Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam Biography
Full Name: Hammad Azam
Date of Birth: Mar 16, 1991, Attock, Punjab
Major Team: Pakistan, Pakistan A, Pakistan Under-19s, Rawalpindi
Playing Roll: Batsman
Batting Style: Right
Bowling Style: Right-arm medium
We are delighted to present an exclusive interview with Hammad Azam; Hammad was one of the stars of Pakistan's Under-19 team in this year's U19 World Cup, and his heroics in New Zealand earned him a surprise selection to the senior squad for the prestigious World Twenty20.

Here, he speaks to PakPassion.net about the experience of working with his heroes at the training camp for the T20 World Cup, his cricketing inspirations, and his dreams for the future.

PakPassion.net thanks Hammad for speaking with us, and wishes him all the best for the upcoming tournament.


The first one to call me was from Ijaz bhai, who was as you know our coach at the Under-19 level too. So he called me up, congratulated me and he asked me to come to the National Cricket Academy immediately. We had a match at Sargodha, he asked us to report at the NCA after that match was over, and so Reza and I went to the NCA.

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

 

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

 

Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam

Umer Gul

Umer 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 50 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.

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Umer Gul

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq Biography

Full name Asad Shafiq

Born January 28, 1986, Karachi, Sind

Major teams Pakistan, Karachi Blues, Karachi Dolphins, Karachi Whites, Karachi Whites, Karachi Zebras, North West Frontier Province, North West Frontier Province Panthers, Pakistan A, Pakistan Cricket Academy, Sind, Sind Dolphins

Playing role Middle-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak

Fielding position Wicketkeeper




A right-hand top order batsman, Asad Shafiq is a product of the Karachi tape ball circuit. He stormed the first-class scene in his debut season in 2007-08, scoring a double-hundred. He fell short of thousand runs that season, but attained the milestone two seasons later, when he scored 1244 runs in 12 games at 49.76. He made an impact as a limited-overs player in 2008-09, when he scored 379 runs in seven games at 54.14. The national selectors had earmarked him as one for the future in meetings and he was rewarded him with a call-up for the Asia Cup in 2010.

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

Asad Shafiq

 

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez Biography
Mohammad Hafeez is a talented all-rounder from Pakistan who was born on October 17, 1980 in Sargodha, Punjab. A right-handed batsman, who opens the batting for his team, Mohammad Hafeez also bowls right-arm off-break besides guarding the boundary skillfully.

Mohammad Hafeez made his Test debut against Bangladesh in Karachi on August 20, 2003 and scored a half-century. It wasn’t long before he hit his maiden Test century, and he reached the three-figure mark in the very next Test. In the tour of England, he scored an effortless 95 runs at the Oval. Mohammad Hafeez also played in the Test match against South Africa at Karachi in October 2007. As of October 2008, he has played 11 Test matches and has scored 677 runs, including two centuries and three half-centuries, at an average of 33.85, with 104 being his highest score. He has also bagged four wickets at an average of 79.75, with an impressive economy rate of 2.55.

Mohammad Hafeez debuted in One Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on April 3, 2003 and scalped two wickets and helped the team win the match by 68 runs. He has played 48 ODIs and has scored 874 runs, including four half-centuries, at an average of 18.59, and his highest score at this level is 92. He has also bagged 38 wickets at an average of 33.63.

On August 28, 2006, Mohammad Hafeez debuted in Twenty20 International (T20I) against England in Bristol, where he was the top scorer for Pakistan with 46 runs, including 5 boundaries, and helped it win the match by 5 wickets. So far he has played nine T20Is and scored 182 runs at an average of 20.22 and bagged 7 wickets at an average of 26.00.

Mohammad Hafeez made his First-class debut in the 1998-99 season and has played 106 matches at this level. He has scored 5,776 runs, including 13 centuries and 26 half-centuries, as well as bagged 106 wickets with an impressive economy rate of 2.81.

Mohammad Hafeez played his first List A match during the 1998-99 season and has made several significant contributions, including a century for his team the during the Top End series held in Australia in 2006. He has played 121 List A matches and has scored 3,827 runs, including 5 centuries and 25 half-centuries, at an average of 33.27, and he has also bagged 113 wickets at an average of 32.39.

Mohammad Hafeez made his Twenty20 (T20) debut against Australia A in Adelaide on January 13, 2005. So far he has played forty-two T20 matches and scored 959 runs, including 5 half-centuries, at an average of 25.23, and his highest score at this level is 79, and bagged 31 wickets at an average of 25.64.

For his impressive all-round performance, Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 season. So far he has played eight IPL matches and has scored 64 runs and has bagged 2 wickets.

Mohammad Hafeez

  

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez

  

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal Biography
Full name Saeed Ajmal

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

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal