Rare things about Saeed Anwar - a great Pakistani Opener

Saeed Anwar is a former cricketer and captain for Test and ODIs. He was an opening batsman who was an occasional slow left-arm bowler. He got considered as the greatest opening batsman Pakistan has ever produced. Anwar played cricket between 1989 to 2003. He played a suitable 55 Test matches and scored 4052 runs with eleven centuries. In one day cricket, his total scoring is 8824 runs at an average of 39.21.

He was born on 6 September 1968 in Karachi. Before adopting cricket as a profession, he had graduated in Computer System Engineering from NED University Karachi. He got his Test debut competing in the West Indies in 1990. He was an aggressive opening batsman; scored 11 centuries in the Test cricket, and most centuries he made turned into relatively big scores. He scored centuries against almost every team he toured and averaged more than 40 against three of the four nations- South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and England. Anwar has the best Test batting average 59.06 against Australia.

Anwar played 3 Cricket World Cups for Pakistan

He started his international career in January 1989 under the captaincy of Imran Khan; with an ODI match that got played at WACA Ground, which Pakistan lost to the West Indies. He could score only three runs in the game, but he never lost his heart. His first-match winning performance came against India in December 1989. He scored 42 runs off 32 balls. In the 1989-90 World Cup Series, Anwar played nine matches and scored 293 runs with a century's help.

Anwar scored his career-best 188 not out in the second inning at the Eden Gardens in the 1998-99 Asian Championship. He was the fourth-highest scorer of the tournament with 290 runs from five innings, averaged 72.50. Anwar played almost 247 ODI matches for team Pakistan and scored 8824 runs from 244 innings with 39.21. He was the pioneer Pakistan batsman who scored a century against India on Indian soil in an ODI match.

Anwar played his three Cricket World Cups for Pakistan. He played around 21 matches in which he scored 915 runs at the average of 53.82, and his highest score in the World Cup match remained 113 not out. He was an attacking batsman in ODI, and once settled in the game, he scored quickly all over the field. His ability and timing to score quick runs made him a crowd favorite.

Anwar captained team Pakistan in seven Tests, and 11 ODIs. He proved himself to be an average captain. Saeed Anwar, named Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1997. Anwar shared the record for the highest individual score of 194 runs with Charles Coventry until it got overtaken by India's Sachin Tendulkar, 200 runs against South Africa on 24 February 2010.

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