Hammad Shakil
• If Wasim Akram had continued playing till the age Pakistan’s current skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is, he could’ve played against Virat Kohli, and with Mohammad Amir.
• Misbah, born in 1974, is just a year younger than Sachin Tendulkar. The latter debuted in 1989, while Misbah was handled one in 2001.
• The aforementioned stat also means if Misbah had followed Sachin’s trend, he might’ve played the World Cup 1992 and shared the dressing room with arguably some of the greatest cricketers Pakistan have had.
• Misbah-ul-Haq also holds the unwanted record of scoring most ODI runs without registering a century. Incidentally in that list, top 3, and four of the top 7 positions are occupied by Pak players, with Wasim Akram and Moin Khan at No. 2 and 3 respectively, and Mudassar Nazar at 7.
• Sachin Tendulkar has the distinction to play against both Imran Khan and Mohammad Amir (considered as one of Pakistan’s most senior and junior cricketers respectively), thus serving as a bridge joining two completely different eras.
• Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest left-arm pacer to have graced the game, quit the game in 2003. Mohammad Amir debuted in 2009. So basically, Pakistan had to wait just for six years to unearth a new, young and fresh jaw-droppingly brilliant bloke. If only it weren’t for that no-ball…
• Among the currently active Pakistan players, Shoaib Malik is the only one to have debuted in the 90s. 1999 to be exact. Previously it was Shahid Afridi, who recently announced his retirement after playing for almost 21 years.
• Shahid Afridi played his last game in each format versus Australia. Starting from his last Test in 2010, to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Quarter Final to the ICC World T20 2016, all against the same opposition.
• Imran Khan played his last international game on March 25, much like Shahid Afridi, who also played his last international game on the very same date, but with 24 years in between.
• 7601 – the number of days Imran Khan’s career spanned, the most for any Pakistan player. Javed Miandad fell just 24 short, with his tenure spanning 7577 days. Shahid Afridi comes third with 7114 days.
• Both Imran Khan and Javed Miandad debuted in the month of June and played their last game in March.
• Abdur Rehman, one of the architects who produced Pakistan’s fine clean sweep over England in 2012, is currently stranded on 99 Test wickets, in just 22 games. If he gets another game and takes a wicket, he would be the 6th fastest Pakistan bowler, and 3rd fastest spinner to get to 100-Test wickets.
• Saeed Ajmal, considered as one of Pakistan’s finest bowlers in his prime days when he ruled the ICC rankings, grabbed two five-wicket hauls in ODIs, ironically both in a losing cause.
More to follow…
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