwood. In the first innings Akmal dropped a catch of Eoin Morgan when he was on 23 who then went on to score 130.[9] Despite having another keeper, Zulqarnain Haider, in the squad, Pakistani captain Salman Butt announced it was too early in the series as only one match had been played to decide the fate of Kamran Akmal.[10] However the team decided to give him a break and placed in reserve-keeper Zulqarnain Haider; Haider scored a match-saving 88 in the second innings. However a finger injury ruled him out for the fourth test and the rest of the series. Therefore Akmal returned.

Personal life

Akmal has two brothers, Adnan Akmal and Umar Akmal, who are also professional cricketers. The former being a keeper-batsman and the latter being a batting all-rounder. He married in 2006 and lives with his wife, Aaiza, and their young daughter. He is a graduate of Beaconhouse School System Garden Town,Lahore.[11] On 14 November 2010 it emerged that Akmal and his family had been robbed at gunpoint. The family were heading to wedding near their home when two unidentified people came and held them at gunpoint. The family were safe but the robbers ran away with a thousand dollar diamond ring, jewellery, expensive watches and cash [12]

IPL career

Akmal was signed on to the Rajasthan Royals, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He played five matches in the tournament, as wicket-keeper and top-order batsman, including the final of the tournament against the Chennai Super Kings. He took two catches in the first innings, however he was run out for six runs during the Royal's chase. The Royals went on to win the tournament after a thrilling finish. He did not play in 2009 because Pakistani players were not allowed to participate as a result of the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Test centuriesTest Centuries of Kamran Akmal

# Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
[1] 109 11 India Mohali, India Punjab C.A. Stadium 2005
[2] 154 18 England Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2006
[3] 102* 19 India Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2006
[4] 113 21 India Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2006
[5] 119 37 India Kolkata, India Eden Gardens 2007
[6] 158* 39 Sri Lanka Karachi, Pakistan National Stadium 2009

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Personal details
Born 25 November 1952 (age 59)
Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Spouse(s) Jemima Khan (1995 - 2004)
Children 2 (Sulaiman and Qasim Khan)
Residence Lahore
Occupation Politician, Philanthropist, Cricketer
Religion Islam
Website http://www.insaf.pk/

Imran Khan Niazi (Urdu: عمران خان نیازی; born 25 November 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist, cricket commentator and Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Founder and Chairman Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Khan played for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and served as its captain intermittently throughout 1982-1992. After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup, he was called back to join the team in 1988. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches.[1] On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[2]

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).[3] He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007.[4]

Khan, through worldwide fundraising, has also helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Family, education, and personal life

Imran Khan was born to Shaukat Khanum (Burki)[5] and Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, in Lahore. A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up in an upper middle-class Niazi Pathan family with four sisters, he being the only son of his parents.[6] Settled in Punjab, Khan's father descended from the Pashtun (Pathan) Niazi Shermankhel tribe of Mianwali in Punjab.[7] Imran's Mother Shaukat Khanum (Burki's) family includes successful hockey players[5] and cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan.[7] Khan was educated at Aitchison College, the Cathedral School in Lahore, and the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics.[8]

Marriage to Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith

On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in an Islamic ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in Surrey.[9] The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan,[7] produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).[10] As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".[11] The marriage ended amicably. Imran has regular access to his children and his relationship with his ex-wife is friendly. Khan now resides in Bani Gala, Islamabad, where he built a farmhouse with the money he gained from selling his London flat. He grows fruit trees, wheat, and keeps cows, while also maintaining a cricket ground for his two sons, who visit during their holidays.[7]

Cricket career

Khan made a lacklustre first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71).[12] Khan was part of Oxford University's Blues Cricket team during the 1973-75 seasons.[8] At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan include Dawood Industries (1975–76) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–76 to 1980-81). From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex.[1]

In 1971, Khan made his Test cricket debut against England at Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976-77 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia.[12] Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.[1] His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to establish when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.[1]

As a fast bowler, Khan reached the peak of his powers in 1982. In 9 Tests, he got 62 wickets at 13.29 each, the lowest average of any bowler in Test history with at least 50 wickets in a calendar year.[13] In January 1983, playing against India, he attained a Test bowling rating of 922 points. Although calculated retrospectively (ICC player ratings did not exist at the time), Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC's All-Time Test Bowling Rankings.[14]

Khan achieved the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behind Ian Botham's 72. He is also established as having the second highest all-time batting average of 61.86 for a Test batsman playing at position 6 of the batting order.[15] He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England at Melbourne, Australia.[16] He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so.[1] In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.

Captaincy
At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year-old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team from Javed Miandad. Recalling his initial discomfort with this new role, he later said, "When I became the cricket captain, I couldn’t speak to the team directly I was so shy. I had to tell the manager, I said listen can you talk to them, this is what I want to convey to the team. I mean early team meetings I use to be so shy and embarrassed I couldn’t talk to the team."[17] As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.[1]

In the team's second match under his leadership, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's.[18] Khan's first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981-82.[1] He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982-83, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.[12]

This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984-85 season.[1]

In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first ever Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England the same year.[18] During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by the President Of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team.[1] Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well".[7] He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.[1]

Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting line-up, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself.[12]

Social work

For more than four years after retiring from cricket in 1992, Khan focused his efforts solely on social work. By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organisation bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. As the Trust's maiden endeavour, Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by Khan from all over the world.[3] Inspired by the memory of his mother, who died of cancer, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a charitable cancer hospital with 75 percent free care, opened in Lahore on 29 December 1994.[7] Khan currently serves as the chairman of the hospital and continues to raise funds through charity and public donations.[28]

During the 1990s, Khan also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports[29] and promoted health and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.[30]

On 27 April 2008, Khan's brainchild, a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College, was inaugurated. Namal College was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), as chaired by Khan, and was made an associate college of the University of Bradford (of which Khan is Chancellor) in December 2005.[31] Currently, Khan is building another cancer hospital in Karachi, using his successful Lahore institution as a model. While in London, he also works with the Lord’s Taverners, a cricket charity.[3]

Political work The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2011)

In 1996, Khan founded a political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emphasized on anti-corruption policies.[7][32] The newly formed party was unable to win a seat during the 1997 Pakistani general election.[33] Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999,[34] believing Musharraf would "end corruption, clear out the political mafias".[35] According to Khan, he was Musharraf's choice of prime minister in 2002 but turned down the offer.[36] The 2002 Pakistani general election were held in October across 272 constituencies. Khan anticipated doing well in the elections and was prepared to form a coalition if his party did not get a majority of the vote.[37] He was elected from the NA-71 constituency of Mianwali and being the only party member to have secured a seat, PTI won only 0.8% of the popular vote. Khan, who was sworn in as an MP on 16 November[38], remained part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts, and expressed legislative interest in Foreign Affairs, Education and Justice.[39]

On 6 May 2005, Khan became one of the first Muslim figures to criticise a 300-word Newsweek story about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an in a U.S. military prison at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Khan held a press conference to denounce the article and demanded that Gen. Pervez Musharraf secure an apology from the American president George W. Bush for the incident.[40] In 2006, he exclaimed, "Musharraf is sitting here, and he licks George Bush’s shoes!" Criticizing Muslim leaders supportive of the Bush administration, he added, "They are the puppets sitting on the Muslim world. We want a sovereign Pakistan. We do not want a president to be a poodle of George Bush."[17] During George W. Bush's visit to Pakistan in March 2006, Khan was placed under house arrest in Islamabad after his threats of organising a protest.[7] In June 2007, the federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Sher Afghan Khan Niazi and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party filed separate ineligibility references against Khan, asking for his disqualification as member of the National Assembly on grounds of immorality. Both references, filed on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, were rejected on 5 September.[41]

On 2 October 2007, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement, Khan joined 85 other MPs to resign from Parliament in protest of the Presidential election scheduled for 6 October, which General Musharraf was contesting without resigning as army chief.[4] On 3 November 2007, Khan was put under house arrest at his father's home hours after President Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. Khan had demanded the death penalty for Musharraf after the imposition of emergency rule, which he equated to "committing treason". The next day, on 4 November, Khan escaped and went into peripatetic hiding.[42] He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the University of the Punjab.[43] At the rally, Khan was captured by students from the Jamaat-i-Islami political party, who claimed that Khan was an uninvited nuisance at the rally, and they handed him over to the police, who charged him under the Anti-terrorism act for allegedly inciting people to pick up arms, calling for civil disobedience, and for spreading hatred.[44] Incarcerated in the Dera Ghazi Khan Jail, Khan's relatives had access to him and were able to meet him to deliver goods during his week-long stay in jail. On 19 November, Khan let out the word through PTI members and his family that he had begun a hunger strike but the Deputy Superintendent of Dera Ghazi Khan Jail denied this news, saying that Khan had bread, eggs and fruit for breakfast.[45] Khan was one of the 3,000 political prisoners released from imprisonment on 21 November 2007.[46]

Awards and honours

Khan in Germany
In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz
In 1983, he had received the President’s Pride of Performance Award
Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.[29]
On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.
In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.
In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year
In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year
In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year[12]
On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.[55]
On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities.[56]
On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan.[57] In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.[58]