Saeed ANWAR 194

" 'Be there at the end,' Richie Benaud used to advise. If only. Being there at the end means taking the responsibility. That in itself is beyond many a cricketer."
~Mark Nicholas 🗣

Just when you think that you know all there is to know about his career, you find another CRAZY stat that makes you marvel at the greatness of SAEED ANWAR.

Saeed Anwar is ranked #16 in the list of most ODI centuries.

But when you look at most ODI centuries while CHASING, he jumps to #6 - ahead of ABD, Amla, Viv Richards - which is jaw-dropping. 🔥
The classy lefty scored 10 tons while chasing, which means that exactly 50% of his centuries came when batting second. ☄️

While chasing, Anwar also has a higher batting average than greats like Jayasuriya, Lara, Sangakkara and Sachin. ⚡️

His best innings while chasing were a fighting 104 (128) vs India in a must-win game of the 1997 Singer-Akai Champions Trophy and a dominant 113* (148) vs NZ in the SF of the 1999 WC.

Truly a legend of the game! 🙌

"Ask anyone who's had a hit. The real clarity, the sheer bloody-mindedness and the true test of self-belief comes in the chase."
~Mark Nicholas

Once upon a time, a Lion said: "Hitting sixes in big Australian grounds is not a problem." ⚡️

And the Lion delivered on his promise, SMASHING India and SA's pacers for huge sixes at the MCG and SCG in the World Cup.

That Lion is IFTIKHAR AHMED.

But one bad series vs NZ and people are criticising him and calling him FRAUD??

کیا ہماری یادداشت واقعی اتنی کمزور ہے؟

IA will make a series of detailed posts about the MATCH-WINING and IMPACTFUL performances of Iftimania.

One of our greatest Test wins 💥💥

22 years ago on this day in Lahore, powered by a brilliant innings of 329 by Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was well supported with a knock of 127 by Imran Nazir and a brilliant first innings spell of 6 for 11 by Shoaib Akhtar combined with the second innings spell of 5 for 120 by Danish Kaneria, Pakistan registered the 5th largest Test win by an innings margin in history. They went on to beat New Zealand by innings and 324 runs.

BABAR AZAM's ODI stats since 2019 WC 👇

2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣

115 (105) vs Sri Lanka, Home
31 (26) vs Sri Lanka, Home

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣

19 (18) vs Zimbabwe, Home
77* (74) vs Zimbabwe, Home
125 (125) vs Zimbabwe, Home

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣

103 (104) vs South Africa, Away
31 (33) vs South Africa, Away
94 (82) vs South Africa, Away

0 (2) vs England, Away
19 (15) vs England, Away
158 (139) vs England, Away

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣

57 (72) vs Australia, Home
114 (83) vs Australia, Home
105* (115) vs Australia, Home

103 (107) vs West Indies, Home
77 (93) vs West Indies, Home
1 (3) vs West Indies, Home

74 (85) vs Netherlands, Away
57 (65) vs Netherlands, Away
91 (125) vs Netherlands, Away

2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣3️⃣

66 (82) vs New Zealand, Home
79 (114) vs New Zealand, Home
4 (13) vs New Zealand, Home

49 (46) vs New Zealand, Home
65 (66) vs New Zealand, Home
54 (62) vs New Zealand, Home
107 (117) vs New Zealand, Home
1 (5) vs New Zealand, Home

0 (3) vs Afghanistan, Neutral
53 (66) vs Afghanistan, Neutral
60 (86) vs Afghanistan, Neutral

151 (131) vs Nepal, Neutral
17 (22) vs Bangladesh, Neutral
10 (24) vs India, Neutral
29 (35) vs Sri Lanka, Away

OVERALL

Matches : 35
Runs : 2,196
Avg : 66.54
SR : 93.72
100s : 9
50s : 13

What a PEAK the KING is going through! 🤩
Insha'Allah he will continue this run of form into the and score loads of runs for 🇵🇰

STAT ALERT : Babar Azam needs just 244 more runs to become Pakistan's all-time 3rd highest run-scorer in World Cups, behind only Javed MIANDAD and Saeed ANWAR !!!

Currently he is at no. 12 with 474 runs.

When the KING announced himself to the WORLD 🔥

Stats of Babar Azam's ROYAL World Cup campaign in 2019:

22 (33) vs West Indies
63 (66) vs England
30 (28) vs Australia
48 (57) vs India
69 (80) vs South Africa
101* (127) vs New Zealand
45 (51) vs Afghanistan
96 (98) vs Bangladesh

Runs : 474
Avg. : 67.71
SR : 87.77

In just his first World Cup, Babar Azam played some SPECIAL knocks and became Pakistan's 🇵🇰 highest run-scorer in a SINGLE EDITION of the World Cup, breaking MIANDAD's record of 437 runs in 1992.

Can he carry on this legacy and cement his place in the PANTHEON of GREATS?

The story of the Chennai BLITZKRIEG : Saeed Anwar's vintage 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣ vs India

It was a classic 🇵🇰 vs 🇮🇳 clash in the semi-final of the Pepsi Independence Cup, 1997. The venue was Chennai, a HAVEN for spinners.

Winning the toss, Pakistan went in to bat first. It was then that the flamboyant, stylish and innovative left-hander SAEED ANWAR decided to show India his CLASS and WARRIOR SPIRIT.

The Indian bowling was a balanced lineup of KUMBLE and PRASAD, supported by Singh, Joshi and Tendulkar.

Despite the early wicket of Afridi, Anwar went on the WARPATH against the Indian bowling. In front of a PACKED Chennai crowd he hammered Prasad and Co. all around the ground.

The crowd were delighted at the BLOCKBUSTER innings unfolding before them and cheered at every boundary.

We should remembered that the match was taking place in May. The HEAT was tremendous, HUMIDITY was at its highest and Anwar was UNFIT and DEHYDRATED but he carried on batting, showing a true warrior's spirit. Afridi joined him as a runner in 19th over.

In the 41st over Anwar absolutely MAULED Kumble, belting the spinner for 6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣4️⃣ and plundering 24 runs from the over. KUMBLE had no idea what hit him and was completely helpless against the silken southpaw.

Anwar stylishly blasted his way to 194 runs from just 146 balls, falling to Tendulkar in the end.

This was the highest ODI score ever at the time, breaking SIR VIV RICHARDS' 13-year-old record of 189 runs. The fiery innings 🔥 included 5️⃣ sixes and 2️⃣2️⃣ fours.

This belligerent knock 💥💥 helped Pakistan post a target of 328 which they successfully defended - despite the absence of the 2 Ws - defeating India by 35 runs.

It was a HISTORIC match : SAEED ANWAR leading Pakistan to one of their greatest overseas victories with one of the greatest batting performances of all time.