Inzamam-ul-Haq

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu: انضمام الحق) (born 3 March 1970 in Multan, Punjab Province, Pakistan), also known as Inzamam, nicknamed Inzy or the Sultan of Multan, is a former Pakistan international cricketer who was national captain between 2003 and 2007. He is a right-handed batsman who has been regarded as one of the leading cricketers from Pakistan in modern times.

Inzamam made his debut in English county cricket in August 2007 at the age of 37. He joined Yorkshire County Cricket Club as a replacement for Younus Khan who left to play for Pakistan in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. He was disappointing on the whole, making 8 on debut at Scarborough's North Marine Road against Warwickshire before making 9 and 7 in his opening Pro40 games.

In 2007, Inzamam joined the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. In the inaugural competition, Inzamam captained the Hyderabad Heroes and scored 141 runs in 5 matches. In the 2008 competition in March, Inzamam captained the Lahore Badshahs, composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers.

Inzamam captained Pakistan in 25 Tests, winning eight, drawing eight and losing nine. Only three players have captained Pakistan in more Test matches, but all have better win-loss records, and only Imran Khan has a lower win percentage than Inzamam. However, Inzamam held the captaincy until March 2007, the longest captaincy tenure since 1992 when Imran Khan retired.

Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal (born 13 January 1982 in Lahore) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played 40 Test matches and 94 ODIs for Pakistan.

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 will not play in 2009 after Pakistani players were banned.

Umar Gul

Umar Gul (Urdu/Pashto: عمر گل) (born 15 October 1984 in Peshawar) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played Test matches One Day Internationals for Pakistan as a specialist fast bowler.

In February 2008, Gul signed with the Indian Premier League and was drafted by Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders franchise for US $150,000.^[4] He played in six matches, taking 12 wickets at an average of 15.33,^[5] including a player of the match award in Kolkata's final game in which Gul took 4-23 and scored 24 runs from 11 balls.

In December 2008 Gul signed with the Western Warriors to compete in the Australian domestic 2008-09 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash tournament.^[7] He performed very well in his debut match for the Warriors, taking 4 wickets for 15 runs in a losing side. He was amongst the most successful bowlers in the competition despite not being available for the entire tournament he finished second top wicket taker with 12 wicket

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi (Urdu: مصباح الحق خان نیازی), born May 28, 1974) is a Pakistani cricketer. Misbah is known for his cool headed batting especially under pressure. Outside of cricket he has done an MBA from the University of Management & Technology, Lahore.

At the age of 33, Misbah was chosen to play in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, filling the middle order spot vacated by Inzamam-ul-Haq. He had been regularly making runs in Pakistani domestic cricket and in the years before his recall he was consistently one of the top run scorers at each season's end, with his first-class average briefly climbing above 50.

Mohammad Younus Khan

Mohammad Younus Khan (Urdu/Pashto: محمد یونس خان), (born November 29, 1977 in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province) is a Pakistani cricketer and current 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.

Younus Khan made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Karachi in February 2000, and has since played over 150 ODIs for Pakistan. He has also played in over 50 Test matches. Younus was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003, but lost it soon after due to a string of poor scores in the home series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He came back for the one-day series against India, but failed to cement a place in the Test side.

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.

Shahid Khan Afridi

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Pashto: صاحبزاده محمد شاهد خان افریدی, Urdu: صاحبزادہ محمد شاہد خان آفریدی) (born 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency), popularly known as Shahid Afridi (Pashto: شاهد ‏افریدی), is a Pakistani cricketer currently playing for the Pakistani national team in the international circuit. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya in Nairobi^[1] and his Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia at Karachi.^[2] He is known for his aggressive batting style, and currently holds the highest career strike rate in the history of international cricket. In a recent survey, Afridi was named as the most popular cricketer in Pakistan.^[3] He also holds the record for the fastest one day century which he made in his debut innings ^[4][5], as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest scoring over ever in an ODI.

On 4 October 1996, playing his maiden international innings, Afridi hit the fastest One-Day century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. His innings included 28 runs off one of Sanath Jayasuriya's overs, whose record he broke.

Was the First player to score 12 runs off one ball, by hitting the roof of the Millennium Stadium. This took place in a game of Power Cricket

Afridi is only third player in ODI history to achieve the combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets. The other players being Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jacques Kallis.

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.

Malik was ranked second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi, in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008

He started his career as just an off spinner, and is now regarded as a useful bowling all-rounder with a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket.

Following Inzamam-ul-Haq's resignation as Pakistan captain after the 2007 World Cup, Shoaib Malik was put forward as one of the names for the captaincy along with Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. After Younus Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger captain and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.

Sohail Tanvir

Sohail Tanvir (born December 12, 1984 in Rawalpindi, Punjab) is a Pakistani cricketer, who has gained repute for his unorthodox left arm bowling action and particularly for the success it has gained him in the twenty20 format of the game.

An allrounder, he is a hard-hitting left-handed batsman and an unorthodox left-arm fast-medium bowler who also bowls occasional left-arm orthodox spin. Despite not having taken a single wicket during his ten Twenty20 matches domestically, he was selected for Pakistan's squad for the inaugral World Twenty20 after Shoaib Akhtar was sent home. He made his Twenty20 debut in the tournament, and took six wickets in six matches, with best bowling figures of 3 for 31 in four overs against Australia. Though considered an allrounder, Tanvir did not get a chance to bat in the tournament until the final, where he made his first international runs, with a six off his first ball, aiding Pakistan back into the game.

In December 2008, Tanvir was signed by the Australian domestic side Southern Redbacks for the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. ^[10]. In his first match against Western Australia he was pitted against fellow Pakistani fast bowler Umar Gul and although he was caught out first ball he took 1-15 with the ball for his side in a winning cause. International commitment meant he wasn't available for the entirety of the tournament and he struggled to get amongst the wickets, although his batting form improved throughout his short stint.

Salman Butt

Salman Butt (born October 7, 1984 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who regularly opens the batting for his national side in both Test and ODI matches. He made his Test debut on September 3, 2003 in the 3rd test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on September 22, 2004

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. He was not yet particularly famous. 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

Imran Nazir

In 2008, Nazir signed for the unofficial Indian Cricket League and has played for the Lahore Badshahs. After having signed up for the ICL his chances of ever playing for Pakistan again looked slim. His chances to return to Pakistani cricket improved on February 2, 2009 when a Pakistani court suspended the ban on ICL players

Nazir was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2007 World Cup. He smashed 160 against Zimbabwe in Pakistan's last match for the 2007 World cup after being knocked out by Ireland. It was the highest ever score by a Pakistani batsman and the eighth-highest by any batsman in World Cup history and his 8 sixes equalled the World Cup record of Ricky Ponting.^[1] It was also the highest List A score ever made in the West Indies.

Imran Khan Niazi

Imran Khan Niazi (Urdu: عمران خان نیازی) (born 25 November 1952) is a retired 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 charity worker and cricket commentator.

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 six world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches.^[1]

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice), a small and marginal political party, of which he is the only member ever elected to Parliament.^[2] He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007.^[3] Khan, through worldwide fundraising, helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram (Urdu/Pashto: وسیم اکرم) (born June 3, 1966 in Lahore, Punjab) is a former Pakistani cricketer. He was a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman, who represented the Pakistani cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals.

Widely regarded as one of the finest fast bowlers ever, Akram holds world records for the most wickets taken in List A cricket (881), and is second only to Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets (502). He is considered to be one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling.^[1][2][3] The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering, although reverse swing has now been accepted as a legitimate feature of the game. Akram's later career was also tarnished with accusations of match fixing, although these remain unproven.

Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis Maitla (Urdu: وقار یونس, born November 16, 1971), nicknamed Wiki,^[1] is a former Pakistani cricketer, widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.^[2]

Well known for his ability to reverse swing the ball, he has 373 Test wickets and 416 ODI wickets to his credit. Waqar has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets.