Tuesday 17 May 2011

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle Biography

Christopher \"Chris\" Henry Gayle (born 21 September, 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a West Indian cricketer who plays international cricket for the West Indies and domestic cricket for Jamaica. He is a hard-hitting left-handed opening batsman who can bowl right-arm off spin when called upon. Gayle has a variety of quality shots that he can perform. Gayle played for the West Indies at youth international level after he made his first-class debut aged 19 for Jamaica. He played his first One Day International 11 months later, and his first Test match 6 months after that. Gayle, who normally opens the innings when he plays for the West Indies, is a destructive batsman who is most effective playing square of the wicket. In July 2001, Gayle (175), together with Daren Ganga (89) established the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo when they put on 214 together against Zimbabwe. However, generally speaking he had a slow start to his international career, but invigorated it in 2002, ending the year with three centuries against India in November and becoming the fourth West Indian to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year. Along with Vivian Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya and Brian Lara he is the only player in One Day International history to have three or more scores of 150. In 2005, Gayle was dropped for the first Test against South Africa along with six other players following a dispute over sponsorship issues. He returned for the second test but had a poor series until the fourth Test, where he made his career-best: a match-saving 317. It was the first ever triple century against South Africa and up until Mahela Jayawardene made 374, it was the highest individual Test score against them. In August 2005, Gayle joined Worcestershire for the rest of the English season, playing eight matches. He made two half-centuries in three first class matches and two half-centuries in five one-day matches, and won one Man of the Match award in the one-day National League. However, Worcestershire were relegated after Gayle made 1 in the final match against Lancashire. Gayle was named Player of the 2006 Champions Trophy, where the West Indies nearly defended the title which they won in 2004, being defeated in the final by Australia. Gayle scored three centuries and totaled 474 runs, 150 more than any other batsman, and also took eight wickets in as many matches. Gayle, in keeping with the rest of the West Indies team, had a poor World Cup in 2007. He recorded a series of low scores; the one exception being a blistering 79 off 58 balls against England in the West Indies' final match. Gayle currently holds the record for the highest innings in a Twenty20 International, having scored 117 against South Africa in the World Twenty20 Championship, and, to date, is the only batsman to have hit a century in the Twenty20 format, hitting ten sixes in the match. He is currently the only cricketer to have hit centuries in all three formats of international cricket. In April 2008, Gayle was auctioned by the franchise Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, but missed the opening games due to an ongoing Sri Lanka tour to the Caribbean. When he finally joined the team, he missed out on the action due to a groin injury he picked up during that tour. Afterwards, he had to leave to join the West Indies team for a home series against Australia, thereby not playing in the inaugural version of the IPL at all.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

Chris gayle punching lee

Chris Gayle versus Jimmy Anderson

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq
Full name Abdul Razzaq
Born December 2, 1979, Lahore, Punjab
Current age 31 years 41 days
Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Hampshire, Hampshire 2nd XI, Hyderabad Heroes, ICL Pakistan XI, Khan Research Labs, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Middlesex, Pakistan International Airlines, Surrey, Worcestershire
Also known as Abdur Razzaq
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Profile:
Abdul Razzaq was once rapid enough to open the bowling and remains composed enough to bat anywhere, though he is discovering that the lower-order suits him nicely. His bowling – the reason he was first noticed – is characterised by a galloping approach, accuracy, and reverse-swing. But it is his batting that is more likely to win matches. He boasts a prodigious array of strokes and is particularly strong driving through cover and mid-off off both front and back foot. He has two gears: block or blast. Cut off the big shots and Razzaq gets bogged down, although patience is his virtue as he demonstrated in a match-saving fifty against India in Mohali in 2005. Just prior to that he had also played a bewilderingly slow innings in Australia, scoring four runs in over two hours. When the occasion demands it though, as ODIs often do, he can still slog with the best of them: England were pillaged for a 22-ball 51 at the end of 2005. and then again for nearly 60 runs in the last three overs of an ODI in September the following year.

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq 88 vs India 2nd ODI 2005

5 Fours by Abdul Razzaq in one over

Anwar Ali

Anwar Ali Biography

Full name Anwar Ali

Born November 25, 1987, Karachi, Sind

Current age 23 years 156 days

Major teams Karachi Harbour, Karachi Urban, Karachi Zebras, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Under-19s, Sind

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast

Hailing from a humble background, Anwar Ali once showed up at the National Cricket Academy nets with a pair of worn-out shoes. It was Aaqib Javed who took him under his wing and helped provide proper spikes and other cricket equipment to him. Anwar is a fast bowler out of the typical Pakistani mould, capable of swinging the ball, both old and new, at decent pace. He gave the world a brief glimpse of his talents with a destructive display in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup final against India, in Colombo, when his 5 for 35 spearheaded Pakistan's 38-run win. His early efforts in first-class cricket also brought some success and not only with the ball as an unbeaten century showed that he is more than able to contribute down the order. He was pushed a closer to a full international opportunity shortly after his 20th birthday (belated compared to some Pakistan players) when he was named in a training squad ahead of the one-day series against Zimbabwe early in 2008. An impressive tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya with the Academy team - he took 29 wickets at 16.31 - earned him a spot in Pakistan's squad for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Canada in October.

Anwar Ali

Anwar Ali - daddy of swing

magic bowling in cricket anwar ali

Mohammad Younis Khan

Mohammad Younis Khan Biography

Mohammad Younis Khan (born November 29, 1977 in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer and current captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younis' name is often spelled Younus Khan.He is only the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings. Younis 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. Younis 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. It was his return to the side in October 2004, at the pivotal one-down, against Sri Lanka in Karachi that laid the groundwork for his emergence as a force in Pakistan cricket. He was the top run-getter in the disastrous 3-0 whitewash in Australia immediately after and on the tour of India, for which Younis was elevated to vice-captain, he blossomed. After a horror start to the series he came back strongly, capping things off with 267 in the final Test. It was his highest Test score and came off 504 balls in the first innings, to set up a series levelling victory in Bangalore. As well as being an accomplished batsman, Younis is also a skilled slip fielder and a very occasional leg-spin bowler. He has performed particularly well outside Pakistan, including on tours of Australia, India, England and Sri Lanka. In the six Tests he has played against India, Younis averages an exceptional 106, the highest average against India by a Pakistani. Apart from his 267 at Bangalore, Younis also made 147 at Kolkata in 2005 and a pair of centuries during India's trip to Pakistan in 2006. More importantly, the tour to India also showcased his potential as a future captain of Pakistan and his energetic and astute leadership has impressed many people. Also in 2006, Younis made a century in the third Test against England at Headingley. On 22 January 2007, he scored a matchwinning 67 not out in the 4th innings to guide Pakistan to victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth. The five wicket win levelled the series at 1-1. In 2005, he was one of the 15 nominees for the ICC Test Player of the Year. He is the second fastest Pakistani in terms of innings to reach 4000 Test runs, behind Javed Miandad. Younis reached the milestone in 87 innings, just one more than Sachin Tendulkar took. Younis Khan's highest position in the LG ICC's Test Batting Rankings is third, which he achieved after the third test against England in 2006. His ranking score of 856 is the fourth highest achieved by a Pakistani batsmen after Mohammad Yousuf (933), Javed Miandad (885) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (870). Younis Khan made his first 300 against Sirilanka in 24 Feb 2009.

Mohammad Younis Khan

Younis Khan 101(109)-England vs Pakistan

Younis Khan 117 v India

Umar Gul

Umar Gul Biography

Umar Gul(born 15 October 1984 in Peshawar) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played ten Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for Pakistan as a specialist fast bowler. However, injury has prevented him from a long international career, as he was out of cricket for an entire season after his international debut. Gul was first called up for the team in April 2003, playing four one-day matches at the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup against Zimbabwe, Kenya and Sri Lanka, where he took four wickets, and he was in and out of the one-day team after that tournament. However, he played the whole of the 2003�04 home series against Bangladesh, making his Test debut and taking 15 wickets in the three Tests, and took the second-most wickets of any Pakistani bowler in the series, behind Shabbir Ahmed with 17. However, Shoaib Akhtar, who took 13 in third place, only played two of the Tests. Gul was retained for the ODIs against Bangladesh, taking a List A best five for 17 in nine overs in the third match, and ended with 11 wickets in the 5�0 series win. However, he could still not command a regular spot, playing three of Pakistan's nine next ODIs before finally getting dropped after one for 36 against New Zealand. He played two Tests after that, however, taking four wickets in a drawn Test against New Zealand before coming in as replacement for Shabbir Ahmed in the second Test of the three-Test series against India. After coming on as first-change bowler, Gul dismissed Virender Sehwag with his second over, and then bowled unchanged for 12 overs either side of lunch to take five Indian top order wickets - including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, who both had Test batting averages above 50, as did Sehwag. Gul finished with five for 31 in his spell, earning him commendation from Cricinfo journalist Dileep Premachandran, who praised his \"control of line and length\", and he was also named Man of the Match despite conceding runs at five an over in the second innings in a nine-wicket win. However, Gul was then ruled out of the third Test with a back injury which kept him out of cricket for an entire year. He returned to play two games at the 2004�05 Twenty20 Cup, and played some matches for Pakistan A and a Pakistan XI in warm-up games before the Test matches against England the following season, but he was not selected for the matches and has instead played three matches with Peshawar at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Gul was selected in Pakistan squad for the 2006 tour of England as a replacement to the injured Shoaib Akhtar. Gul had signed a one year contract with Gloucestershire to play in 2007, but the Pakistan Cricket Board failed to give them their permission. Gul appeared in all three of Pakistan's group matches in the 2007 World Cup taking four wickets with an economy rate of 3.13, only Shane Bond of those to deliver 100 balls was more economical. He also appeared in all of Pakistan's matches at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 taking 3/15 of 4 overs in the semi-final victory over New Zealand. He took three wickets in the final to finish as the tournament's leading wicket-taker. 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. He played in six matches, taking 12 wickets at an average of 15.33, 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. He performed very well in his debut match for the Warriors, taking 4 wickets for 15 runs in a losing side.

Umar Gul

Umar Gul's Amazing Wicket, v Jason Krejza

umar gul best yorkers

Monday 16 May 2011

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh Biography

Yuvraj Singh is a cricketer from Chandigarh in India. He was born on 12 December 1981 in Chandigarh, India. He is the son of former cricketer and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh. He has played in ODIs for India since 2000. He played his first Test match in 2003. For a short while, he was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 against England he hit six sixes in a single over, which was a rare feat in international cricket.
Yuvraj was first noticed by the selectors while he captained the U-19 Punjab team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s. He scored 358 runs in the final match. He was then selected for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000. The Indian team won the tournament. In 2000, he was selected for the first batch of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He displayed his potential in his second ODI against the Australians where he scored fast against a pace attack by seasoned bowlers like Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Glen McGarth . However, he was soon out of form, and in early 2001, he was dropped for the ODIs in India against Australia. Later in the year he scored an unbeaten 98 and helped India defeat Sri Lanka.
After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Yuvraj was signed by Yorkshire, becoming the only the second Indian after Tendulkar to represent the county. However, he had a disappointing run, scoring less than 200 runs in either form of the game, but he described it as an important learning experience.
His superb partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 led India to victory. He played for India at the 2003 Cricket World Cup. After that, he scored centuries against Australia and Zimbabwe. In the last match of the Round Robin League he scored 165 runs with Mohammad Kaif against West Indies and was declared the Man of the Match. However, his relations with his new coach Greg Chappel were strained at that time and he often had showdowns with the team management.
After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Yuvraj played for Yorkshire. Although he scored poorly, he called this stint as an important learning experience.
In the series in the West Indies, Yuvraj hit two fifties in four games, even though India lost the series 4-1. His performance was recognized and he was shortlisted by the ICC as one of four nominees for the International One Day player of the year award.
Yuvraj’s form improved late in 2005 and early in 2006 in the ODI cricket. In three consecutive series, against South Africa and then against Pakistan and England, he scored centuries and was soon among the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. Although India lost a series against West Indies, Yuvraj’s performance was noticed and he was shortlisted by the ICC as one of four nominees for the International One Day player of the year award. Later,however, due to illness and poor batting form, he was dropped in the tri-series against Australia and West Indies in Kuala Lumpur. He was now plagued by a knee injury which made him miss the tour of South Africa. He made a fast recovery and played in the ODI series against West Indies in India in January 2007. He was back in form now and played at the World Cup, where India made a first-round exit. However, Yuvraj continued to be in the team. In September 2007, the team captain Rahul Dravid resigned and Yuvraj was appointed as the ODI vice captain. He scored 121 in an ODI series against Australia, in which India lost. In November 2008, he had returned to form, as India beat Pakistan on home soil; he was named the Man of the Series.
In November 2008, he hit a very fast century against England at Rajkot. Despite straining his back, he continued batting well and managed to dismiss four of England’s leading batsmen in the next match at Indore. This earned him two consecutive Man of the Match awards.
Yuvraj also scored very fast and went on to claim the Man of the Match award against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at Durban. He is the icon player and captain for Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab. They came second in the Round Robin phase of the tournament, but lost their semi-final to the Chennai Super Kings.
On 1 May 2009, Yuvraj performed his first hat-trick in T20 cricket against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead in Durban. He dismissed Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. On 17 May 2009, Yuvraj picked up his second Twenty20 hat-trick against Deccan Chargers at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. He claimed the wickets of leading batsmen like Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs and Venugopal Rao.
Where his style of playing is concerned, Yuvraj is primarily a left-handed batsman. But he can bowl part-time left-arm spin. He is better at batting against fast bowling than spin bowling. He is one of the good fielders in the Indian team, fielding primarily at point, with a good aim at the stumps. As an expert fielder, he has effected several ODI run outs. He was once known to have attitude problems, but later often assumed leadership positions under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. Lately Yuvraj has put on weight, which has adversely affected his fielding.
Regarding his commercial interests, Microsoft signed Yuvraj to be its brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India in 2006. He also endorsed Codemasters’ cricket video game Brian Lara International Cricket 2007. He also lent his voice to the Bollywood animated film, Jumbo, which features his voice. This started his career in Bollywood.
The Man of the Match against West Indies (2005), the Man of the Series against South Africa, Pakistan and England; he was now ranked among the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. He was then short listed by the ICC as one of four nominees for the International One Day player of the year award. In 2008, he was declared the Man of the Match twice against New Zealand in a Test series played in India. He was awarded a Porsche 911 car by India’s BCCI for scoring 6 sixes in a single over while playing against England in the ECC World Twenty20 Super 8 match in Durban, South Africa. BCCI also gifted him Rs.10, 000,000 in cash for his superb performance in the tournament. In terms of strike rate, he is currently one of the world’s leading 20-20 batsmen

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvaraj singh t20 sixers

Yuvraj Singh Hits Longest Six

Shoiab Akhtar

Shoiab Akhtar Biography
Shoaib Akhtar (born 13 August 1975 in Rawalpindi, Punjab) is a Pakistani cricketer, and amongst the fastest bowler in the world, earning him the name Rawalpindi Express. He set a world record by clocking 100mph twice. His ability to bowl fast yorkers, well disguised slow balls, swinging deliveries, and sharp bouncers made him lethal even on dead pitches. However, he has never been far from controversy, often accused of not being a team player. Shoaib was sent back home from a tour in Australia in 2005. A year later he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive for a banned substance. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on appeal. In September 2007, Shoaib was banned by the PCB for an indefinite period for the alleged brawl with his team-mate Mohammad Asif. The ban was finally lifted but injuries and his attitude problem have kept him more off the field than on it.

Shoiab Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar, Shouts AT David Hussey

Shoaib Akhtar's Best Wicket - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka