Pakistan Cricket Board

The Pakistan Cricket Board is a sporting organization that is responsible for governing all professional cricket including Test cricket and One Day International matches played in Pakistan. It controls and organizes all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team.
Following the establishment of Pakistan as an independent state of the British Empire in 1947, professional and amateur cricket commenced the same year as the local infrastructure had already been established when the country was part of India. Even so, it was not until 1948 that a Board of Control was formally instituted and matches were arranged informally until then. Pakistan was admitted to the International Cricket Council in July 1952 and has always been a full member, playing Test cricket. The team's first Test series took place in India between October and December 1952.
The Pakistan Cricket Board was inaugurated on 1 May 1948 as the "Cricket Control Board of Pakistan". and was soon renamed the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan or B.C.C.P. The first meeting held in the committee rooms of Lahore Gymkhana saw HE The Nawab of Mamdot made President and Chairman, with Justice A.R.Cornelius as one of three vice-Presidents.^[1] The following year Cornelius became Chairman of the working committee, serving until he relinquished his connection with the Board in early 1953.
The working Chairman was always one of the 3 Vice-Presidents. In April 1957 Ayub Khan imposed three more new Vice-presidents (himself being one of them). Then between December 1958 and September 1969 the post of Vice-President disappeared. 
The response to turmoil within the Board has on four occasions been to suspend the rules and appoint an Ad-Hoc Committee. The first Ad Hoc Committee was appointed in September 1960 and did not disband until May 1963 having created a new constitution. The President of Pakistan would now nominate the Board President who would in turn nominate the other members of the Executive Committee to sit for a period of three years. Representatives of the four provincial cricket associations and Government departments formed the Executive Committee.^[2] The BCCP was re-organised in the 1970s and was headed by former cricketers, professional administrators and trustees, who were often businessmen. In November 1976 players' demands for increased salaries reached a crisis and the Pakistan Sports Board took over running the B.C.C.P.'s affairs. Long-serving President, the formidable Kardar, was in the thick of the dispute. The revolt against Kardar forced him to resign in May 1977 and led to a new Ad-Hoc Committee replacing the Board Council in 1978 running Pakistan cricket and again changing the constitution. Provincial Cricket Associations were eliminated and divisional and city CAs became members, giving most of the influence to the city Cricket Association of Lahore and Karachi.n 2010, following the Waldo finding controversy, and subsequent erroneous statements by chairman Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board is facing the threat of being suspended as a full member by the ICC. Prior to this, on October 12, the ICC held meeting with Butt to discuss his inflammatory statements about the ECB, where he claimed that English players were accepting payment to lose matches. However, the ICC has since made it clear that sanctions will be applied to the member, Pakistan,^{[citation needed]} rather than an individual of its management. To avoid such embarrassing situation in future, the Pakistan Cricket Board has introduced a revised code of conduct for its players in line with recommendations made by the International Cricket Council for stricter implementation of anti-corruption laws. This ICC also stated that if the board didn't implement the laws then Pakistan could be looking at suspension from International Cricket.^[4] The ICC subsequently released a press conference that included the ICC chairman Haroon Lorgat, Shahid Afridi and Ijaz Butt the ICC said that they had been happy with the work done so far by the PCB such as sigining new disciplinary contracts with the players and also placing in security and methods of tackling corruption ^[5]

Imran Khan

Imran Khan Niazi (Punjabi, Urdu: عمران خان نیازی) (born 25 November 1952) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and has been a politician since the mid-1990s. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist and cricket commentator.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]
At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistani 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."^[16] 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]

Imran Khan Lifting the 1992 world cup for Pakistan.

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.^[17] 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.^[17] 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 lineup, 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]

Post-retirement

In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot."^[18] In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a libel action brought forth by former English captain and all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about the above-mentioned ball-tampering and another article published in an Indian magazine, India Today. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after having admitted that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago.^[19] Khan won the libel case, which the judge labeled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10-2 majority decision by the jury.^[19]
Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various British and Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's Outlook magazine,^[20] the Guardian,^[21] the Independent, and the Telegraph. Khan also sometimes appears as a cricket commentator on Asian and British sports networks, including BBC Urdu^[22] and the Star TV network.^[23] In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive,^[24] while he was also a columnist for sify.com for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series.^[25] He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for BBC during the 1999 World Cup.^[25]
In November 2009 Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine.^[26]

Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram (Urdu: وسیم اکرم) born 3 June 1966 is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches.n 1988 he signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and went on to become their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their ECB Trophy, Benson & Hedges Cup and National League tournaments. He was a favourite of the local British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain, Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League and finished second in the championship tournament despite losing only five matches in all competitions throughout the season. Apart from the National League second division title in 2003, this was the last time Lancashire won a trophy.^[10]   Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985 and in only his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets. A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team. Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. Later that season he opened the bowling attack with Imran Khan, who became his mentor at and after the World Championship of Cricket in Australia.  
On May 18, 2003, at the age of 36, Akram abruptly announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career which spanned 19 years. He had suggested that he was ready to quit several times towards the end of his career, but Pakistan's sub-par performance in the World Cup proved to be the deciding factor.
Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the Sharjah Cup in April 2003, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.^[13] Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match.
Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez (born October 17, 1980 in Sargodha) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. Hafeez generally opens the batting and is also skilful boundary fielder.^[1]
Hafeez was one of the several young all-rounders the Pakistani cricket team turned to after their poor Cricket World Cup display in 2003, in which they were eliminated in the first round.
Hafeez scored a half-century on his Test debut against Bangladesh, and in his following Test hit a century. His form with bat and ball would then drop considerably and in late-2003 he was dropped from the Test squad, and soon after the ODI side. With strong domestic performances as well as good showings for the Pakistan A, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004. Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite not contributing with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 Top End Series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed a century for Pakistan A. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for Test cricket, Hafeez was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval and he scored a fluent 95. Later that year in November, Hafeez retained his place in the side for their home series against the West Indies. After getting starts in the first two Test he would go on to score his 2nd Test cIn the tour of the West Indies, Hafeez continued his good form with both bat and ball scoring 267 runs in 5 matches with an average of 53.40, and took 6 wickets at an average of 23.50. . He made his second One Day International century in the 4th ODI, where he scored 121 runs before being bowled by the promising leg spinner Devendra Bishoo.entury in the 3rd Test in Karachi.In 2010 he was recalled for the 3rd ICC World T20 Cup. he had poor form in it but showed signs of class batting. He was subsequently recalled again for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's tour of England. He had some good scores in it and had some solid partnerships with opener Kamran Akmal.
Following this good form he was also in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE. After some impressive score in the opener slot, he was again rewarded with now a test call up. He had some decent scores in the test matches and bowled some tidy overs of offspin as well. 
At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand. In all of the T20s he made some good scores including a 46.
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, he started the tournament with a few poor scores with the bat, and was consistent with the ball. Especially 10 overs for just 26 runs against Australia and 2 wickets for 16 runs in quarter final. In the quarter-final against West Indies, Hafeez provided a major contribution to the team's victory with 2 wickets and 60*, receiving the player of the match award. Also in the semi final he scored 43 runs and took a wicket for 31 runs in 10 overs although Pakistan lost the match. 
West Indies, Hafeez continued his good form with both bat and ball scoring 267 runs in 5 matches with an average of 53.40, and took 6 wickets at an average of 23.50. . He made his second One Day International century in the 4th ODI, where he scored 121 runs before being bowled by the promising leg spinner Devendra Bishoo.

Younus Khan

Mohammad Younus Khan (Pashto: محمد یونس خان), (born November 29, 1977 in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province) is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younus' name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as saying, "My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, but they don’t listen."^[1] He is only the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings.^[2]
Pakistan captain Younis Khan announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket after leading his team to the ICC World Twenty20 title by beating Sri Lanka at Lord's Sri Lanka suffered an 8 wicket thrashing.
"This is my last Twenty20 game [for Pakistan], so I am retiring from T20 internationals," Younis said "I am now 31, I am old for this kind of cricket." No immediate announcement was made as to the identity of his successor as 20-over captain, it was confirmed on July 29, 2009 that Shahid Afridi would succeed him as the Twenty20 Captain.
However after Younus returned to the national setup he announced that he was willing to play Twenty20 cricket for Pakistan as a senior batsman ^[26] Younus then confirmed that he was available to play in all three-formats of the game. He also announced that he was no longer in the race for the captaincy ^[27] After announcing his comeback to Twenty20 cricket Younus was selected for the three match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in December 2010. Younus played in all three-matches but struggled for form.In 2008–09, Younus is playing for the Southern Redbacks in Australia's domestic circuit on a short-term basis. He scored a century against Queensland Bulls in the first innings of a Sheffield shield match in Brisbane, which helped the Redbacks to win their first Shield match for a year.

s a senior batsman ^[26] Younus then confirmed that he was available to play in all three-formats of the game. He also announced that he was no longer in the race for the captaincy ^[27] After announcing his comeback to Twenty20 cricket Younus was selected for the three match Twenty20 series against New Zealand in December 2010. Younus played in all three-matches but struggled for form.
n 2008–09, Younus is playing for the Southern Redbacks in Australia's domestic circuit on a short-term basis. He scored a century against Queensland Bulls in the first innings of a Sheffield shield match in Brisbane, which helped the Redbacks to win their first Shield match for a year.

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf (Punjabi, Urdu: محمد یوسف ; formerly Yousuf Youhana, یوسف یوحنا; born 27 August 1974, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani right-handed batsman. He is best known in cricket for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the world record for most Test runs in a single calendar year.^[2] Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one of only a few Christians to play for the Pakistan cricket team.
On 29 March 2010, Yousuf announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket,^[4] just days after the Pakistan Cricket Board imposed an indefinite ban on him. "I received a letter from the PCB that my staying in the team is harmful for the team, so I announce my retirement from international cricket," he said at a press conference in Karachi.^[4] On 27 March, Yousuf said that he had decided to retire from international cricket.^[23] "Yes, I have decided to retire as Pakistan player and my decision is not an emotional one", Yousuf told press agency AFP, "It's of no use playing if my playing is harmful to the team".^[23] He was handed over an indefinite ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board for his disciplinary problems on Pakistan's tour of Australia 2009-2010.
On 1 August 2010, after Pakistan lost the first Test match against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, Yousuf was called back in the squad for the rest of the series.^[5] He decided not to play the second test because of tiredness.^[24] Shortly after the completion of the second test, Pakistani captain, Salman Butt announced that he expected Yousuf to return for the third test.^[25] The selectors decided to play Yousuf in a Tour match against Worcestershire just before the third test so that his form and fitness could be checked ^[26] Yousuf's form check was positive because on a day inflicted by rain he managed to score 40* ^[27] Yousuf then scored 56 against England in the 3rd Test before being caught and bowled by Graeme Swann in the process Yousuf became Swann's 100 casualty in Test cricket the day saw a much improved performance by Pakistan as they were eventually bowled out for 308 ^[28]
In the same tour of England that summer he participated in the Twenty20 series as well. Despite being considered an "old boys cricketer" and having participated in only a sole T20I in 2006 and considered one who does not slog as often (notable by the low amount of sixes he has scored) Yousuf participated and score 26 of 21 deliveries.
e made his Test debut against South Africa at Durban and One Day International debut against Zimbabwe at Harare. He has scored over 9,000 One Day International runs at an average above 40 (2nd highest batting average among Pakistani batsmen after Zaheer Abbas) and over 7,000 Test runs at an average above 50 (highest batting average amongst all Pakistani batsmen) with 24 Test centuries. He has the record of scoring the most runs without being dismissed in the One Day International match, with a total of 405 runs against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2002-2003. He has also scored a 23-ball fifty and a 68-ball hundred in One Day International. In Test match, he has scored a 27-ball fifty, which is 3rd fastest by any player. He was the top scorer during the successive years of 2002 and 2003 in the world in One Day International match. In 2004, he scored 111 runs against the Australians in the Boxing Day Test. In December 2005, he scored 223 runs against England at Lahore, also earning him the man of the match award. Seven months later in July 2006, when Pakistan toured England, he scored 202 runs and 48 in the first Test, again earning himself the man of the match award. He followed up with 192 in the third Test at Headingley and 128 in the final Test at The Oval.

Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif (Urdu: محمد آصف) (born 20 December 1982) is a Pakistani right arm fast medium bowler in cricket. Asif was born in Sheikhupura, and has played first-class cricket for Khan Research Labs, the National Bank, Quetta, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Leicestershire. He made his Test match debut for the Pakistan cricket team against Australia in January 2005.
In August 2010, the English Sunday newspaper News of the World published allegations that Asif and fellow bowler Mohammad Amir had deliberately bowled no-balls during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England in return for payment from a betting syndicate, a practice known as spot-fixing.^[2]
On September 1, 2010, after the warm-up List A game between Pakistan and Somerset, the International Cricket Council announced that they had suspended Asif under the provision of the provisions of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. The statement from the ICC stated that the three players (Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt) were charged "under various offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to alleged irregular behavior during, and in relation to, the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month".^[18]
 In 2006, there was a cricket controversy involving Asif, after he tested positive for anabolic steroid, Nandrolone, before having a ban imposed on him overturned on appeal. He was later withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad with an unrelated injury. Further cricket controversy followed when he was detained in Dubai suspected of having drugs on his person and was then found to have tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League. In August 2010 he was accused by the News of the World of deliberately bowling no-balls in return for payment from a betting syndicate.^[2] On February 5th, 2011 a 3-man tribunal, appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave the verdict that he was to be banned for 7 years, with 2 of those suspended if no further offenses were committed.

Salman Butt

Salman Butt (Punjabi/Urdu: سلمان بٹ, Salmān Baṭṭ; born 7 October 1984 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who was a regular Test and ODI left-handed opening batsman. He made his Test debut on 3 September 2003 in the third Test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on 22 September 2004. He was appointed captain of the Pakistan Test squad on 16 July 2010. On August 29, 2010, he was implicated in allegations of spot-fixing. As of February 5, 2011, Butt is serving a 10-year ban, of which five years is a suspended sentence.^[1]    
After his debut, Butt was dropped and struggled to regain his place due to some stiff competition for the openers' spots. He returned for the Champions' Trophy in 2004 and scored his first fifty for Pakistan in the Paktel Cup against Sri Lanka. In the ODI against India on 13 November 2004, as Pakistan chased down 292, he formed partnerships first with Shoaib Malik, putting on 113, and subsequently with Inzamam-Ul-Haq. Despite having to retire hurt for seven overs due to severe cramp, he returned to steer Pakistan home, finishing on 108 not out.^[3]
On 17 July 2010, the Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Butt as captain of the Pakistani Test squad in place of Shahid Afridi, who announced his retirement from Test cricket after Pakistan lost the first test match against Australia.^[5] He became the 28th captain of the Pakistani Test team and the fifth to lead them since January 2009.^[5]
Yet 2005 saw little improvement, and doubts circulated about his defensive technique, causing him to be shuffled in and out of the side. But things started looking up again during the winter Test series against England, in which he scored a century and two fifties, with a more cautious attitude to his innings building than he had previously shown.^[4]

Mohammad Amir

Mohammad Amir (Urdu: محمد عامر, born 13 April 1992), also known as Mohammad Aamer, is a Pakistani international cricketer, whose suspension and subsequent five year ban curtailed his promising career. He is a left arm fast bowler, who opened the bowling in all formats of the game. He made his first-class debut in 2007, and his first One-Day International and Test appearance in 2009 in Sri Lanka, at the age of 17. However, he played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, where he played in every game, helping the national side win the tournament.,^[1][2]

Mohammad Amir (Urdu: محمد عامر, born 13 April 1992), also known as Mohammad Aamer, is a Pakistani international cricketer, whose suspension and subsequent five year ban curtailed his promising career. He is a left arm fast bowler, who opened the bowling in all formats of the game. He made his first-class debut in 2007, and his first One-Day International and Test appearance in 2009 in Sri Lanka, at the age of 17. However, he played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, where he played in every game, helping the national side win the tournament.,^[1][2]  
In the initial stages of the 2010 World Cup Amir took three wickets in a five wicket-maiden over in a Twenty20 International match against Australia.^[8] The other two men were run out in the same over. This set a world record of three wickets for a bowler in Twenty20 and 5 wickets for a team in one over.Amir was ignored by Pakistan Cricket Board when they awarded cricket contracts to Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf, even after his exceptional performance in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.^[9] Later on the Pakistan Cricket Board awarded Amir a 'C' category contract.^[10]Amir made his One Day International match debut against Sri Lanka taking 3 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50 and also scoring 23 runs. -On November 9, 2009 he scored 73 runs against New Zealand which is a record for a number 10 batsman. With his batting partner Saeed Ajmal, Amir added 103 runs to Pakistan's chase, only to fall short by 7 runs.^[11]

SHOAIB MALIK

SHOAIB MALIK (Urdu: شعیب ملک) (born 1 February 1982 in Sialkot) is a Pakistani cricket player. He made his One-Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh. He has taken over 100 ODI wickets, and has a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket. His bowling action has come under scrutiny (particularly his doosra) but he has had elbow surgery to correct this. Malik was ranked second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi, in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008.^[1] In March 2010, Malik received a one-year ban from international cricket from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB); the ban was overturned two months later.^[2]
Following Inzamam-ul-Haq's resignation as Pakistan captain after the 2007 World Cup, Malik was put forward as one of the names for the captaincy along with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. After Younis Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger player and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.
In 2008, media reports in Pakistan surfaced that Malik has married Ayesha Siddiqui, a woman from Hyderabad, India, on 3 June 2002. Malik denied these allegations saying his marriage plans with the woman did not go through, because of a lack of consensus between both the families.^[29] In April 2010, Siddiqui's family released Shoaib-Ayesha 'marriage' certificate (Nikahnama).^[30] On April 2, 2010, Malik said he plans to sue Siddiqui's family for "indulging in character assassination".^[31][32][33] On April 7, 2010 Malik confirmed his marriage with Siddiqui and signed the Talaq (divorce) papers.^[34]
Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, was a strong advocate of Malik's case to become captain; in Woolmer's opinion Malik was "the sharpest tactical tack among his group ... a real presence on the field".^[16] Former skipper Imran Khan also backed Malik for the role, stating "He appears to have a good cricket brain and could turn out to be a very good choice for Pakistan cricket".^[17] Malik was appointed captain on 19 April 2007 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), his experience considering his relatively young age and consistent performances were cited as other reasons for his appointment.^[17] At the age of just 25, he was Pakistan's fourth youngest captain.^[16]

Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz (Urdu: وہاب ریاض) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a left-arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand batsman. Riaz is a former student of Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore.

Riaz was chosen in the squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh which also included India and in his first match against Bangladesh, he finished with 3 wickets for 22 runs in 7 overs and in the next match although he took two Indian wickets he conceded 85 runs.

Wahab made his test debut against England in the third test of the 2010 series. England batted first and Wahab took 5/63 in the first innings. In Pakistan's first innings he came into bat at number 3 and made 27 runs.

He next played for Pakistan in the Test series against South Africa in October 2010 he participated in 4 ODIs. He was selected to play in the first Test later in that series he took two wickets those of Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla however towards the end of the day he picked up a side strain. He did not bowl the following day. A scan showed that Riaz had picked up an injury which takes 4–5 weeks to recover from therefore he missed the rest of the Test series.[1]

In March 2011 he played for the Pakistani Cricket team in at least 4 matches with an above average performance, however he really came in the limelight at the Pakistan Vs India semi-final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, when he replaced Shoaib Akhtar and took 5 wickets.[2]

In June 2011, he signed for English county side Kent Spitfires as an overseas player for the whole of the 2011 season. He picked up 5 wickets on his Twenty Over debut for Kent.

cricket game

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal (Urdu: سعید اجمل, born 14 October 1977 in Faisalabad) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who also uses the Doosra to good effect.
He made his debut against India, taking the wicket of Yusuf Pathan in an eight-wicket^[4] before taking two wickets in a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh, although the team had no chance of progressing to the competition's final.^[5]
From there he has had a rapid rise in the team in just over a full year. He had an excellent time at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, bowling at an economical rate and regularly taking wickets along with his spin partner Shahid Afridi. He was then picked for the Sri Lankan series in Sri Lanka where he had made solid performances in the Test matches, being picked ahead of Danish Kaneria in two of the matches.
Ajmal's good form continued in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as he was Pakistan's leading wicket taker. However despite his good form he was known for conceding three sixes to Michael Hussey in what has been hailed as the most thrilling Twenty20 match of all time as Australia were in trouble and Ajmal was the unfortunate bowler who bowled that final over.^[6]
Shortly after this the Pakistan team began there long tour of England and in the two Test matches played against Australia spinner Danish Kaneria was selected ahead of him. In the 1st Test against England Kaneria was selected ahead of Ajmal as well. However after poor bowling by Kaneria, Ajmal was selected and he took his career best bowling figures of 5/82^[7] Despite Pakistan restricting England the team suffered a top order collapse and Zulqarnain Haider scored 88 and Ajmal also showed that he has the abiltiy to bat when he scored 50 runs these two men helped Pakistan lead a revival after being bowled out for 72 on the first day. Along with Zulqarnain Haider they together continued to frustrate the England and when it was stumps on day three Pakistan had a 112-run lead however Zulqarnain Haider and Ajmal were out on 88 and 50 respectively and so Pakistan were left on the final wicket with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul.^[8] During the series against England Pakistan became englufed in a spot fixing scandal after the fourth test and in a later secret interview it was unveiled by alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed that Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi were difficult to bribe. He stated that Ajmal was too religious to get involved into fixing.^[9]

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar (Punjabi, Urdu: شعیب اختر; born 13 August 1975 in Rawalpindi, Punjab) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against England.^[1] His ability to bowl fast yorkers and quick bouncers have made him one of the best fast bowlers in cricket.Akhtar was born at Morgah, a small town near Rawalpindi, Punjab in Pakistan.^[6] His father was a plant operator in Attock Oil Refinery, Morgah.^[6] Akhtar started his studies at Elliott High School, Morgah and then took admission in the Asghar Mall College, Rawalpindi.^{[citation needed]}Akhtar has played for three English county cricket clubs, including Somerset in 2001, Durham in 2003 and 2004 and Worcestershire in 2005. He did achieve his moments of success, such as taking 5 wickets for 35 runs for Durham against Somerset in the National League in 2003 and claiming 6 wickets for 16 runs in the same competition for Worcestershire against Glamorgan two years later, but he suffered from fitness problems, as well as a perception that he was less than interested in his task. This was particularly the case at Worcestershire: chairman John Elliott said "Players like that are no good to our club. In fact, Akhtar has been no good for any club he's been at. He's a superstar and just does what he wants."^[14
However, he has been involved in several controversies during his career, often accused of not being a team player. Akhtar was sent home during the Test match series in Australia in 2005 for alleged poor attitude. A year later, he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive to a banned substance. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on court appeal. In September 2007, Akhtar was banned for an indefinite period for his fight with Pakistan team mate and fast bowler Mohammad Asif.^[2] On 1 April 2008, Akhtar was banned for five years for publicly criticizing the Pakistan Cricket Board.^[3] In October 2008, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan suspended the five year ban and Akhtar was selected in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 Quadrangular Tournament in Canada.^[4] Pakistani judge, Rana Bhagwandas stated once that, Akhtar is a legend of Pakistan cricket.^[5] He retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.

Kamran Akmal

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

UMER AKMAL

Umar made his Test debut against New Zealand at Dunedin on November 23, 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 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

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq (Urdu: عبد الرزاق, born 2 December 1979) is a Pakistani right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-handed batsman, who is currently representing the Pakistan cricket team. He emerged in international cricket in 1996, when he made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe at his home ground in Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan, a month before his seventeenth birthday. He has played over 200 ODIs and nearly 50 Tests for Pakistan.With players like Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik suffering from selection issues, it was Razzaq who took up the role of a senior player in the Pakistan cricket team. He was selected in the squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and performed admirably with the bat scoring five sixes during the tournament. Pakistan crashed out of the tournament after losing to Australia in the semi-final. Razzaq then took part in the 2010 Asia Cup.^[16]
In July 2010, Razzaq played in the two T20Is against Australia as Pakistan won both matches comfortably. He wasn't selected for the Test series against Australia and England and next played in the September 2010 Twenty20 and ODI series against England. The Pakistan team had been surrounded by Spot-fixing allegations as the team lost both Twenty20 matches due to low morale. Razzaq missed the first two ODI's against England because of a back-strain as Pakistan lost both matches. He returned to the third ODI and scored 31 runs in a fruitful partnership with Shahid Afridi before Afridi was run out and Razzaq was subsequently caught in the deep square leg as Pakistan were bowled out for 241. England opened the innings strongly before Umar Gul removed six batsmen and Razzaq took two wickets to seal a 23-run victory for Pakistan.^[17]

Ahmed Shehzad

Shehzad has played all four opening games for the Pakistani team in the World Cup. Not anymore however. After a 5th match of devouring ridiculously sized lullis, Shehzad was cast out of the main squad and replaced with Asad Shafiq, till the end of the cup. Overall Shehzad had a relatively poor world cup with an average of 8.8. He is the youngest player in the World Cup with a age of 19.
Shehzad made his debut for Pakistan in a one-day international against Australia on 29 April 2009. In his maiden match he scored one boundary before he was run-out. The following match he scored 40 in an innings that included 4 fours. The third match he scored 43 but this time just scored 2 fours and in the final match of the series he scored 19 with 1 boundary to his name before he was given out leg-before.
After spending most of the sidelines on the fringes of national selection Shehzad played in the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand scoring 14 runs of just 7 balls in an innings that included 2 fours and 1 six. Shehzad made his debut for Pakistan in a one-day international against Australia on 29 April 2009. In his maiden match he scored one boundary before he was run-out. The following match he scored 40 in an innings that included 4 fours. The third match he scored 43 but this time just scored 2 fours and in the final match of the series he scored 19 with 1 boundary to his name before he was given out leg-before.
These consistent performances meant that Shehzad made his Twenty20 debut against Australia scoring a single boundary before being caught in the deep. Despite a failure in the Twenty20 Shehzad was selected for the Pakistan squad in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 he only played one-game which was the opening game against England being caught by Paul Collingwood Pakistan changed their combination removing Shehzad and his partner Salman Butt and replaced them with Shahzaib Hasan and Kamran Akmal.

Umar Gul

He was recalled and played two Tests after that taking four wickets in a drawn Test against New Zealand before coming in as replacement for Shabbir Ahmed in the second Test of the three-Test series against India. After coming on as first-change bowler, Gul dismissed Virender Sehwag in his second over, and then bowled unchanged for 12 overs either side of lunch to take five Indian top order wickets - including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, who both had Test batting averages above 50, as did Sewage.
With injuries limiting Gul's test cricket participation, he made a distinct change to his bowling set-up. Making a focus on bowling in the late overs of T20. He got his opportunity with the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa. He was generally used by Pakistan from the 13th over onwards and finished the tournament with 13 wickets, making him the leading wicket taker ahead of Shahid Afridi and RP Singh.
In the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, he performed excellently, earning the mantle from at least one pundit of "the outstanding seam bowler of the World Twenty20".^[7] His five-wicket haul for just six runs when Pakistan dismantled New Zealand won especial acclaim, making him the first bowler in history to take a five wickets in a Twenty20 international. Mutterings were made about a possible correlation between ball tampering and the exorbitant amounts of reverse-swing he was able to extract, but he denied them categorically: "Whenever an Asian bowler performs and uses the reverse-swing, the Western cricketing countries raise the issue of ball-tampering against them."^[8]
He was also part of the Pakistan team that lifted the trophy at Lord's while also finishing as the leading wicket taker of the tournament for the second consecutive time.^[9]