Wasim Akram was born on 3rd june,1966 in Lahore, Pakistan.He made his test debut at Auckland in a match against New Zealand and his ODI debut was against the same team at Faisalabad.At his best Wasim Akram plays with full freedom. He has complete mastery over swing and seam, and sometimes moves the ball both ways in one delivery. All this comes at high speed from a quick, ball-concealing action, and is backed up by the threat of a dangerous bouncer or deceptive slower delivery.

Wasim is rated by many as the best left-arm fast bowler of all time and his career record certainly bears that out – along with the high regard of his contemporaries. A left handed batsman and a dream cricketer as well. He hits like an outraged horse, but batsmanship is one skill in which Wasim has underachieved, despite a showy 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in 1996-97.He was the natural successor to Imran Khan as Pakistan’s leader and captain, but the match-fixing controversies of the 1990s harmed him, blunting his edge and dimming his lustre.

Though he reached the 500-wicket landmark in ODIs in the World Cup, he was among the eight players dumped after Pakistan’s miserable performance. He retired shortly after, after a brief spell with Hampshire.He has played for Lancashire, Hampshire, Lahore, Pakistan Automobiles Corporation and for Pakistan Airlines.

Waqar Younis was born on November 16, 1971 as Waqar Younis Maitla is a Pakistani cricketer, a fast bowler, from Burewala, Punjab. He is arguably the greatest fast bowler produced by Pakistan. At his peak, he received international acclaim for his ability to reverse swing the ball. Waqar Younis bucked the 1980s trend of pitching fast and short by pitching fast and full.

In his youth, he was one of the fastest ever. Waqar’s surging run was a glorious sight – and an incredible strain on his body. His method of aiming for the stumps rather than the batsman earned him the best strike rate of any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. It could have been better back injuries cut short his prime, but determination has always resurrected him, although he was easily pushed over the line that divides aggression and intimidation. He looked to have been put out to pasture by the end of 2000, but before long he had been appointed captain for the 2001 tour to England. he announced his retirement in April 2004. As a batsman, lusty blows were his staple, but Waqar batted with the air of a man who thinks he could have done better. The next stage of his career began in March 2006 when he was appointed as Pakistan’s bowling coach, and he has also been a regular in the commentary box.

He debuted for Pakistan against India on 15 November,1989 . He made an immediate impression with his pace, and was promptly nicknamed in the media as the “Burewala Express”. Later, along with Wasim Akram, Younis opened bowling regularly for Pakistan. Waqar Younis is the only bowler to have taken 5 wicket hauls in 3 consecutive ODIs. He has taken 4+ wickets on 27 occasions in ODIs, also a record. In terms of balls bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in ODI matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.Although primarily a bowler, Waqar scored 1010 Test runs. As of September 2005, Younis was the only man to pass the thousand run mark without ever scoring a fifty

He maintained excellent bowling averages in both ODIs and tests. His average of 23.56 in tests and 23.84 in tests is considered highly respectable. Waqar is one of a long line of Pakistanis who have been effective at using the art of reverse swing. In partnership with Wasim Akram, Younis spearheaded the Pakistan bowling attack in the early to mid 90′s. Following their 1992 series versus England, the English media, were suspicious of the then ‘mysterious’ art of reverse swing. This led to cries of foul play and allegations of “ball-tampering” from some quarters. Waqar Younis’s bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura, Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short-pitched delivery.In March, 2006 he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan. He resigned from this position on January 6, 2007 in order to protest against PCB’s decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five ODIs.

Shoaib Akhtar, born in Rawalpindi in the year 1975, was brought up to be fast bowler! He showed his skill in the 1999 World Cup with a long, hurtling run-up and a mind boggling speed. In a smilar fashion did he aquire his nichname-the ‘Rawalpindi Express’. A huge ego and his blind ambition to break the 100mph barrier seemed to matter more to him than cementing his place in the Pakistan side. In November 2006, he copped a two-year ban for using the banned substance, Nandrolone, but he was reprieved on appeal to the international drugs agencies. It was the latest, but by no means the only, controversy in his career. The authorities twice sidelined him over throwing allegations and although his action was cleared, courtesy of hyperextensible joints and the University of Western Australia, injuries created fresh doubts over his international future.

However, he channelled his resources far better in 2002, turning in two of the most blistering bowling efforts of the year, both against Australia. First, he blitzed them with a spell of 5 for 25 in a one-dayer at Brisbane, and then returned 5 for 21 in a spectacular performance in Colombo that all but won the Test. The 2003 World Cup was far more disappointing, though. Dropped after the World Cup, Shoaib roared back to form on the tour to New Zealand. Then he had a controversy after a match with India. Not only did he struggle for wickets, he also left the field at a crucial stage of the third Test citing wrist injury and back pain, though neither injury seemed to bother him when he came out to bat.

The series began a period in which Shoaib’s career came under its gravest threat. Comments and news about his commitment were uplifted and a difficult relationship with Inzamam and Bob Woolmer the coach didn’t make matters easier.Then came the Australia tour in which a hamstring injury cut short that effort of his fitness and commitment.

But he came back against England, finishing with 17 wickets and proving the difference between the two sides. As well as being at the peak of his powers – a mixture of deadly slower balls, yorkers and bouncers – Shoaib looked a team man to the core.
Shoaib returned against South Africa in Durban in 2006-07, having not been picked for the series initially, took 4 for 36 in 11 overs, set up a Test win, strained a hamstring, argued with coach Bob Woolmer, and returned to Pakistan.
He was in Pakistan’s squad for the 2007 World Cup, but his participation was pending, on the fitness front and due to his problems with the management.

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi was born on 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency to Pashtun parents of the Afridi tribe.Popularly known as Shahid Afridi is an all-rounder who has represented Pakistani cricket since 1996 at international level. He made his ODI debut on October 2, 1996 against Kenya at Nairobi and his Test debut on October 22, 1998 against Australia at Karachi.
He was brought into the ODI team as a leg spinner on a replacement for Mushtaq Ahmed was was injured at that time. Soon he became known for his batting which was marked distinctively by his aggression and which later on lead to him scoring the fastest hundred in the history of international cricket.

His test career has not been as illustrious as his one day career mainly due to his erratic scoring and lack of patience. Over the time like many batsmen from the subcontinent, he has struggled on fast bouncy pitches, although subcontinent conditions have suited him considerably.Consequently he has been in and out of the Pakistani test squad and currently does not figure in the Pakistani test team. His notable exploits in his test career have been against India in the third Test in March 2005, scoring a quick-fire second-innings half-century and taking five wickets in the match (including Sachin Tendulkar twice) to help Pakistan win the game and register a series draw.

Like many other Pakistani players he has had his share of controversies too. Afridi was charged on February 8th 2007 of bringing the game into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who abused him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. Replays seemed to show that the action was not meant to cause injury, though the spectator had to move out of the way to avoid light contact. Afridi was found guilty and given a 4 game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offense, meaning that he would miss Pakistan’s first two 2007 World Cup matches. The PCB and Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was excessively harsh.

Afridi is a compulsive shot-maker and although until 2004 it was too often his undoing, causing him to float in and out of the team, a combination of maturity on and off the field and a sympathetic coach in Bob Woolmer, saw Afridi blossom into one of modern-day cricket’s most dangerous players and a vital cog in Pakistan’s revival in 2005. A typical Afridi innings is laced with fearless lofted drives and short-arm jabs over midwicket. He is at his best when forcing straight and at his weakest pushing at the ball just outside off. The biggest improvement has been in Afridi’s legspin; previously underrated, they are now integral in the ODI side and curiously effective at key moments in Tests. When the conditions are with him, he gets turn as well as some lazy drift, but his box of tricks is the key, boasting a vicious faster ball and a conventional off-spinner as well. His allround skills are completed by agile fielding and among the strongest arms in the game, he also possesses the firmest handshake in international cricket.

Saqlain Mushtaq born December 29, 1976 is a Pakistani cricketer. Born in Lahore, he made his international debut against Sri Lanka at Peshawar in 1995 and last played a Test in 2004, against India at Multan.

A new-age offspinner who loves variation, Saqlain Mushtaq was perhaps the first offspinner to master the doosra, a delivery that spins away from the batsman even though it is delivered with an offspinner’s action. Saqlain has a fast, short-stepping action with a halting delivery, and has a propensity to bowl no-balls, unusually for a bowler with such a short run. He is criticised for attempting too much variation and he often throws in the doosra the first time a batsman faces. Saqlain’s international career got off to a splendid start – he was the fastest bowler to 100 one-day wickets, and his phenomenal control meant that he regularly bowled at the death. But his finest moment arguably came in a Test match, at Chennai in 1998-99, when his ten-for allowed Pakistan to sneak nerve-tingling 12-run win against India.

Saqlain invented the delivery known as the “doosra”, an off-spinner’s delivery which is bowled with an action similar to that of an off-break, but which causes the ball to spin in the opposite direction. Saqlain became well-known for this variation ball, which is difficult for batsman to ‘pick’, and is hence a very effective weapon. Despite the success of the doosra, however, he received criticism for overusing it. His other variation was the arm-ball, which again uses a similar action to the off-break, but causes the ball to go straight on without turning.

His bowling average of 21.78 in ODIs made him an excellent bowler who was regularly used down to slow down the batting innings of opposition. He picked up 288 wickets in one dayers and 208 wickets in test cricket. Although he maintained an excellent average in one dayers his test average of 29.83 was on the higher side and it was this that was primarily responsible for his ouster from the Pakistani team. his stock has fallen a long way since then, with Shoaib Malik, a better batsman than Saqlain, usurping the spinner’s spot in the ODI line-up and Danish Kaneria becoming the frontline Test spinner. Saqlain did get an opportunity to have a go at the Indians again in the 2003-04 series, but unflattering figures of 1 for 204 at Multan meant that he was quickly consigned to the scrap heap.

Saeed Anwar – Well, the name says it all. Born on Septmber 6th 1968 in Karachi, Pakistan grew up being inspired and having a fell for the game. Thatss why he is known as a natural! He made his test debut in a game between Pakistan and West Indies at Faisalabad in 1990 and made his ODI debut also against West Indies at Perth in 1989.He was a left handed batsman and he followed the Slow left arm orthodox style of bowling. He is now retired and is recognized as one of the best players in Pakistan Cricket Team.

Saeed Anwar has many hallmarks to his name: his majestic timing and exact placement. He was an opener capable of electrifying starts in cricket.His playing strategy involved graceful stroke play rather than brutal force. He loved driving through the off side with minimal footwork. He annihilated any bowler offering width outside off stump. The only thing which did not favour him was that he too regularly smudged the ball straight into the hands of fourth slip or gully leading to his wicket falling.

He first came to prominence as a one-day player but soon achieved equal success in Test cricket. His success is shown by the batting statistics he produced: He made a huge score of 194 runs in an ODI.Saeed Anwar was declared the Wisden Cricketer of the year in the year 1997.Anwar was injury prone and his fielding was weak. His footwork became less assured as his career drew to a close causing the freezing of statistics towards his retirement. Opting to take a break from the game after the death of his daughter in August 2001, he was a lesser force when he came back, though he still managed a hundred against India in the 2003 World Cup. This clearly indicated his will to achieve and his want for the team win.

His batting prowess on the brink of imperfectness due to reduced footwork and certain other technical reasons, Anwar finally announced his retirement just before Pakistan’s home series against Bangladesh.His last ODI was against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2003.The record for the highest score in one-day cricket still rests with him, remaining an inspiration for all the newcomers to come and try out their talent to break the record set by the genious batsman!

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.

It has hardly been smooth sailing though through his career. He suffered a slump, particularly in his bowling, between 2002 and 2004 when, though his place in the team wasn’t under threat, there was uncertainty over how best to use him. But there have been signs recently that he is rediscovering some of his old guile if not his pace and nip. And if the pitch is in anyway helpful to seam – as it was in his first and only Test five-wicket haul at Karachi in 2004 or against India at the same venue in January 2006 – he can be a proper danger. Though Kamran Akmal’s hundred overshadowed all in the Karachi win over India, Razzaq’s performance was easily his most emphatic as an allrounder: he scored 45 and 90 as well as taking seven wickets in the match. Since then, a combination of injuries and poor form have called his Test place into question. He missed the Test series against South Africa with an injury and looked terribly rusty in the ODI thumping thereafter, something which Pakistan will hope he can shed before the 2007 World Cup. Early in his career he promised to be Pakistan’s most complete allrounder since Imran Khan, and though for a variety of reasons he hasn’t translated that into achievement, his country wouldn’t mind having just a very solid allrounder.

Abdul Razzaq has achieved two centuries and twenty-one fifties in one-day cricket. His highest one-day score, 112, was made against South Africa in 2002, where he shared a partnership of 257 runs with Saleem Elahi. His second century, an unbeaten 107, was made against Zimbabwe in Multan in 2004. On this occasion, he saved Pakistan from a disastrous start and eventually won them the match. His first fifty came steadily in 90 balls, before accelerating in the second fifty, which was scoredin just 21. Also in 2003, he nearly scored a rapid 89 off 40 balls against New Zealand.

His bowling has also won Pakistan many matches; his career-best figures are 6 wickets for 35 runs. Another memorable performance was against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 1999, where after Pakistan were bundled out for 196 runs, and he took 5 for 31 to tie the match.In the 2005/2006 Test series against India, Razzaq took 9 wickets and hit 205 runs in the two Tests he played, moving him up ICC rankings.

Javed Miandad was born in Karachi, Sind Pakistan.His test debut happened in a game vs New Zealand in 1976 and he debut ODI was one against West Indies in 1975.A thoroughly experienced player, he played 124 test matches and 233 ODI’s. The only thing that remained consistent was his performance. So, he’s known as a legend to the core.

He was a legbreak googly bowler and a right handed batsman. He was the greatest Test run-scorer and scrapper Pakistan has ever produced. His street-fighting qualities indeed almost led to a fight with Dennis Lillee at Perth in 1983-84, when Miandad raised his bat to strike in anger. Normally he used it like a maestro to work the ball into space or play big shots.There was a touch of a genius in his finest innings, like his two hundreds in successive Tests in the West Indies in 1987-88.As a captain he was too abrasive to get on with all of his players, but nobody can touch his record of being the only cricketer to play in the first six World Cups, starting as a legspinning allrounder in 1975 when he had just turned 18. As Pakistan’s coach, he had his ups and downs.

After three stints in charge, he parted company with the team in 2004 to make may for Bob Woolmer after being blamed for Pakistan’s one-day and Test losses to India.So he retired by giving up under extreme pressure. But he remains an inspiration for the younger lot who know him for his feats like the one when he hit a six on the last ball against India and made Pakistan win the match.

Born on 3rd March, 1970 in Multan, Pakistan; is and has always been one of Pakistan’s leading cricket players and one of the team’s main strengths.He made his test cricket debut in Birmingham in a match England vs Pakistan in 1992 while his ODI debut was in a game of West Indies vs Pakistan at Lahore in 1991.Inzamam-ul-Haq is a mixture of strength and grace. The man exhibits tremendous power which is no surprise, but his gentle touch is remarkable for a man of his capability. He hates exercise and often tries to escape the vigorous usage of muscles on the field, but once he has the bat in his hand, he hits the ball as if there was no tomorrow . He plays shots all round the wicket, is especially strong off his legs, and unleashes ferocious pulls and lofted drives.

‘Inzi’ as he is known among the teammates keeps his cool and his mind focused even during crisis. That’s what has made him the successor of Javed Miandad as a premier batsman in the Pakistan Team. Early on in the match, he is vulnerable playing across his front pad or groping outside off stump. He uses his feet well to the spinners, although this aggression can be his undoing. That’s what results in his lovely drives which make the fielders wander all across the cricket field.

How Inzi achieved a breakthrough -
The only problem with him is hapless running between the wickets which is very dangerous for his partners.
There were no such problems against New Zealand at Lahore in 2001-02, when Inzamam made 329, the second-highest Test score by a Pakistani and the tenth-highest by anyone. However, he was then badly affected by poor form, scoring just 16 runs in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign in 2003 will gave the team a setback. He was dropped from the team briefly, but then roared back to form, scoring a magnificent unbeaten 138 and guiding Pakistan to a thrilling one-wicket win against Bangladesh at Multan. He was rewarded with the captaincy of the team. Despite leading them to victory in the Test series in New Zealand, question-marks about his leadership qualities came out when Pakistan were beaten in both the Test series and the one-dayers against India. But the selectors believed in him and his capability and this bore results when he took a team having few good bowlers to India and drew the Test series with a rousing performance in the final Test. After scoring a magnificent 184, Inzamam led the team astutely on a tense final day and took Pakistan to victory.

Since then he has unleashed his success story in front of the world as a leading batsman and cricketer. Against England in 2005, he not only made the team win but personally played his best ever. He never failed to make a fifty, scored twin centuries at Faisalabad for the first time, going past Miandad as Pakistan’s leading century-maker and joining him as only the second Pakistani with 8000 Test runs. As captain, he never looked more a leader, uniting a young, inexperienced team and turning them, once again, into a force to matter globally.

However, Pakistan poor performance including Inzi’s against England at the Oval made him a controversial figure because of leading his side off the field in protest at charges of ball tampering made by umpires Billy Doctrove and Darrell Hairagain, henceforth wiping off his win against Sri-Lanka.Now after establishing a remarkable career he is expected to retire after World Cup 2007.

Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi – son of Ikram Ullah khan Niazi Shermankhel) born November 25, 1952, in Mianwali is a Pakistani former cricketer turned politician. Imran played Test cricket for Pakistan between 1971 and 1992, and was captain of the national team when they won their maiden World Cup in 1992. Currently, Imran is a member of Parliament and leader of the political party, the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).

Few would dispute that Imran was the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced, or the biggest heart-throb. Suave, erudite and monstrously talented, he gave cricket in the subcontinent real sex appeal in the 1970s and 1980s. As such he and TV completed the popularisation of the game in his country. Thousands, if not millions, who had never dreamt of bowling fast on heartless baked mud suddenly wanted to emulate Imran and his lithe bounding run, his leap and his reverse-swinging yorker. He also made himself into an allrounder worth a place for his batting alone, and captained Pakistan as well as anyone, rounding off his career with the 1992 World Cup. His averages (37 with the bat, 22 with the ball) put him at the top of the quartet of allrounders (Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev being the others) who dominated Test cricket in the 1980s.He has averaged 37 in tests while in one dayers he averaged 33.His bowling average has also been the most impressive. He averaged 22 in tests and 26 in the limited overs format of the game. A combination of a shoulder injury that he carried through the tournament as well as differences with some senior members over the fact that many of the prizes (or rewards) were being garnered by Imran’s charity hospital led to his retirement after the World Cup.

As a captain Imran’s focus was on taking a lot of responsibility on himself or “leading from the front” as he described it, thereby setting standards for others to follow. This was contrary to the widely accepted norm of a good captain being more of a strategic planner.His approach was very successful in getting the best out of the younger players of the team and the Pakistani cricket team achieved unprecedented success during this period, despite not having as brilliant a set of players as in the 1970s or the 1990s. However, he was often criticized by some in the media, as well as a few former players for being “authoritarian”.

After retirement he remained a high-profile figure, with his marriage – and subsequent split with – the socialite Jemima Goldsmith and a not entirely successful move into the labyrinthine world of Pakistan politics.