A doosra (, Hindi दूसरा) is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in the sport of cricket, popularised by Pakistani cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq. The term means "(the) second (one)", or "(the) other (one)" in Urdu (and Hindi). Saqlain Mushtaq has also invented a variant of the doosra, a ball which he calls the "teesra", meaning "(the) third (one)".

Other bowlers have made considerable use of the doosra in international cricket, including Sri Lankans Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, South African Johan Botha, Indian Harbhajan Singh and the Pakistanis Shoaib Malik and Saeed Ajmal.

History

The doosra is a relatively new type of delivery. Saqlain Mushtaq is credited with its invention, which was integral to both his success and the future of off-spin bowling, as it is unlikely that any off-spinner prior to him ever bowled a delivery which turned from leg.

The naming of the delivery is attributed to Moin Khan, the former Pakistani wicketkeeper, who would call on Mushtaq to bowl the "doosra" (the other one) from behind the stumps. Tony Greig, a commentator in one of these matches, eventually linked the word to the delivery and confirmed it with Saqlain in a post-match interview. Thus the term became a part of cricketing culture. The doosra is now an important part of the off-spin armoury.

Some people, however, feel that the real pioneer of the doosra was Sonny Ramadhin, who played for the West Indies in the 1950s, as he moved the ball both ways, despite gripping the ball like an off-break bowler.

Technique

The bowler delivers the ball with the same finger action as a normal off break but cocks the wrist so that the back of the hand faces the batsman. This gives the ball spin in the opposite direction to that for an off break, causing it to spin from the leg side to the off side to a right-handed batsman.

The doosra is the off-spinner's equivalent of the leg-spinner's googly, which spins in the opposite direction to the leg spinner's stock ball.

It is possible for a left-armer (whose action mirrors that of an off-spinner) to bowl the doosra, which in this case would turn from off to leg. Sri Lankan left-armer Rangana Herath gained recognition by bowling the delivery, in particular against the Australians during an A tour. England left-armer Monty Panesar has claimed to have bowled the delivery occasionally in domestic matches.

Other bowlers

Increasingly, it seems that many other off-spinners are trying to make use of the "doosra" delivery with varying degrees of success. Interestingly, apart from Saqlain Mushtaq himself, all other off-spinners attempting to utilise the delivery have had accusations (for the most part dismissed) of throwing levelled against them. These include; Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik and Johan Botha. Another method, bowled by the former Warwickshire bowler Alex Loudon, features the middle finger behind the ball which 'flicks' the ball as it is delivered - spinning the ball from leg to off. The success of this form of the doosra has yet to be determined, as Loudon only made his One Day International debut for England on 24 June 2006 against Sri Lanka. He did not take any wickets but did bowl the doosra in the match. He did not receive any accusations of throwing. South Australian, Dan Cullen has also been rumoured to be able to bowl the doosra. Ajantha Mendis has had success at the start of his career using the middle finger flick style of doosra.

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muralitharan's doosra was the subject of an official report by match referee Chris Broad during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in 2004, for illegal straightening of the arm at the elbow during the bowling action. Subsequent biomechanical tests conducted at the University of Western Australia in Perth showed that Muralitharan was straightening his arm by angles of up to 10 degrees when bowling doosras, well outside the International Cricket Council acceptable guideline of 5 degrees for spin bowlers. Muralitharan was subsequently instructed by Sri Lanka Cricket not to bowl the doosra in international cricket. In November 2004, the International Cricket Council conducted more research into illegal bowling actions and found that many bowlers whose actions were considered legitimate were actually transgressing the rules. A rule change was proposed and accepted at a meeting of ICC chief executives in early 2005, stating that any bowler may straighten their arm up to 15 degrees, and Muralitharan's doosra once again became a legal delivery.

In February 2006, in an attempt to silence the Australian crowds and their 'no ball' chants, Muralitharan took another test at the University of Western Australia, which saw all of his deliveries deemed legal, including the doosra.

Harbhajan Singh

The doosra of Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh was the subject of an official report by match referee Chris Broad, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Mark Benson, and TV umpire Mahbubur Rahman after the second Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong in December 2004. It was reported that his arm is straightened by angles of up to 10 degrees, 5 degrees within the ICC tolerance levels.

Shoaib Malik

Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik was also reported for his doosra before the first Test between Australia and Pakistan in December 2004. Biomechanics tests, similar to those performed on Muralitharan, were conducted, and he did not bowl in subsequent Tests in that series. Unlike many other cricketers accused of throwing when bowling their doosra delivery, Malik is also a capable batsman, and some analysts speculate that he might focus on his batting if prevented from bowling this delivery. Malik was omitted from the Pakistani team for the first Test against Australia in 2004, although this was due to the reputation of the Perth pitch as being unfriendly to spin bowlers rather than as a result of the controversy.

Malik returned to bowling in May 2005 following remedial work. He was reported again, alongside Shabbir Ahmed, after the first Test against England at Multan in November 2005.

In May 2006, Malik opted for elbow surgery to correct his bowling action. He and the Pakistan Cricket Board had previously unsuccessfully argued that a 2003 road accident caused the damage to his elbow which makes his action appear suspect. Malik returned to play in June 2006 but does not bowl doosra anymore.

Johan Botha

South African Johan Botha has been reported for his version of the doosra after the 3rd Test match against Australia in 2006. Botha was playing in his maiden test match at the time, taking 2 wickets. His bowling was later ruled illegal, and he was banned, though this ban was lifted in November, 2006. However, in April 2009, he was called for a re-assessment of his bowling action after the series in Australia. In May 2009, he was allowed to bowl all types of deliveries except the doosra, which was deemed to exceed the 15 degree limit.

Ban against the teaching of the doosra in Australia

In July 2009 in Australia, a spin summit held at Cricket Australia's Centre for Excellence decided not to teach the doosra to young spinners. The delegates at the meeting included former Test spinners Shane Warne, Stuart MacGill, Jim Higgs, Gavin Robertson, Terry Jenner, Peter Philpott and Ashley Mallett. According to them, the doosra cannot be bowled legally and unless ICC decides to legalize all forms of chucking, it will not be taught in Australia.

Vincent Barnes in an interview argues that Bruce Elliott, the UWA professor who is also the ICC biomechanist, had made an interesting discovery in his dealings with finger spinners. "He said he had found that a lot of bowlers from the subcontinent could bowl the doosra legally, but not Caucasian bowlers."

Teesra

In 2004, Saqlain Mustaq, the developer of the doosra, claimed to have developed a new variant called the teesra, which is a top spinner disguised as an off spinner. He was supposed to have used it in ICL matches.

References

Category:Cricket terminology Category:Cricket deliveries

Saqlain Mushtaq (Urdu: ثقلین مشتاق) (born December 29, 1976 in Lahore, Punjab) is a Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest off spin bowlers of all time. He picked up four wickets at an average of 26.75 in the first test of the series.

In August 2005, he played his first match after recovering from injury against Bangladesh A, and took 4-87 from 35 overs bowled over two innings. However, it spins in the opposite direction (i.e. from the leg side to the off side), easily confusing batsmen, making it a very effective weapon.

A statistcal analysis conducted by Wisden in 2003 revealed Saqlain as the all-time greatest ODI spinner, and sixth greatest of all ODI bowlers.

Was the fastest to reach the milestones of 100, 150, 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs. actively promoting the religion of Islam in local communities.

After marrying a British citizen, Saqlain gained a British passport, which made him eligible to play for England after a four-year qualification period that ended in April 2008.

References

External links

Cricinfo.com - Saqlain Mushtaq's Player Profile

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Islamabad cricketers Category:Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Category:Pakistan One Day International cricketers Category:One Day International hat-trick takers Category:Pakistan Test cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Surrey cricketers Category:Sussex cricketers Category:Ireland cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:English people of Pakistani descent Category:Lahore (Indian Cricket League) cricketers

Playername	Saeed Ajmal
Country	Pakistan
Fullname	Saeed Ajmal
Living	true
Dayofbirth	14
Monthofbirth	10
Yearofbirth	1977
Placeofbirth	Faisalabad, Punjab
Countryofbirth	Pakistan
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowler
International	true
Testdebutdate	4 July
Testdebutyear	2009
Testdebutagainst	Sri Lanka
Testcap	195
Lasttestdate	26 August
Lasttestyear	2010
Lasttestagainst	England
Odidebutdate	2 July
Odidebutyear	2008
Odidebutagainst	India
Odicap	171
Lastodidate	19 June
Lastodiyear	2010
Lastodiagainst	India
Club1	Faisalabad
Year1	1996–2007
Club2	Khan Research Laboratories
Year2	2000–07
Club3	Islamabad
Year3	2001–02
Columns	4
Column1	Tests
Matches1	9
Runs1	98
Bat avg1	10.88
100s/50s1	0/1
Top score1	50
Deliveries1	2,747
Wickets1	33
Bowl avg1	39.72
Fivefor1	1
Tenfor1	0
Best bowling1	5/82
Catches/stumpings1	2/–
Column2	ODI
Matches2	35
Runs2	115
Bat avg2	8.21
100s/50s2	0/0
Top score2	33
Deliveries2	1,818
Wickets2	424
Bowl avg2	30.52
Fivefor2	0
Tenfor2	0
Best bowling2	4/33
Catches/stumpings2	6/–
Column3	T20I
Matches3	28
Runs3	30
Bat avg3	10.00
100s/50s3	0/0
Top score3	13*
Deliveries3	624
Wickets3	41
Bowl avg3	16.12
Fivefor3	0
Tenfor3	0
Best bowling3	4/19
Catches/stumpings3	4/–
Column4	FC
Matches4	92
Runs4	965
Bat avg4	11.91
100s/50s4	0/3
Top score4	53
Deliveries4	18,475
Wickets4	302
Bowl avg4	28.31
Fivefor4	18
Tenfor4	1
Best bowling4	7/63
Catches/stumpings4	30/–
Date	29 December
Year	2010
Source	http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/42699.html Cricinfo

Saeed Ajmal (}}, born 14 October 1977 in Faisalabad) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who also uses the Doosra to good effect.

Early life and domestic cricket

Ajmal has played for Faisalabad since his debut in 1995 at the age of 18, also representing Khan Research Laboratories and occasionally Islamabad. After a successful season in 2007–08 for Khan Research Laboratories, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2008 Asia Cup. Which in a sense is similar to Danish Kaneria who likes to bowl slow spin but Kaneria has a different case as when he picks up more speed he tends to loose the spin of the ball. When Pakistan started there tour of England in 2010 former Pakistani off-spinner and the founder of the doosra, Saqlain Mushtaq had a coaching session with Ajmal to advise him on his spin techniques Ajmal's spin techinque came in special hand against england in 2010 has he took his first 5-wicket haul to help restrict England. Kevin Pietersen congratulated Ajmal on the amount of spin he achieved. Ajmal though started his international cricket in limited-overs cricket and was one of the early off-spinners to possess the skills of the doosra. A stat shows that out of Ajmal's 38 wickets in Twenty20 cricket 13 of them have been stumped the most for any bowler in the game. Also it was of Ajmal's off-break that Zulqarnain Haider collected his maiden international stumping.

Saeed Ajmal also said in an interview that he had learned the doosra on his own and that the rated Saqlain Mushtaq as the best off-spinner ever and rated Muttiah Muralitharan in second-place. He also stated that Muralitharan was a very nice and down to earth person. Ajmal said that he planned to introduce a new delivery at the 2011 Cricket World Cup

Bowling

Test Cricket 5-wicket in an innings

{|class="wikitable" align="center" ! width="40"| !! width="50"|Figures !! width="50"|Match !! width="100"|Against !! width="150"|City/Country !! width="200"|Venue !! width="50"|Year |- | 1 || 5/82 || 6 || || Birmingham, England || Edgbaston || 2010 |- |}

Test Cricket International Fifties

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%" align="center" width:"100%"

!colspan=7|Test Half Centuries of Saeed Ajmal |- ! width="40"|# !! width="50"|Runs !! width="50"|Match !! width="100"|Against !! width="150"|City/Country !! width="200"|Venue !! width="50"|Year |- | [1] || 50 || 6 || || Birmingham, England || Edgbaston || 2010 |- |}

References

External links

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from Faisalabad Category:People from Faisalabad District Category:Pakistan Test cricketers Category:Pakistan One Day International cricketers Category:Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Category:Faisalabad cricketers Category:Islamabad cricketers Category:Khan Research Labs cricketers Category:Water and Power Development Authority cricketers

Name	Kaifi Azmi
Caption
Birth date	January 14, 1925
Occupation	poet, lyricist, songwriter
Death date	May 10, 2002 (aged 77)
Imdb id	0044340

Kaifi Azmi (born January 14th, 1925) is Indian Urdu poet. He is considered to be one the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jon Eliya and many others he participated in many memorable mushairas of 20th century.

Early life

Kaifi Azmi was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Career

Writings

At age eleven, Azmi wrote his first ghazal Itna To Zindagi Mein Kisi Ki Khalal Pade and somehow managed to get himself invited to a mushaira and over there, he recited a ghazal, rather a couplet of the ghazal which was very much appreciated by the president of the mushaira, Mani Jaisi, but most of the people, including his father, thought he recited his elder brother's ghazal. When his elder brother denied it, his father and his clerk decided to test his poetic talent. They gave him one of the lines of a couplet and asked him to write a ghazal in the same meter and rhyme. Azmi accepted the challenge and completed a ghazal. This particular ghazal was to become a rage in undivided India and it was immortalized as it was sung by legendary ghazal singer, Begum Akhtar.

Azmi abandoned his studies of Persian and Urdu during the Quit India agitations in 1942 and shortly thereafter became a full time Marxist when he accepted membership of the Communist Party of India in 1943.

During this period, the leading progressive writers of Lucknow noticed him. They were very impressed by his leadership qualities. They also saw in him a budding poet and extended all possible encouragement towards him. Consequently, Azmi started to win great acclaim as a poet and became a member of Progressive Writers' Movement of India.

At the age of twenty-four, he started activities in the textile mill areas of Kanpur. As a full time worker, he left his life of comfort, though he was the son of a zamindar. He was asked to shift his base to Bombay, work amongst the workers and start party work with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm and at the same time would attend mushairas in different parts of India. In Bombay, he joined Ali Sardar Jafri in writing for the party’s paper, Qaumi Jung.

In 1947, he visited Hyderabad to participate in a mushaira. There he met, fell in love with and married a woman named Shaukat. Shaukat Kaifi later became a renowned actress in theatre and films. They had two children together, Shabana Azmi (b. 1950), a renowned actress of Indian cinema and Baba Azmi, a noted cameraman .

Poetry

{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:23em; max-width: 30%;" cellspacing="5" | style="text-align: left;" | Dekhi zamane ki yari, bichre sabhi bari bari, kya leke mile ab dunia se, ansoo ke sivaa kuch paas nahi. yea phool hi phool the raho me yea kanto ki bhi aas nahi, nafrat ki dunia hai sari bichre sabhi bari bari. raat bhar mehman hai bahare yahan raat gar dhal gayi phir yea khusia kaha daur yea chalti rahe rang uchal ti rahe roop badalte rahe jam badalti rahe |- | style="text-align: left;" | Kaifi Azmi |}

Like most of the Urdu poets, Azmi began as a ghazal writer, cramming his poetry with the repeated themes of love and romance in a style that was replete with clichés and metaphors. However, his association with the Progressive Writers' Movement and Communist Party made him embark on the path of socially conscious poetry.

In his poetry, he highlights the exploitation of the subaltern masses and through them he conveys a message of the creation of a just social order by dismantling the existing one. Yet, his poetry cannot be called plain propaganda. It has its own merits; intensity of emotions, in particular, and the spirit of sympathy and compassion towards the disadvantaged section of society, are the hallmark of his poetry. His poems are also notable for their rich imagery and in this respect, his contribution to Urdu poetry can hardly be overstated.

Azmi's first collection of poems, Jhankar was published in 1943. His important works including anthologies of poetry, were Aakhir-e-Shab, Sarmaya, Awaara Sajde, Kaifiyaat, Nai Gulistan, an anthology of articles he wrote for Urdu Blitz, Meri Awaaz Suno, a selection of his film lyrics, and the script of Heer Ranjha in Devanagari.

His best known poems are Aurat, Makaan,Daaera,Saanp, and Bahuroopni. {| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:23em; max-width: 35%;" cellspacing="5" | style="text-align: left;" | Kar chale hum fida jan-o-tan sathion ab tumhare hawale watan sathio zinda rahne ki mausam bahut hai magar jan dene ki rut roz ati nahi husn aur ishq dono ko ruswa kare wo jawani jo khume nahati nahi aaj dharti bani hai dulhan sathio Kar Chale hum Fida Jano Tan Sathio |- | style="text-align: left;" | Kaifi Azmi |}

Films

Azmi's work in films includes working as a lyricist, writer and actor. Azmi wrote his first lyrics for the film Buzdil, directed by Shaheed Latif, in 1952. His early work as a writer was mainly for Nanubhai Vakil's films like Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) and Id Ka Chand (1958).

While directors like Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Bimal Roy strove to create the “New Cinema”, writers like Sahir Ludhianvi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and Kaifi changed the tenor and vocabulary of the Hindi film song, creating a fresh new wave in Hindi film lyrics that lasted many years.

His greatest feat as a writer was Chetan Anand's Heer Raanjha (1970) wherein the entire dialogue of the film was in verse. It was a tremendous achievement and one of the greatest feats of Hindi film writing. Azmi also won great critical accolades for the script, dialogues and lyrics of M.S. Sathyu's Garam Hawa (1973), based on a story by Ismat Chughtai. Azmi also wrote the dialogues for Shyam Benegal's Manthan (1976) and Sathyu's Kanneshwara Rama (1977).

As a lyricist and songwriter, though he wrote for numerous films, he will always be remembered for Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Chetan Anand's Haqeeqat (1964), India's greatest war film. Some notables films for which he wrote lyrics include Kohra (1964), Anupama (1966), Uski Kahani (1966), Saat Hindustani (1969), Shola Aur Shabnam, Parwana (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Pakeezah (1972), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Arth (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983). He also played a memorable role of Naseem's grandfather in Naseem (1995).

Azmi died on May 10, 2002 at around the age of eighty-three. He was survived by his wife, daughter and son.

His autobiography is included in a collection of his works, Aaj Ke Prashid Shayar: Kaifi Azmi.

In Media

Azmi was the subject of a documentary film called Kaifi Azmi (1979), directed by Raman Kumar. In 1997, he recited his own poems for Kaifiyaat, an audio book on his collected works.

Kaifi Aur Mein, a play based on his life, his works and the memoir of his wife, Shaukat Azmi - Yadon Ki Rahguzar (Down Memory Lane), was written and performed by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, and performed in India as well as abroad in 2006. Another play, directed by Rani Balbir, Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasin Sitam, based Kaifi Azmi’s life and writings was staged in 2005, and received rave reviews.

Awards

He was the recipient of Padma Shri one of the Indian Government's highest civilian awards. Besides he was awarded the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award]] and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection Awaara Sajde, Special Award of Maharashtra Urdu Academy, Soviet Land Nehru Award, Lotus Award from the Afro-Asian Writers' Association, and President’s Award for national integration. In 1998, Government of Maharashtra conferred the Jyaneshwara Award on him. He was also honoured with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. Hum sub uthen, main bhi uthun, tum bhi utho Koi khidki isi deewar mein khul jayegi - Makaan

Tu jo bejaan khilonon se behel jaati hai

Tapti saanson ki haraarat se pighal jaati hai Paaon jis raah mein rakhti hai fisal jaati hai Banke seemaab har ik zarf mein dhal jaati hai Zist ke aahni saanche main dhalna hai tujhe uth meri jaan mere saath hi chalna hai tujhe… - ''Aurat (Woman)

Waqt Ni Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam

Hum Rahe na Hum, tum rahe na tum. - Film Kaagaz Ke Phool 1959

Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho

Kya gum hai jisko Chupa rahe Ho. - Film Arth (1982)

zindeji bhar mujhe nafrat si rahi asko se

Meri khwabo ko tum asko me dubote keu ho? Jo meri tarha jia karte hai kab marte hai Thak gaya hu mujhe solene do rote keu ho? Soke bhi jagte rahte hai janbaz suno. .......keu sazai ho chandan ke chita mere liey mai koi jism nahi jalao ge mujhe rakh ke saath bikhar jaunga dunia me thokar jahan khaogey waha paogey mujhe.

Select bibliography

Kaifi Azmi- Fan Aur Shaqsiyat (Urdu), Mayar Publications, 2004.

Kaifiyaat:Kulliyat-e-Kaifi Azmi(URDU)), Educational Publishing House,2003.ISBN 8187667788.

Zehr-e-Ishq (Hindi), Vani Prakashan, 2003.

Heer Ranjha (Hindi), Vani Prakshan 2003.

Steel Man was Here, Penguin, 2002.

Kaifi Azmi- Selected Poems and Life Sketch, Rajpal Publishers, 2002. ISBN 8170283957.

Aaj Ke Prashid Shayar: Kaifi Azmi-Chuni Hui Shayari (Hindi), Rajpal & Sons, 2002.ISBN 8170285429.

Meri Awaz Suno (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2002.

Nai Gulistan Vol.1 (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2001.

Nai Gulistan Vol.2 (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2001.

Doosra Banwas (Hindi), Diamond Pocket Books Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 8128809822.

Awara Sajde (Hindi), Lokbharti Prakashan , 1995.

Sarmaya (Urdu), Mayar Publications, 1994.

Articles on Kaifi Azmi

Kaifi Azmi: Symbol of resistance - Ranjit Hoskote.The Hindu, Sunday, 19 May 2002.

Kaifi Azmi: A poet and a gentleman. The Times Of India, 10 May 2002.

Kaifi Azmi: the last comrade-poet - Tarique Omum. The Milli Gazette.

References

Constructing a Narrative of Love: Early Romantic Poems of Kaifi Azmi. Mazhar Hussain, Social Scientist, Vol. 31, No. 3/4 (Mar. - Apr., 2003), pp. 57–73.

Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema - by Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee, Gulzar. pp 293. Popular Prakashan, 2003.

Kaifi Azmi Biography

Kaifi Azmi - The Library of Congress

A Profile

Kaifi Azmi: The End of an Era - Meera Kabir.

External links

Kaifi Azmi at Kavita Kosh (Hindi)

Recordings of Kaifi Azmi at Library of Congress

Kaifi Aur Main, a tribute site by IPTA.

A collection of verses and mushaira recordings by Kaifi Azmi

Poetry of Kaifi Azmi

Songs by Kaifi Azmi

Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi dead

Now,Read Kaifi in Hindi on urdu.blogspot.com

Category:1919 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Urdu poets Category:Indian poets Category:Indian songwriters Category:Indian lyricists Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian communists Category:Marxist writers Category:Marxist poets Category:Communist writers Category:Communist poets Category:People from Azamgarh Category:People from Lucknow Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni

Playername	Imran Khan
Country	Pakistan
Fullname	Imran Khan Niazi
Living	true
Dayofbirth	25
Monthofbirth	11
Yearofbirth	1952
Placeofbirth	Lahore, Punjab
Countryofbirth	Pakistan
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
International	true
Testdebutdate	3 June
Testdebutyear	1971
Testdebutagainst	England
Testcap	65
Lasttestdate	7 January
Lasttestyear	1992
Lasttestagainst	Sri Lanka
Odidebutdate	31 August
Odidebutyear	1974
Odidebutagainst	England
Odicap	12
Lastodidate	25 March
Lastodiyear	1992
Lastodiagainst	England
Club1	Sussex
Year1	1977 – 1988
Club2	New South Wales
Year2	1984/85
Club3	PIA
Year3	1975 – 1981
Club4	Worcestershire
Year4	1971 – 1976
Club5	Oxford University
Year5	1973 – 1975
Club6	Lahore
Year6	1969 – 1971
| columns	4
Column1	Test
Matches1	88
Runs1	3807
Bat avg1	37.69
100s/50s1	6/18
Top score1	136
Deliveries1	19458
Wickets1	362
Bowl avg1	22.81
Fivefor1	23
Tenfor1	6
Best bowling1	8/58
Catches/stumpings1	28/–
Column2	ODI
Matches2	175
Runs2	3709
Bat avg2	33.41
100s/50s2	1/19
Top score2	102*
Deliveries2	7461
Wickets2	182
Bowl avg2	26.61
Fivefor2	1
Tenfor2	n/a
Best bowling2	6/14
Catches/stumpings2	36/–
Column3	FC
Matches3	382
Runs3	17771
Bat avg3	36.79
100s/50s3	30/93
Top score3	170
Deliveries3	65224
Wickets3	1287
Bowl avg3	22.32
Fivefor3	70
Tenfor3	13
Best bowling3	8/34
Catches/stumpings3	117/–
Column4	LA
Matches4	425
Runs4	10100
Bat avg4	33.22
100s/50s4	5/66
Top score4	114*
Deliveries4	19122
Wickets4	507
Bowl avg4	22.31
Fivefor4	6
Tenfor4	n/a
Best bowling4	6/14
Catches/stumpings4	84/–
Date	26 June
Year	2008
Source	http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1383/1383.html CricketArchive

Imran Khan Niazi (Punjabi, }}) (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 eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007. Khan, through worldwide fundraising, helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Family, education, and personal life

Imran Khan was born to Shaukat Khanum (Burki) Imran's Mother Shaukat Khanam (Burki's) family includes successful hockey players and cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan. produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999).

Cricket career

Khan made a lacklustre first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71). At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan include Dawood Industries (1975–76) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–76 to 1980-81). From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex. Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to establish when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts. In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.

Captaincy

At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistani cricket team from Javed Miandad. Recalling his initial discomfort with this new role, he later said, "When I became the cricket captain, I couldn’t speak to the team directly I was so shy. I had to tell the manager, I said listen can you talk to them, this is what I want to convey to the team. I mean early team meetings I use to be so shy and embarrassed I couldn’t talk to the team." As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.

In the team's second match under his leadership, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's. He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982-83, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.

This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984-85 season.

In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England the same year. During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by the President Of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team. Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well". He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.

Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting lineup, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself.

Post-retirement

In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot."

Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various British and Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's Outlook magazine, In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive, Inspired by the memory of his mother, who died of cancer, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a charitable cancer hospital with 75 percent free care, opened in Lahore on 29 December 1994. Khan currently serves as the chairman of the hospital and continues to raise funds through charity and public donations. and promoted health and immunization programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. His political foray was influenced by Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, the former Pakistani intelligence chief famous for fueling the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan and for his anti-West viewpoint. Khan, who contested from 7 districts, and members of his party were universally defeated at the polls in the 1997 general elections. Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999, but denounced his presidency a few months before the 2002 general elections. Many political commentators and his opponents termed Khan's change in opinion an opportunistic move. "I regret supporting the referendum. I was made to understand that when he won, the general would begin a clean-up of the corrupt in the system. But really it wasn't the case," he later explained. PTI won 0.8% of the popular vote and one out of 272 open seats on the 20 October 2002 legislative elections. Khan, who was elected from the NA-71 constituency of Mianwali, was sworn in as an MP on 16 November. As an MP, he was part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts, and expressed legislative interest in Foreign Affairs, Education and Justice. In 2006, he exclaimed, "Musharraf is sitting here, and he licks George Bush’s shoes!" Criticizing Muslim leaders supportive of the Bush administration, he added, "They are the puppets sitting on the Muslim world. We want a sovereign Pakistan. We do not want a president to be a poodle of George Bush." In June 2007, the federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Sher Afghan Khan Niazi and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party filed separate ineligibility references against Khan, asking for his disqualification as member of the National Assembly on grounds of immorality. Both references, filed on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, were rejected on 5 September. On religion in Pakistan, Khan has said that, "As time passes by, religious thought has to evolve, but it is not evolving, it is reacting against Western culture and often has nothing to do with faith or religion."

Khan told Britain's Daily Telegraph, "I want Pakistan to be a welfare state and a genuine democracy with a rule of law and an independent judiciary." Other ideas he has presented include a requirement of all students to spend a year after graduation teaching in the countryside and cutting down the over-staffed bureaucracy in order to send them to teach too. "We need decentralisation, empowering people at the grass roots," he has said. He also gained notoriety in London gossip columns for romancing young debutantes such as Susannah Constantine, Lady Liza Campbell and the artist Emma Sergeant.

In 1995, despite a marriage to British socialite Jemima Goldsmith, he denounced the west with "its fat women in miniskirts," and called for Pakistanis to seek home-grown political solutions. and a celebrity outsider in Pakistan, where national newspapers also refer to him as a "spoiler politician". His failure to gain political power or build a national support base is ascribed, by commentators and observers, to Khan's lack of political maturity and naivete. Newspaper columnist Ayaz Amir told the American Washington Post: "[Khan] doesn't have that political thing which sets bellies on fire."

The Guardian newspaper in England described Khan as a "miserable politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower... He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next." The charge constantly raised against Khan is that of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn." One of Pakistan's most respected political commentators, Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn’t inspire people." Khan's political flip-flops consist of his vocal criticism of President Musharraf after having supported his military takeover in 1999. Similarly, Khan was a critic of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when Sharif was in power, having said at the time: "Our current prime minister has a fascist mind-set, and members of parliament cannot go against the ruling party. We think that every day he stays in power, the country is sinking more into anarchy." Khan is currently placed at Number 8 on the all-time list of the ESPN Legends of Cricket. On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.

On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities. On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Writings by Khan

Khan occasionally contributes opinion editorials on cricket and Pakistani politics to British newspapers. He has also published five works of non-fiction, including an autobiography co-written with Patrick Murphy. It was disclosed in 2008 that Khan did not write his second book, Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan. Instead, his the book's publisher Jeremy Lewis revealed in a memoir that he had to write the book for Khan. Lewis recalls that when he asked Khan to show his writing for publication, "he handed me a leatherbound notebook or diary containing a few jottings and autobiographical snippets. It took me, at most, five minutes to read them; and that, it soon became apparent, was all we had to go on."

Books

Articles

Guardian comments, political and cricket commentary by Khan

Telegraph columns, sports articles penned by Khan from 2000 to present

We must address the root causes of this terror, Khan's editorial in the Independent following the 11 September attacks

Benazir Bhutto has only herself to blame, Khan's 2007 editorial on Bhutto's return to Pakistan

References

Further reading

External links

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan's political party

Imran Khan - Chancellor, homepage at the University of Bradford

An Intimate Encounter, interview with Khan by Dapne Barak

Imran Khan interviewed by Mehdi Hasan on New Statesman.

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