Pakistan Cricket Players: July 2013

Rashid Latif Biography

Source(Google.com.pk)

Rashid Latif Pakistan Cricket Players

Rashid Latif was born on 14th October, 1968. He is a former Pakistani wicket keeper and a right handed batsman who represented the Pakistani cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches, between 1992 and 2003. He also served as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team between 2003 and 2004.

Career

Latif started playing for the Pakistan national cricket team in 1992 after the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He impressed the national selectors by scoring 50 runs in his Test debut, However it did not cement his place in the national squad, throughout his career because he was competing with another Pakistani wicketkeeper, Moin Khan. This led to ongoing changes of wicket keepers for the next decade. In 1996, he announced his retirement after conflicts with some team players and the team management. He returned back to the Pakistan team and became the captain of Pakistan in 1998.

Latif remained out of the national squad until 2001, when after a series of poor performances, the team replaced a certain Khan of Pakistan, who was named captain. After returning back to the squad, he was somewhat enhanced by keeping his place on the wicket and giving a series of good performances beating. The highlight came when his career after the World Cup Cricket in 2003, was announced as captain of Pakistan. Under his leadership, Pakistan successfully tested with several new players and the team gave positive results. He also participated with the unification of the players through his captaincy in the inside and outside the stadium for the game of cricket. However, indifferences between Latif and manage the team and appeared again in the period 2003-2004, which resulted in him giving up the captaincy, former Pakistan batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. He dropped from the squad since then and was not mentioned in the team, despite his attempts to return to the team during the period 2003-2005.

In April 2006, has retired from the gentle game of cricket first class as he toured with senior Pakistani players to play against top Indian players in April 2006. This series played between the players who have retired from professional cricket. Also, according to statistics available on ESPN [Cricinfo sports, can be seen that for the spectrum did not participate in a game of first-class cricket since 2005. The last international match in 2006, when he played for the skin Cricket Club, a club in England.

Interview

Rashid Latif, aged 39, played 39 Test matches for Pakistan and 162 one-day internationals but was more noted for being the first player to go public on the match-fixing scandal in the nineties.

You have been doing some expert wicket-keeping coaching for the Pakistan Cricket Board. Can you tell us about that?

The PCB requested me to train and Under -15, Under-17 players under 19 years old, as well as working with top keepers such as Sarfraz Ahmed and completed the violin, which I spent time with in the Nahr al-Bared in the last month. We believe in natural talent, but I still think you need some basic training, whether batsman, wicket keeper or bowler. I'm running my academy in Karachi to all players but keeping is an area unique in the training, chlorine, and I realized that I hired a coach first wicket keeping. It's a good move, as I said Pakistan could help us in keeping a high level of preservation of what is required in international standards because in this moment we are not with the best player in the world.

What have you observed of Kamran Akmal’s progress?

Kamran is an amazing player who started his cricket after me and performed well, especially in the Mohali Test when he scored a match-saving hundred. He also did well with the bat in India recently and against England a couple of years ago. Having said all that, he has a problem with his wicket-keeping. He is overweight and his muscles are too tight because of (too much) weight training. I have spoken with the Pakistan trainer, DD (David Dwyer), and he also realises this and is working with him. He needs to lose some weight as he is 78kg – I was about the same height and I weighed 69-70kg, which I think is an ideal weight for a wicketkeeper of our height. 78kg is too much for a wicketkeeper of his height of about five-foot-eight inch. He needs a more flexible body like (Adam) Gilchrist, (Kumar) Sangakkara or (Mark) Boucher. They are flexible and that is why they are good wicketkeepers. I hope Kamran will be better after four to six months.

Pakistan has won the last two Under-19 World Cups and is now in the semi-final of the latest edition. So presumably the future for Pakistan is optimistic?

For the last five or six years we have performed well at these tournaments and Under-17 also but as soon as they reach 22 or 23 they don’t go on because we have an age problem on the domestic circuit in Pakistan. Most of the Pakistan players playing Under-19 cricket are more than 19-years-old. It’s very bad for Pakistan cricket. They have to check the proper age of the players. We are very good at Under-19 but then we struggle to even be in the middle of the international rankings. I’m sure that 50 percent of Pakistani players in this tournament are over-age. Most of these Under-19 players are playing first-class cricket in Pakistan, but this is not the case with other teams because their players are 17 or 18. It is very difficult to play first-class cricket at the age of 18. We have had 21 and 22-year-old players, even 25-year-olds, playing Under-19 cricket. Now I think we are trying to go the right way. The problems are not with cricket administrators or management, they are with the schools. When you are in Class nine or ten and put in your registration form you can change your age. Nowadays they are checking more closely at Imran Khan’s hospital in Lahore and nobody older than 21 would be able to play Under-19 cricket.

Pakistan is losing so many players to the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Do you agree with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s policy to ban them for three years?

I think it is the wrong policy by BCCI and PCB to ban these players - it is not good for the players or the cricket. The PCB and BCCI can only offer about 15 or 16 places to players for the national team so when the other players have a good opportunity to make money from cricket, the boards should not be punishing them for trying to earn a living. The situation is very bad right now because the ICC or BCCI does not want any private sector to come into cricket. We need to support the ICL and IPL as fans are more interested in watching the great players playing together in these kind of events than Test matches in India and Pakistan. I also did not enjoy playing against teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh but loved matches against Australia, England, India and South Africa. Cricket is going the same way as football in these Super Leagues and Premier Leagues and we have to embrace it – it’s good for cricket.

In your career you always had a reputation for being a controversial character. Was that fair to end up with that label?

Yes I was controversial but I was satisfied with my performance on the field. I am proud to be the first man who spoke out about the match-fixing and I have no regrets. I am a very satisfied person.

What is it like to have the reputation of being the ‘whistle-blower’?

I’m proud to be the first man to talk about all the fixing, speaking against the players who did all these things.

There was talk you would write a book on your career and it was expected to be very revealing. Do you still have plans to write this?

My autobiography is almost complete, we are looking for a publisher so maybe next year.

Will it be controversial?

Well I am not connected to international cricket any more so I don’t know what is happening now (with fixing) though I can still tell if something has happened in a match from watching on television. Now there is not match-fixing like there was in 1994-95 or until 1998. Now nobody has a clue about the ‘fancy’ fixing, like whether you’re making 50 runs in the first ten overs. You can’t have a clue about that. My autobiography will not be controversial for those reasons but I will talk about why I took s stance on the match-fixing. I will speak about the players I played with and against, and umpires, referees and team managers and coaches.

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Aamir Sohail Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Aamer Sohail was born on 14 September 1966 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He is a former professional Pakistani cricketer and PCB Chief Selector. With Saeed Anwar, he formed one of the best opening combinations Pakistan has ever had.
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 Pakistani.A combative left-hand opener, Aamer 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, and famously told Ian Botham that he might want to send his mother-in-law in to bat after Botham was controversially given out for 0 in the final. He captained Pakistan at the height of the match-fixing controversy, and was one of the whistle-blowers. His career suffered as a result, and he left the international scene early to work in broadcasting, where he might have tried harder to suppress his personal prejudices.
Debut

An aggressive batsman, Sohail's first appeared for the national team in a 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.
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.
Career highlights and controversies

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 in to bat after Botham was controversially given out for nought in the final. 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 50 overs. With opening partner Saeed Anwar, he got Pakistan off to a flying start. With the score at 109 for one, and Saeed Anwar (4Cool 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 Aamir 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.
Broadcasting 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 wicketkeeper Wasim Bari. He continues to work as a cricket broadcaster.
Interview

I was not a serious cricketer before college. Once, I was playing a house tournament in college and the captain saw me play. I had scored quite a few runs and had a few wickets. He asked why I was not playing for them. I said, "I am doing my pre-engineering and I don't have the time. I have to take practicals and everything." He literally followed me around, insisting I play. So I played one tournament, and then I went for the Lahore Under-19 trials and was picked. That's when I thought, "If I got picked, there must be something good about my cricket."
He scored 2,823 runs at 35.28 in 47 Tests while he amassed 4,780 runs at 31.86 in 156 One-day Internationals, hammering five centuries each in both formats of the game. He picked up 25 Test wickets while his tally in ODIs stood at 85 that reflected his all-round abilities. The total span of his career was exactly a decade (1999-2000) during which he also captained Pakistan.

Aamir Sohail has been the chairman of the national selection committee besides having been associated with the Pakistan Cricket Board in the role of Director Media and Marketing. He earned instant recognition in the role of a commentator and analyst primarily because of his courage to call a spade a spade on air.

The name of the game is the same. Even in Twenty20, if you are a technically correct batsman you have more opportunities to manoeuvre the bowling rather than if you play expansive shots. Twenty20 teams are realising that it's not just wham-bam. There has to be thinking involved. You might succeed without it in one or two games, but eventually you will get figured out.

The attitude and aggression I used to use in my cricket, are the two things I miss the most. I can't use them anymore.

Wasim Raja was my captain at Lahore and he asked me to open. When I hesitated, he said, "Do it. Pakistan won't be needing middle-order batsmen in the next four or five years. There is Saleem Malik, there is Javed Miandad; it will be hard for you to get in. Start opening the innings, you will play for Pakistan."

There is nothing wrong with the religiosity in the Pakistan team; that's their personal choice. As long as they are delivering 100% on the ground, they can do whatever they want to.

I was very lucky to have Saeed Anwar and Ramiz Raja as opening partners. We developed a good understanding because we became good friends.

Eventually reverse the alternative did not help Pakistan cricket at all. Number of new ball bowlers Did you see who are very good? This has helped Pakistan to achieve reverse swing things temporarily, but when I look at it in the long term, it actually hindered the Pakistan cricket. You do not get a good new ball bowlers. If you do not get a good new ball bowlers in the structure of the first degree or a cricket club or at a higher level, and how you think actually get good openers?

The Courtney Walsh and Glenn McGrath on the most difficult bowlers to open against. They were wonderful. They had to clean the line and length, at the same time what they can and bowl on the pace and do something with the ball. Play against them you have always to be hard to focus, and you had to show good technique. He was otherwise difficult to survive against them.

If you have a solid defense and awareness of where your torso is, you can always work on improving as the first match.
Saeed and I used to spend a lot of time together. We had this passion for buying music systems. We used to buy the latest stuff in the market, enjoy music together; train together, play squash together. That friendship off the field was a great help, and that relationship is still there.

From Wasim Raja I learned how to deal with youngsters: how to actually sit down and talk to them, how to instill confidence in them. From him I learned that it is an obligation for a cricketer to pass on what he has learned.

Prior to the World Cup in 1992, 18 or 19 probables went to Australia. For three weeks I never got a hit, even in the nets. I was tagging along. One day I came back to the dressing room after a workout and I was told I was playing the next day in place of Saleem Malik, who had got injured. I played that game and made a few runs. I was batting along with Imran [Khan], hitting the ball nicely towards the covers, and he said to me: "It seems like you have been playing in Australia for a long time." That gave me a lot of confidence. Finally, after the warm-up matches, I was at the hotel reception one day when Imran came and said, "You are playing the World Cup." Just like that. "The way you have been batting, I will play you in all ten games, and if you score nine ducks, I will still play you in the final." I can't forget that.

As an opener, you also had to consider the mindset of the players to follow. If Nos. 3 and 4 were in good form, we would attack from the beginning; if they were struggling, we tried to be cautious. At times, if we thought the rest of the batsmen were nervous and the pitch difficult, just to ease the pressure we deliberately used to take the attack to the bowlers. Different mindsets had to come out for different games.

My favourite innings came in Perth in the World Cup. We had not been getting the right results in the tournament, and it was a crunch game, against Australia. Imran said, "I'm banking on you. Not many batsmen have been successful playing at Perth - not only Pakistani batsmen but from all over. But I think you have the talent." I got 76 runs, and when I got out he was the next man in. He waited for me to cross the boundary and he patted me on the back and then entered the ground. I really enjoyed that.

My opening partners and I, we used to discuss cricket, we used to discuss oppositions, and we were open and honest about it. " I might struggle against this bowler. Can you face him for some time?" We used to look at the other batsman for technical deficiencies. After the innings, or sometimes during an innings, we used to say: "Okay, you are not moving this foot well and you have to be careful."

I was never a temperamental person. I just played my cricket with passion and aggression - people may have taken it wrongly. Everybody loses his temper once in a while; it's the same with me.

Imran, Miandad and Malik really knew their cricket, and they were exceptional captains. I didn't play a lot of cricket with Imran but he was the sort of person who knew how to manage people, how to get the best out of them. Miandad was a great help technically, and tactically it was Miandad who used to really help Imran. But the guy I really enjoyed playing under was Malik.