Cricbeat

CHITTAGONG: Pakistan's batsman Mohammad Hafeez has turned down an offer from Chittagong Vikings to feature in the Bangladesh Premier League since the franchise had also signed tainted young fast bowler Mohammad Amir. 

 

Amir, the Akmal brothers and Ajmal have all been signed up by Chittagong.

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has joined the list of super stars who have agreed to join the Pakistan Super League. Pakistan Cricket Board Executive Committee head Najam Sethi confirmed the news late on Monday. 

Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad who has played with Chris Gayle on numerous occasions in the T20 format also expressed his excitement at the prospect of Gayle joining the Pakistan Super League despite having offers from other leagues.

The PSL is scheduled to be held in Qatar from February 4 next year, and some of the biggest names in cricket have shown interest in the league, and are ready to set the tournament on fire.

Flamboyant Pakistan cricket team opener Ahmed Shehzad is all set to get married late in September this year. The details regarding the 23-years old marriage haven't been made public yet. Star all rounder Shahid Afridi who is very close to Shehzad made the revelation that the young opener is getting married later this month.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Najam Sethi took to microblogging website Twitter to congratulate Ahmed on his soon to be marriage. Shehzad has so far represented Pakistan in 70 ODI's and 11 test.

Pakistan's spin wizard, 37 year old Saeed Ajmal thinks that it will be hard for Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup being held in New Zealand and Australia. The off-spinner said that he sees Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India as the four teams that will battle it out in the semi finals. 

"I still don't think Pakistan can be counted among the favourites to make the semi-finals. I see Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India in the top four because they are the teams in form at the moment,” said Ajmal while talking on Geo Super. 

Ajmal feels that Pakistan's bowling is weak and if Muhammad Hafeez is not cleared before the World Cup, Pakistan woes will increase further. He added that if Pakistan are to do well it depends entirely on Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan.

Waqar will replace ex-wicketkeeper Moin Khan as Pakiastan's head coach. Moin who was appointed head coach just two-moths ago was relieved of his duties after Pakistan's dismal performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

However one strange thing about the appointed of Waqar is that the PCB only advertized for the head coach position via newspaper advertisement a day before on April 18. Which suggests that the decision was pre-planned.

Pakistan vs Australia 2014 Series Schedule. Pakistan will take on Australia in a month long series in which the two countries will play matches of all three formats. The series will start on Friday, October 03, 2014 with the only T20. There will also be three One Day Internationals and Two Tests between the two cricketing nations. The complete schedule of the series is as follows:

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the Pakistan Squad For Asia Cup 2014 that is set to start later this month in Bangladesh. One surprise name in the squad is that of left hand batsman Fawad Alam.

The squad in full is: Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan, Muhammad Hafeez, Misbah ul Haq (Captain), Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Bilawal Bhatti, Saeed Ajmal, Muhammad Talha, Junaid Khan, Abdur Rehman & Umar Gul.

Pakistan will take on South Africa in the first of the three ODI's today in Cape Town, Pakistan have lost the last three ODI's at the hands of South Africa and will be looking to bounce back, however they are currently on a high after the victory in the second T20 against South Africa, which helped them level the T20 series at one-a-piece.

For South Africa Jacque Kalis returns after a gap of twenty-nine ODI's replacing the T20 captain Faf du Plessis, Pakistan are likely to include young pacer Bilawal Bhatti in their final eleven.

South Africa: (Probable): 1. Hashim Amla 2. Graeme Smith 3. Jacques Kallis 4. JP Duminy 5. AB de Villiers (wk/capt) 6. David Miller 7. Ryan McLaren 8. Dale Steyn 9. Morne Morkel 10. Lonwabo Tsotsobe 11. Imran Tahir

Pakistan: (Probable) 1. Mohammad Hafeez 2. Ahmed Shehzad 3. Sohaib Maqsood 4. Misbah-ul-Haq (capt) 5. Umar Amin 6. Umar Akmal 7. Shahid Afridi 8. Sohail Tanvir 9. Saeed Ajmal 10. Junaid Khan 11. Bilawal Bhatti

Pakistan will be looking to avoid a white wash in the T20 series and a fifth consecutive loss as they take on South Africa in the second and the final T20 of the series. Having drawn the test series one-one and starting of promisingly in the ODI series, Pakistan disintegrated and are now in danger of suffering a fifth consecutive loss at the hands of South Africa.

Pakistan XI: (Probable) 1. Mohammad Hafeez (captain) 2. Ahmed Shehzad, 3. Sohaib Maqsood 4. Shoaib Malik 5. Umar Akmal (wk), 6. Shahid Afridi 7. Abdul Razzaq 8 Sohail Tanvir 9. Saeed Ajmal 10. Muhammad Irfan  11. Junaid Khan.

A list of records held by the Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest pace bowler the cricket world has seen who terrorized batsmen throughout his eighteen years long career.

Most Test Wickets by a Pakistani:
Wasim Akram is the the highest wicket taker in test cricket for Pakistan, having taken 414 wickets in 104 matches.

Most Wickets in ODI's by a Pakistani:
Wasim Akram is also the leading Pakistani wicket taker in One Day International cricket with 502 wickets to his name.

400 + Wickets in Test Cricket & ODI Cricket:

He was the first bowler in International cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both tests and limited overs, only  Sri Lanka's Muralitharan has since achieved this feat.

4 International Hat-tricks:

Wasim Akram is the only bowler in International cricket who has four hat-tricks to his name, he has taken two hat-trick each in Tests and ODI's.

Highest Score by a number Eight:

Wasim holds the record for the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket. He scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura.

Most Sixes in a Test Innings:

Wasim holds the record for the highest number of sixes in a test innings, he dispatched the ball out of the park a whopping 12 times in his 257 unbeaten runs against Zimbabwe.

Most Man of the Match Awards:

Wasim also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen. He is the only pacer in the top five of the most man of the match awards list.