PAKISTAN CRICKET PLAYER: October 2012

Adnan Akmal

Source(Google.com.pk)
Adnan Akmal Biography
Born March 13, 1985, Lahore, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan, Lahore Lions, Multan, North of Pakistan, Pakistan Cricket Board Blues, Pakistan Under-17s, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Relation Brother - Kamran Akmal, Brother - Umar Akmal
Adnan Akmal

One of three brothers to play - and keep wickets - for Pakistan, Adnan is the best pure wicketkeeper of the trio; he replaced elder brother Kamran in the Test side when making his debut in October 2010 and he did nothing thereafter to dispel that assessment.

Had it not been for a selection miscommunication back in 2004, Adnan may have played for Pakistan much earlier and longer. Both Kamran and Adnan were called up by accident for a national camp before a tri-series tournament and after much confusion over who was wanted, Kamran was kept. The late Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach at the time, felt Adnan to be the best wicketkeeper in the country.

Consistent domestic success, however, and the continuing errors of Kamran kept him in the frame. Ultimately it took the flight of Zulqarnain Haider for him to earn a Test debut but polished performances over four Tests justified the pick. In his last Test he took eight catches, before he was surprisingly dropped from the Test side, without explanation in 2011.

Adnan Akmal

Adnan Akmal

Azhar Ali

Source(Google.com.pk)
Azhar Ali Biography
Born February 19, 1985, Lahore, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Khan Research Laboratories, Lahore, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, Pakistan A
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Azhar Ali
An opening batsman by trade, Azhar has worked his way steadily up Pakistan's domestic scene since 2006. That was the season he began opening regularly for Khan Research Laboratories, a move that fetched him two hundreds and two fifties in five matches, and he hasn't looked back. In four seasons since, he's been averaging 40-plus with 11 hundreds, commendable figures in a country where opening is a modern-day curse.

All of his runs have been made with a compact technique, designed to get behind the line of each ball. Observers say he gets into a tangle against the shorter ball often but his patience is key. On an A tour to Australia in 2009, he twice made five-hour 70s against an attack that included Doug Bollinger, Clint McKay and Jason Krejza. That series propelled him into senior team focus and a solid, if not spectacular 2009-10 season, coupled with a move to look beyond Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, brought about a richly-deserved Test debut - in the middle order - at Lord's against Australia.

Azhar Ali

Sohail Tanvir

Source(Google.com.pk)
Sohail Tanvir Biography
Born December 12, 1984, Rawalpindi, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Federal Areas, Federal Areas Leopards, Khan Research Laboratories, Rajasthan Royals, Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi Rams, South Australia, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Left-arm medium-fast, Slow left-arm orthodox

Sohail Tanvir
The Rawalpindi born allrounder made his first-class debut against Peshawar in October 2004 but failed to impress with bat or ball. However, in his second match, against Multan, Sohail Tanvir scored an unbeaten 97 while taking three wickets but has played only 17 first-class matches since (a total of 19 in three seasons).

Tanvir has established himself as a batting allrounder and his unbeaten 124 (his second first-class century) in the Pentangular Cup 2007 match against Sind further established that point. He also represented Pakistan Academy on their tour of Bangladesh and his fine all-round performance on that tour and against Australia A in the ODI series at home prompted the selectors to name him as Shoaib Akhtar's replacement in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. The decision came as a surprise, however, as Tanvir was yet to take a wicket in the ten Twenty20 matches he had played.

His wrong-footed action, however, caused batsmen a lot of problems and emerged as the surprise package in the ICC World Twenty20. Although not picked for the Test team, Tanvir was back in Pakistan colours in the ODI series against South Africa. He went on to record a stunning 6 for 14 for Rajasthan in the IPL - the best figures in a Twenty20.He also bowls occasional left arm orthodox spin, as demonstrated in his second career Test, against India at Kolkata.

Sohail Tanvir

Saeed Ajmal

Source(Google.com.pk)
Saeed Ajmal Biography
Born October 14, 1977, Faisalabad, Punjab
Major teams Pakistan, Faisalabad, Islamabad Cricket Association, Khan Research Labs, Water and Power Development Authority
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Saeed Ajmal, an offspinner, received a call-up to the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup at the age of 30 after an impressive domestic season with Khan Research Labs in 2007-08, during which he took 38 wickets in 12 first-class matches at an average of 29 apiece, and 12 wickets in nine list A games. He made an immediate impression with his subtle variations, unafraid to use the doosra. But his career took off with a series of ODI performances that bewildered Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; he gave away few runs and his doosra was nigh-on unreadable. The ICC called him for his action, though it was cleared soon after. The pressure didn't get to him and immediately after, he played a crucial role in Pakistan's drive to the 2009 World Twenty20 title, regularly bottling up the middle overs with Shahid Afridi. He ended the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with an exemplary economy rate as batsmen around the world struggled to pick a big turning doosra or even cope with his changes in flight, pace and angle. Consistent performances in the ODI version have quickly earned him a reputation for choking the runs in the middle overs with clever variations.

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Umar Gul

Source(Google.com.pk)

Umar Gul Biography

Born April 14, 1984, Peshawar, North-Western Frontier Province
Major teams Pakistan, Gloucestershire, Habib Bank Limited, Kolkata Knight Riders, North West Frontier Province, North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan A, Pakistan International Airlines, Peshawar, Peshawar Panthers, Western Australia
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Umar Gul
The least-hyped but most successful and assured Pakistan pace product of the last few years, Umar Gul is the latest in Pakistan's assembly-line of pace-bowling talent. He had played just nine first-class matches when called up for national duty in the wake of Pakistan's poor 2003 World Cup. On the flat tracks of Sharjah, Gul performed admirably, maintaining excellent discipline and getting appreciable outswing with the new ball.

He isn't express but bowls a very quick heavy ball and his exceptional control and ability to extract seam movement marks him out. Further, his height enables him to extract bounce on most surfaces and from his natural back of a length, it is a useful trait. His first big moment in his career came in the Lahore Test against India in 2003-04. Unfazed by a daunting batting line-up, Gul tore through the Indian top order, moving the ball both ways off the seam at a sharp pace. His 5 for 31 in the first innings gave Pakistan the early initiative which they drove home to win the Test.

Unfortunately, that was his last cricket of any kind for over a year as he discovered three stress fractures in his back immediately after the Test. The injury would have ended many an international career, but Gul returned, fitter and sharper than before in late 2005. He returned in a Pakistan shirt against India in the ODI series at home in February 2006 and in Sri Lanka showed further signs of rehabilitation by lasting both Tests but it was really the second half of 2006, where he fully came of age. Leading the attack against England and then the West Indies as Pakistan's main bowlers suffered injuries, Gul stood tall, finishing Pakistan's best bowler.

Since then, as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar have floundered, Gul has become Pakistan's spearhead and one of the best fast bowlers in the world. He is smart enough and good enough to succeed in all three formats and 2009 proved it: he put together a patch of wicket-taking in ODIs, on dead pitches in Tests (including a career-best six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka) and established himself as the world's best Twenty20 bowler, coming on after the initial overs and firing in yorkers on demand.

He had hinted at that by being leading wicket-taker in the 2007 World Twenty20; over the next two years he impressed wherever he went, in the IPL for the Kolkatta Knight Riders and in Australia's domestic Twenty20 tournament. Confirmation came on the grandest stage: having poleaxed Australia in a T20I in Dubai with 4-8, he was the best bowler and leading wicket-taker as Pakistan won the second World Twenty20 in England. The highlight was 5-6 against New Zealand, the highest quality exhibition of yorker bowling. He is not a one-format pony, however, and will remain a crucial cog in Pakistan's attack across all formats.

Umar Gul