Muhammad Aamir Sohail is born on 14 September 1966. He is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer. 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. Aamir Sohail was a combative left-hand opener and a predominantly back-foot player whose forte was improvisation. He loved to attack, and almost found it impossible to control his aggression.
Aamir Sohail made his first-class debut in 1983, as a left-handed
opening batsman and occasional left-arm spin bowler. An aggressive batsman,
Sohail first appeared for the national team in 1990 one-day international
against Sri Lanka and enjoyed a successful international career. He was an
important member of the team that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia
and New Zealand.
Aamir Sohail captained Pakistan in six Tests in 1998, becoming the
first Pakistani captain to defeat South Africa in a Test Match. He led Pakistan
through 22 One Day Internationals from 1996 to 1998, winning nine and averaging
41.5 with the bat. He also acted as acting captain of Pakistan against the West
Indies in Sharjah.
Sohail played a big role in Pakistan's World Cup triumph in 1992,
famously telling Ian Botham that he might want to send his mother-in-law into
bat, referring to Botham's statement that he wouldn't send even his
mother-in-law to Pakistan after Botham was controversially given out for zero
in the final.
In the 1996 World Cup Quarter Final in Bangalore against arch-rival
India, Sohail was captaining his 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, Aamir 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.
Aamir 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 and he
left the international scene early to work in broadcasting, where he might have
tried harder to suppress his personal prejudices.
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 wicketkeeper Wasim Bari. He continues to work as a
cricket broadcaster. On 4 February 2014, he was again appointed as Chief
Selector of the national team for the second time.
