Great Imran Khan, with his bowling Army, Wasim Akram and Saleem Jaffer in World Cup 1987.
Friday, August 05, 2022
Friday, May 13, 2022
Aamir Sohail Profile - Cricket Career
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.
Monday, January 24, 2022
Ian Healy 113 Not Out vs New Zealand at Perth Nov 1993
In 1993-94 seasons, Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Ian scored a brilliant hundred against New Zealand at Perth in Nov 1993. At one stage Australian team was struggling at 6 for 198 when Ian Healy came and played a genuine innings on the bouncy track of Perth. This was Ian Healy's 2nd Test hundred and first against New Zealand. He remains unbeaten at 113 off 181 balls, 262 mins, with the help of 11 fours. Australian innings were ended up 398. The match was drawn, but he realized the Australian selectors to keep faith in his batting. The player in the match was declared Andrew Jones, who scored 143 and 45.
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
Pankaj Singh: Rajasthan’s lone Ranger
It had been a day of mixed fortunes for Pankaj Singh. At the very special moment, perhaps, when the national selectors were discussing his name for the Australia tour, Pankaj was busy battling it out in Jhalawar, trying to secure for Rajasthan their first-ever victory over Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Pankaj couldn’t save Rajasthan from losing by two runs — but he did get the selectors’ call. It was a reward for his strong domestic performances over the past year and, if it surprised most people, Pankaj himself was confident that the national call was around the corner. In a way he was expecting this call, especially after my five-wicket haul against a side like Mumbai in the first innings at Jnalawar,” an excited Pankaj, Singh, he is just 22, said.
His height — he stands 6’5” in his socks — and broad
shoulders have been his principal assets, along with his work ethic, in
purchasing wickets on the flat, unresponsive Indian pitches for the past two
years. Venkatesh Prasad, the Indian bowling coach, felt the same during the
bowlers’ camp held in Mysore In June, before the England tour, where Pankaj was
called at the last minute based on his performances during the previous Ranji
season. He's a tall and hardworking fast bowler with a good outswinger.
He was Prasad’s assessment at the time. Pankaj, who took the
new ball during the India-A tour to Kenya and then against South Africa at
home, runs in hard and delivers with a side-on action. His stock ball is the
outswinger that leaves the right-hander at a decent pace, something his
colleague Ishant Sharma can make use of in his secret delivery is the disguised
incutter that he utilizes intelligently.
The outswinger came naturally, but my experience during the A
tours this year helped me bring more variety and the inswinger is a work in
progress. His relative youth would raise expectations of greater pace but for
now, Pankaj is happy consistently hitting the 135kmph mark, so as long as he can
pitch it on the right spot. If he can
hit the back-of-the-length and short-of-good-length consistently, that’s the
priority,” Prasad says.
In essence, he is asking Pankaj to do what he has been doing
for Rajasthan for the last two seasons. Pankaj understands that well and is not
fretting over the lack of pace. A good line-and-length is what you want to
focus on and as for pace, he will definitely increase it with time.” KP Bhaskar
said, in his first season as Rajasthan's coach.
If at all he gets a chance, it will be during the two
practice games ahead of the first Test on Boxing Day at the MCG. Pankaj's
performances appear to have impressed Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of
selectors, who met him for the first time during the 2006-07 Deodhar Trophy.
Since then, Pankaj says, Vengsarkar has encouraged him to believe in himself. Work
on your basics and concentrate on your strengths, he told me.
Friday, October 01, 2021
Saturday, September 18, 2021
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