MUHAMMAD AaMIR SOHAIL (PAKISTAN)

Introduction:

Mohammad Aamer Sohail (born on 14 September 1966), is a professional Pakistani cricketer, he formed one of the best opening combinations Pakistan has ever had. Sohail was a predominantly back foot player whose forte was improvisation. He loved to attack, and almost found it impossible to control his aggression. He showed no fear, epitomised by his baiting of Venkatesh Prasad in a 1996 World Cup quarter final in front of a hostile Bangalore crowd. He was an effective left arm spinner, more a one day bowler than a Test wicket taker. Aamir played a big part in Pakistan's World Cup triumph in 1992.

Career:

Sohail made his first class debut in 1983, a left handed opening batsman and occasional left arm spin bowler. In a playing career that spanned eighteen years, Sohail played in 195 first class and 261 List A Limited Overs matches, including 47 Test matches and 156 One Day Internationals for Pakistan.

Sohail's most infamous moment on the cricket field, however, was in the 1996 World Cup Quarter Final against arch rival India in Bangalore. Sohail was captaining the side in pursuit of a relatively large target of 287 in 49 overs. With opening partner Saeed Anwar, he got Pakistan off to a flying start. With the score at 109 for one, and Saeed Anwar (48) back in the pavilion, Sohail smashed a delivery from Indian seamer Venkatesh Prasad through the covers for four. Both players exchanged words, and Sohail unnecessarily pointed his finger aggressively at Prasad. The next delivery clean bowled him 
and triggered a batting collapse which ultimately lost the game and eliminated Pakistan from the competition. The loss had other causes, however, which included captain Wasim Akram withdrawing from the match for mysterious reasons on the morning of the quarterfinals. The five batsmen following Sohail, Inzamam, Ijaz, Saleem and Javed all played poorly. This match remains a controversial one, for Sohail blew the whistle about players involved in match fixing. Sohail was at the heart of the match fixing scandal that rocked cricket in the 1990s: as captain of the national team, his whistle blowing may have negatively affected his international career. After retiring from cricket in 2001, Sohail became chief selector for the national team, his tenure ending in January 2004 when he was replaced by former national team wicket keeper Wasim Bari. He continues to work as a cricket broadcaster. On 4 Feb 2014 he was again appointed as Chief Selector of the national team for the second time.
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ABDUL QADIR KHAN (PAKISTAN)

Introduction:

Abdul Qadir Khan (born 15 September 1955) is a Pakistani international cricketer whose main role was as a leg spin bowler. Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board, from which post he resigned because of differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket. Qadir appeared in 67 Test and 104 One Day International ODI matches between 1977 and 1993, and captained the Pakistan cricket team in five ODIs. In Test cricket, his best performance for series was 30 wickets for 437 runs, against 

England in 1987. His best bowling figures for an innings were nine 

wickets for 56 against the same team at the Gaddafi Stadium. In ODIs, his best bowling figures were five wickets for 44 runs against Sri Lanka during the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He was a member of Pakistani team in the 1983 and 1987 Cricket World Cups. Qadir as "a master of the leg spin" who "mastered the googlies, the flippers, the leg breaks and the top spins." He is widely regarded as a top spin bowler of his generation and was included in Richie Benaud's Greatest XI shortlist of imaginary cricket team from the best players available from all countries and eras. Former English captain Graham Gooch said that "Qadir was even finer than Shane Warne".

Personal Life:

Qadir was born on 15 September 1955 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. His brother, Ali Bahadur, was also a leg spinner who appeared in 10 first class matches during 1986-87. Qadir's three sons Rehman Qadir, Imran Qadir and Sulaman Qadir also represented different Pakistani teams in the first class competition, while his younger son, Usman Qadir, has played in 12 List A matches.

Career:

Qadir one of the most successful spinners of his era. He had a distinct run up, bounding in to the crease, and a great variety of deliveries: there was the orthodox leg break, the top spinner, two googlies and the flipper. He was unique for bowling leg spin at a time when it was not only rare but considered obsolete, and he kept the torch alight for a generation of leg spinners. His fervent appeals made him a great favourite with the spectators but sometimes got him into trouble with umpires. Qadir played 67 Test matches during 1977 to 90 and took 236 wickets, with an average of 32.80, including 15 five wicket hauls. His best
 bowling performance was against England at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore in 1987. He also scored 1,029 runs including three fifties. Qadir made his Test debut at his home ground, Gaddafi Stadium, against England in December 1977, he took one wicket in the solitary innings and made 11 runs in the only innings he played. In the second innings of the second Test played at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, he took his first five wicket haul-six wickets for 44 runs in 24 overs. Qadir remained highest wicket taker of the series, taking 12 wickets in three matches conceding 305 runs. Qadir's second Test series, in England in 1978, was an injury plagued let down, but he was a strong and established force by his return in 1982, when his six wickets in the Lord's Test played a major role in a historic Pakistani victory. He took ten wickets in the series with an average of 40.60.

Qadir's first significant performance came in the 1982 to 83 series against Australia, taking seven wickets for 156 runs and 11 wickets for 218 runs in the first two Test maches man of the match in both the matches. He accumulated 22 wickets Pakistani record against Australia conceding 562 runs and
with the average of 25.54 in the three Test series. Due to his performance with the ball, he won the man of the series award for first time in his Test career. Pakistan clean sweeped the series, winning the first and the third Test by nine wickets each, and the second Test by an innings and three runs. Qadir took 19 wickets for 451 runs with the help of three five wicket hauls in following home series against England. Pakistan recorded their first series win against England. In 1985-86 home series against Sri Lanka, he took six wickets in the third match at Karachi. At the Kennington Oval in 1987, Qadir's ten wicket haul ensured another series win, this time in England. Three months later, Qadir brought his art to an all new level  in the next home series against the same team taking 30 wickets for 437 runs in three Tests including the best bowling figures in an innings by a Pakistani, nine wickets for 56 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium. This is also the seventh best performance for an innings in Test cricket, and the best by any bowler against England. He achieved his career best performance in an innings, 61 runs, at the National Stadium, Karachi. Qadir's tremendous performance earned him another man of the series award, and Pakistan won another series against England. During this crusade, he moved past the 200 wicket mark, becoming the first man from his country ever to do so. Qadir was ineffective against India in the 1989-90 home series, taking only six wickets from four Tests with an average above 57. He played his last Test against the West Indies in December 1990 at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Qadir made his ODI debut against New Zealand at Edgbaston during 1983 Cricket World Cup; he took 
four wickets for 21 runs in 12 overs, earning him the man of the match award. He took 12 wickets for 264 runs in the tournament with an average of 22.00, including a five wicket haul against Sri Lanka at the Headingley Stadium, Leeds. In the1983-84 World Series Cup, Qadir played eight matches and took 15 wickets at the average of 18.13, including five wickets for 53 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a match Pakistan lost by 43 runs. In the 1985-86 home season, he took six wickets against Sri Lanka, and five wickets against the West Indies including four wickets for 17 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium. Qadir's eight wickets in six matches were the second highest figures against India in 1986-87. Qadir captained the Pakistan cricket team during England's tour to Pakistan, losing all the three matches; he topped the list of highest wicket takers during the 1987-88 series between the teeams, with eight wickets at the average of 13.17. He took six wickets during the 1988-89 Wills Asia Cup at the average of 17.00, including three wickets for 27 runs, against India in the fifth match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. During the Nehru Cup in 1989-90, he was second in the list of leading wicket takers, with 12 wicket from seven matches at the average of 21.75. His best figure in a match during the tournament were three wickets for 27 runs, against Australia at the Brabourne Stadium, Bombay. Qadir played his last ODI against Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in 1993. In total, Qadir played 104 ODIs during 1977-93, taking 132 wickets and averaged 26.16. He also took two five wicket hauls, including his best ODI performance of five wickets for 44 runs against Sri Lanka during the 1983 World Cup. He scored 641 runs in ODIs, and his highest score in this format of the game was 41 not out.

Captaincy:

Qadir was captain the Pakistan cricket team in five Test matches during 1987-88 and 1988-89, losing four of them. He was not successful as a captain. He captained Pakistan for the first time against England, in absence of regular captain,Javed Miandad. The three matches he captained in, against the same team, were lost by Pakistan. In ODI matches, Qadir captained Pakistan against Bangladesh and India in the fourth and fifth match of the 1988 Asia Cup respectively; Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 173 runs, and lost to India by four wickets.

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IMRAN KHAN (PAKISTAN)

Introduction:

Imran Khan (born on 25 November 1952) is a Pakistani politician and cricketer. He played international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and, after retiring, entered politics. Besides his political activism, Imran Khan is also aphilanthropist, cricket commentator, chancellor of the University of Bradfordand founding chairman of the Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Hospital. He also founded Namal College, Mianwali in 2008. Imran 

khan was Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, leading his country to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992, and serving as its captain intermittently throughout 1982-1992. After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup in 1988, owing to popular demand he was requested to come back by the president of Pakistan Zia ul Haq to lead the team once again. At the age of 39, Imran Khan led his team to Pakistan's first and only One Day World Cup victory in 1992. With 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, he is one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an All rounder's Triple' in Test matches. On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of fame. In April 1996, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf "Movement for Justice" political party was established and Khan 

became its chairman. He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007, he was again elected on 11 May 2013, while his party gained 35 seats in the National Assembly. Global Post mentioned him third in a list of nine world leaders of 2012 and recognized Khan as the face of the anti drone movement in Pakistan. According to Asia Society, Khan was voted as Asia’s Person of the Year 2012. As the Pew Research Center, in 2012 a majority of Pakistani respondents offered a favorable opinion of Khan. The survey also revealed Imran Khan's fame among youth. On 31 December 2014, news reports floated saying Imran Khan has married British Pakistani journalist Reham Khan.

Personal Life:

Imran Khan was born in Lahore into a family of Pashtun origin, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum. Long settled in Mianwali in northwestern Punjab, the family are of Pashtun ethnicity and belong to the Niazi Shermankhel tribe. Niazi is a branch of Lohani pashtuns. A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up 
with his four sisters in relatively affluent ''upper middle class'' circumstances and received a privileged education. He was educated at Aitchison College in Lahore and the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972 he enrolled in Keble College, Oxford where he read philosophy, politics and economics, graduating with honours in 1975. Imran Khan's mother hailed from the Burki family which had produced several successful cricketers, including such household names as cricketers Javed Burki, Majid Khan and, paternally (from the Niazi tribe then), to Misbah ul Haq. Imran Khan is also a descendant of the Sufi warrior poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet, Pir Roshan, who hailed from his maternal family's ancestral Kaniguram town in South Waziristan, and a cousin to one of Pakistan's leading English language columnist, Khaled Ahmed. On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in a two minute ceremony conducted in Urdu in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond registry office in England. Jemima converted to Islam.Imran 
Khan's later decision to join politics alarmed opposition politicians and intelligence agencies mainly because of Jemima's half Jewish ancestry, this became a point of criticism especially by Islamic parties who alleged that he was related to 'Zionists'. The couple have two sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim. Imran Khan also have a daughter from a previous partner. Rumours circulated that the couple's marriage was in crisis. Jemima denied the rumours by publishing an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the couple had divorced, ending the nine year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan". Imran Khan now resides alone in Bani Gala farmhouse. In November 2009, Imran Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine. On 6 January 2015 Daily Mail, after months of rumors, confirmed that Imran Khan has married Reham Khan. According to First Post, Imran’s entire family, including his sister, was against the wedding and were ‘surprised’ when he went ahead and tied the knot in spite of their opposition. On 8 January 2015, he married her in a private Nikah ceremony at his house Bani Gala in Islamabad.

Career:

Imran Khan 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''. Imran Khan was part of University of Oxford's Blues Cricket team during the 1973-1975 seasons. At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. Imran Khan made his test cricket debut against England in 1971 in the city of 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 1976-1977 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia. 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. His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to become established 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. 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. 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'', Imran Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC's All Time Test Bowling Rankings. Imran Khan achieved the all rounder's triple ''securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets'' in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behindIan 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. He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Imran Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England in Melbourne, Australia. 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. 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 Imran Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team from Javed Miandad. 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. In the team's second match, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's. Imran 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 1981-1982. 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 1982-1983, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain. 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 1984-1985 season. In India in 1987, Imran Khan led Pakistan in its first ever test series win and this was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England during the same year. 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. 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". He was declared Man of  the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests. Imran 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, Imran 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,  Imran Khan took the winning last wicket himself.

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