Saeed Anwar

Saeed Anwar

سعید انور

Personal information
Full name	Saeed Anwar
Born	6 September 1968 (1968-09-06) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Slow left arm orthodox
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 120)	23 November 1990 v West Indies
Last Test	31 August 2001 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 68)	1 January 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	55	247	146	325
Runs scored	4,052	8,824	10,169	11,223
Batting average	45.52	39.21	45.19	37.91
100s/50s	11/25	20/43	30/51	26/54
Top score	188*	194	221	194
Balls bowled	48	242	653	858
Wickets	0	6	9	31
Bowling average	–	31.83	45.77	20.80
5 wickets in innings	–	0	0	0
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	–	n/a
Best bowling	–	2/9	3/83	4/39
Catches/stumpings	18/–	42/–	65/–	64/–
Source: Cricinfo, 31 January 2010

Saeed Anwar (Urdu: سعید انور; born 6 September 1968) is a former Pakistani opening batsman. A left-hander, Anwar is most notable for scoring 194 runs against India in Chennai in 1997, then the highest, and now the joint second highest individual score in a One Day International.

Personal life

Saeed Anwar graduated from NED University, Karachi in 1989 and is an engineer by profession. He was planning to go to the United States for his Master's studies before becoming a professional test Cricketer.

He faced a personal tragedy in 2001, when his daughter died after a prolonged illness. As a result he turned to religion. He made his return to Cricket after a long hiatus and was one of the most consistent Pakistani batsmen in the 2003 World Cup.

On 15 August 2003, he announced his retirement from Cricket after he was dropped from the squad for the upcoming One-Day International tournament in Sharjah. He devoted his life to preaching Islam across Pakistan with the Tablighi Jamaat. He led the funeral prayers for his ex team mate Wasim Akram's spouse, Huma Akram, in Lahore.

Career

[Anwar] used an eclectic approach to batting – classical betrothed to unorthodox, footwork against spin as quick as a hiccup, and wrists supple yet powerful to brush the field like a Picasso.

Ramiz Raja, 2010.

An opening batsman capable of annihilating any bowling attack on his day, Anwar was an attacking batsman in one-day matches and once settled in Test matches, scored quickly and all over the field. His success came from good timing and wrist flicks rather than physical power, and Anwar became famous for his trademark flick. He was able to lift a ball that had pitched outside off stump for six over midwicket. Anwar's timing and ability to score quick runs made him a crowd favourite. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.

Anwar was the first Pakistani batsman to score a century against India on Indian soil in a one-day match. He has the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia, and once scored three consecutive centuries against them. He scored a classic century against South Africa in Durban, which allowed Pakistan to win a Test match for the first time in South Africa.

On 21 May 1997 in Chennai, Anwar scored 194 against India in India in an ODI match. Charles Coventry equalled the feat on 16 August 2009, against Bangladesh. This was the highest individual score by any batsman in the world till Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 200 against South Africa on 24 February 2010.

Anwar is a member of the exclusive club of batsmen who have scored three successive hundreds in ODIs, with hundreds against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka during the 1993–94 Champions Trophy in Sharjah. He scored two successive hundreds on three other occasions in his career, and was the first batsman to complete this feat in ODIs.

Records

Saeed Anwar's career performance graph.

Anwar (194) and Charles Coventry (194*) shared the record for highest individual score in an ODI match until it was overtaken by India's Sachin Tendulkar (200*) against South Africa on 24 February 2010. Anwar has scored two or more successive hundreds on four occasions. He holds the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia in Test matches, and made 20 hundreds in One Day Internationals as a Pakistan opening batsman.

Centuries scored by Saeed Anwar

One Day International centuries

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

One Day International centuries of Saeed Anwar

	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	126	12	Sri Lanka	Adelaide, Australia	Adelaide Oval	1990
[2]	101	20	New Zealand	Lahore, Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium	1990
[3]	110	34	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1993
[4]	107	39	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1993
[5]	131	40	West Indies	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1993
[6]	111	41	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1993
[7]	104*	65	Australia	Rawalpindi, Pakistan	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	1994
[8]	103*	76	Zimbabwe	Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	1995
[9]	115	107	Sri Lanka	Nairobi, Kenya	Nairobi Gymkhana Club	1996
[10]	104*	112	New Zealand	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1996
[11]	112*	113	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1996
[12]	194	121	India	Chennai, India	MA Chidambaram Stadium	1997
[13]	108*	136	West Indies	Lahore, Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium	1997
[14]	104	139	India	Sharjah, UAE	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	1997
[15]	140	145	India	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Bangabandhu National Stadium	1998
[16]	103	178	Zimbabwe	London, United Kingdom	Kennington Oval	1999
[17]	113*	179	New Zealand	Manchester, United Kingdom	Old Trafford Cricket Ground	1999
[18]	105*	210	Sri Lanka	Nairobi, Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	2000
[19]	104	211	New Zealand	Nairobi, Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	2000
[20]	103	246	India	Centurion, South Africa	Centurion Park	2003

Test Cricket centuries

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test Cricket centuries of Saeed Anwar

	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	169	3	New Zealand	Wellington, New Zealand	Basin Reserve	1994
[2]	136	5	Sri Lanka	Colombo, Sri Lanka	P Saravanamuttu Stadium	1994
[3]	176	17	England	London, United Kingdom	The Oval	1996
[4]	107	21	New Zealand	Rawalpindi, Pakistan	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	1996
[5]	118	28	South Africa	Durban, South Africa	Kingsmead	1998
[6]	145	32	Australia	Rawalpindi, Pakistan	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	1998
[7]	126	33	Australia	Peshawar, Pakistan	Arbab Niaz Stadium	1998
[8]	188*	38	India	Kolkata, India	Eden Gardens	1999
[9]	119	41	Australia	Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Cricket Ground	1999
[10]	123	47	Sri Lanka	Galle, Sri Lanka	Galle International Stadium	2000
[11]	101	55	Bangladesh	Multan, Pakistan	Multan Cricket Stadium	2001

Player of the Series Awards(Tests)

S No	Series (Opponents)	Season	Series Performance
1	New Zealand in Pakistan Test Series	1996/97	157 Runs (2 Matches & 3 Innings, 1x100, 0x50); 2 Catches

External links

• Pepsi Independence Cup, sixth qualifying match WISDEN
• Most runs in an innings