Imran Khan

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Imran Khan Pakistan (Pak)
Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling type	Right-arm fast (RF)
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	88	175
Runs scored	3807	3709
Batting average	37.69	28.83
100s/50s	6/18	1/11
Top score	136	102*
Overs bowled	3106	1241.1
Wickets	362	182
Bowling average	22.81	26.61
5 wickets in innings	23	7
10 wickets in match	6	N/A
Best bowling	8/58	6/14
Catches/stumpings	28/-	36/-
As of 5 January 2005 Source: Cricinfo.com

Imran Khan (Urdu/Pashto: عمران احمد خان نیازی) (Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi; son of Ikram Ullah khan Niazi Shermankhel) born November 25, 1952, in Lahore 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).

Imran is from the Niazi Pashtun Shermankhel tribe of mianwali Pakistan. His family is settled in Lahore Punjab, however, he still considers himself and his heritage Pashtun (Pathan) as per his autobiography (Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans). ^[1] Imran attended Aitchison College and the Cathedral School in Lahore until he finished middle school, then entered the Royal Grammar School, Worcester, before completing his formal schooling with an undergraduate degree in economics from Keble College, Oxford. While at University, Imran was also the captain of the Oxford University cricket team in 1974. He and his mother Shaukat Khanum come from a cricketing burki family, with two of his cousins Javed Burki and Majid Khan also having played Test cricket for Pakistan.

Imran is seen as one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever produced, along with Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram. He was one of the fastest bowlers of the world during the late 1970s and early 1980s and in the later half of his career, one of the best batsmen in the Pakistan team. More significantly, as a captain, he transformed the Pakistan team, previously known for its exceptional talent but lack of coherence into a well moulded unit.

This famous Pashtun is not only known for his performances on the field, but off the field as well. Labelled by some as an international playboy, Khan was once voted as the "Sexiest Man of The Year" by Australia Magazine Oz.

Contents 1 Cricketer 1.1 Unimpressive debut 1.2 Transformation into a fast bowler 1.3 Captain - Pakistan Cricket Team 1.4 World Cup 1992 1.5 ESPN - Legends of Cricket 2 Personal life and social work 2.1 Marriage to Jemima Goldsmith 3 Politician 4 Accusations of ball tampering 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Cricketer

[edit] Unimpressive debut

Imran made his Test debut against England at Birmingham in 1971 at the age of 18. His performance was unimpressive as his wayward medium pace bowling proved short of what was required at that level. By the end of the series, the senior cricketers in the team had written him off as a sub-standard Test player.

Imran didn't return to Pakistan after the series and instead joined the Royal Grammar School Worcester. There was little progress in his career over the next two years, as he struggled to get into the Worcestershire county team. Veterans of the team, notably Glenn Turner and Norman Gifford encouraged him to concentrate on his batting as they felt that he did not have the potential of a fast bowler.

The turning point in Imran's career came in 1973, when he got admitted to Oxford University. This gave him a chance to play regular domestic cricket, and the added responsibility of being the captain spurred him into becoming a better batsman as well as a better bowler.

[edit] Transformation into a fast bowler

Imran returned to the Pakistan cricket team briefly in 1974, but didn't do well enough to become a regular in the team. It was not until late in 1976, following a successful season with his county club, Worcestershire, that he was picked again for the national squad. His opponents were New Zealand, which included two of his former teammates from Worcestershire, John Parker and Glenn Turner. Imran picked them out for some hostile bowling, to prove to them that they were incorrect in their earlier assessment of his potential as a fast bowler.

At the beginning of 1977, Imran still reckoned himself to be a better batsman than bowler, a view not shared by the team. This changed dramatically in January 1977, when in a matter of few days during the three Test series in Australia, he was transformed from an erratic medium pacer to a fast bowler of genuine pace. Pakistan scored an expected win in the deciding match of the series, thanks largely to his 12 wickets haul. This rapid improvement was mentioned by Dennis Lillee in his autobiography: "He improved so much as the tour progressed that I couldn't recognize the finished product against what I had seen of him in England in 1975. At that stage of his career, Imran was if anything a better batsman than a bowler".

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. The two years of intense cricket at World Series Cricket molded him into a more complete fast bowler. Under the guidance of John Snow and Mike Procter, his bowling action became side-on, totally different from his javelin thrower like action of the early 1970s. This new action helped him mix his stock in-swinging deliveries with the one that left the right hand batsman. His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world were further established when he finished third at a fast bowling contest at Perth in early 1979, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.

As the 1980s progressed, he began to reverse swing the old ball significantly, an art that was known to very few bowlers at that time. This was a skill that he passed on to his successors, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, by the end of the decade.

[edit] Captain - Pakistan Cricket Team

Imran took over the captaincy of the Pakistan team from Javed Miandad in early 1982. Many who thought that this would adversely affect his cricket as had happened to Ian Botham, were sceptical about this move. But as was the case when he captained Oxford University, the extra responsibility helped him take his performances to a higher level.

His first year as the captain was the peak of his career as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. Imran topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in the three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he devastated the formidable Indian batting on the flat Pakistani wickets by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95.

By the end of the series against India in 1982-83, Imran had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year. His career took a severe blow towards the end of the Test series against India, as he suffered from a stress fracture in the shin which kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistan Government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the later part of the 1984-85 season.

Between 1985 and 1992, Imran led Pakistan to its first series win in England and India, as well as to three creditable draws against the West Indies. He was declared the "man of the series" for the series wins in England and India, as well as two of the drawn series against the West Indies, further strengthening his image of reaching his peak against the strongest opposition.

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, like England's Mike Brearley. 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".

Imran was also notable for being the first cricketer to argue fervently in favor of neutral umpires. He led the initiative by asking for neutral umpires for the home series against West Indies in 1986-87 and 1990-91, as well as the home series against India in 1989-90. India & Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 world-cup both India & Pakistan lost in semi-finals which ended the much-hyped India-Pakistan final at Eden Garden. Imran retired at the end of word-cup. However he changed his mind when Pakistan President Of Pakistan General Zia-Ul-Haq personally requested him to return, which ended with Pakistan winning the next world-cup in Australia/NewZealand.

[edit] World Cup 1992

Imran's ultimate moment of glory as a captain and cricketer came at the end of his career, when he led Pakistan to victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1992. Pakistan had entered into the tournament as underdogs, but recovered from the verge of knockout to lift the cup. Playing with a brittle batting lineup, Imran had to promote himself as a batsman to provide much needed stability in the top order together with Javed Miandad, even though his contribution as a bowler was minimal.

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.

[edit] ESPN - Legends of Cricket

In 2001, Imran was voted 8th overall in the ESPN Legends of Cricket series list. ^[2] The entry:

"He's God to me" says the former Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar of Imran Khan. "A great inspiration" reckons Sachin Tendulkar. The fact these Indians are talking about a Pakistani is a reflection of Imran's unique place in the game. No wonder he's one of ESPN's Legends of Cricket.

A cavalcade of champions from across the cricket worlds have assembled here to pay tribute to the man who became known as "The Lion of Pakistan". The view from men such as Wasim Akram, Richie Benaud, Sir Richard Hadlee, Dickie Bird, Allan Border and Greg Chappell is that he was the greatest all round cricketer of his time. And they go further - as batsman, bowler, Capitan and now politician and champion for his people, including the sick and underprivileged, Imran Khan has become one of the most significant figures ever to play the game. ^[3]

[edit] Personal life and social work

Since retiring from Test cricket, Khan has devoted most of his time to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a state-of-the-art charitable cancer hospital he established in Lahore using donations.

His honours include being awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 1993 by the Pakistani government, Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford and Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1983. He is also currently the Chancellor of the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom and patron of the Born in Bradford research project.

[edit] Marriage to Jemima Goldsmith

In 1995, he married Jemima (aka Haiqa) Khan who is the daughter of the late British billionaire Sir James Goldsmith. Jemima Khan embraced Islam before she married Khan. They announced their divorce on 22 June 2004. They have two sons named Qasim and Suleiman. Jemima is currently dating British actor Hugh Grant.^[4] Ironically, Khan is good friends with Grant's ex, Elizabeth Hurley ^[5]

[edit] Politician

In 1997, he has started a socio-political movement in Pakistan known as Movement for Justice (Urdu: Tehrik-e-Insaaf) and ran for office in the National Elections. The movement has Islamic overtones and was inspired partly by Khan's renewed commitment to Islam. He became a Member of Parliament for Mianwali in the October 2002 elections. He is very critical of the judicial system in Pakistan, which he says prevents accountability for the elite class in Pakistan. Initially Imran supported 1999's militray coup of General Pervez Musharraf, however came in to the fore-front of those against General and President Musharraf.

Imran Khan is known for making a politically charged statements that have raised eyebrows, both when he was captain of the Pakistan team and later in his role as a politician. The first of these statements came during an India Pakistan match in Sharjah where Imran remarked, "Let's settle the Kashmir issue over the cricket match". Though Imran claimed that he had made that statement only casually. Versions of this statement are often used as jokes in Pakistan.

In 2005, as leader of his party, Imran led a protest rally against the US led coalition which had desecrated the Holy Quran and made statements denouncing the Musharraf-Bush coalition. He described Musharraf as President Bush's Blue-Eye-Boy, however President Clinton was even reluctant to shake hand with Musharraf. Imran continues to be critical of Pro-American policies of Pakistan government.

On December 7th 2005, he was elected as the Chancellor of University of Bradford, the first international personality to have been given the honour by the university.

During the recent visit in 2006 of George W. Bush to Pakistan, Imran was the only politician to attempt to hold a rally against his visit. The rally was stopped and Imran Khan was detained by the police.

[edit] Accusations of ball tampering

During Pakistan's tour of England in 1992, Pakistani bowlers were extremely effective against the English batsmen who were completely baffled by the then-emerging art of reverse-swing. The British media made allegations of cheating against the bowlers with England captain Ian Botham and teammate Allan Lamb being most vocal about their accusations. Imran sued both Lamb and Botham for libel and was awarded £400,000 by a British court.

[edit] Further reading

• Khan, Imran, All Round View, 1988.
• Tennant, Ivor, Imran Khan, 1994.
• CricInfo Player Profile : Imran Khan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Imran's Dream - Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital
• www.insaf.org.pk - Imran's Political Party - Tehreek-e-Insaf
• Imran Khan Foundation
• Imran's Alma Mater - Aitchison College, Lahore
• Imran Khan - Chancellor, Univ. of Bradford
• Imran Khan - Famous Muslims
• Imran Khan - Islamic Magazine

Cricketers who have achieved the 'All-rounder's Triple' (3000 runs/300 wickets) in Test matches

Ian Botham 72 Tests | Richard Hadlee 83 Tests | Imran Khan 75 Tests | Kapil Dev 83 Tests | Shaun Pollock 87 Tests | Shane Warne 142 Tests

Cricketers who have achieved the 'All-rounder's Double' (2000 runs/200 wickets) in Test matches

Wasim Akram 78 Tests | Richie Benaud 60 Tests | Ian Botham 42 Tests | Chris Cairns 58 Tests | Sir Richard Hadlee 54 Tests Jacques Kallis 102 Tests | Kapil Dev 50 Tests | Imran Khan 50 Tests | Anil Kumble 110 Tests | Shaun Pollock 56 Tests Sir Garfield Sobers 80 Tests | Chaminda Vaas 82 Tests | Daniel Vettori 69 Tests | Shane Warne 100 Tests