Pakistan Cricket Players: Ijaz Ahmed

Ijaz Ahmed Biography
Ijaz had the lowest batting average of the team with a Test average of 38 and an ODI average of 32 but he did hit six Test centuries against the worlds top-ranked side for much of his career Australia - which is a record number of centuries by a Pakistani against Australia shared with Javed Miandad.
However in Test cricket he had a habit of being dismissed for low scores as 33 of his 92 innings yielded single-figure scores and 54 of them yielded scores below 20.
Ijaz Ahmed came into the national side at the height of the Imran Khan era and remained on the fringes for near a decade despite several good scores he struggled to find consistency a trait for which his legendary captain had little patience though Imran appreciated his hard work and determination per Wasim Akram. Dropped after the 1992 World Cup (true to his overshadowed nature he played in most of the games including the final with few highlights many people are unaware of his presence in the team) he worked on his game and came back strongly the following season and established himself at the pivotal one down position. He was competent if not spectacular in this role for many years though he did play a few highly memorable knocks especially in ODIs. After the 1999 World Cup (where he performed poorly and was blamed for the batting collapse in the final) he was dropped he returned after a few months however by then the arrival of Younis Khan a player who matched Ijazs determination but exceeded his talent and technique (though he is also in the unorthodox mould)had made Ijazs place in the side at one down doubtful and indeed after a few matches against England and then New Zealand in 2000/2001 in which he was singularly unimpressive he was dropped never to return.
He was a regular in the ODI team especially as his 250 matches is the fifth-highest of all time in Pakistan behind Wasim Akram Inzamam-ul-Haq Saleem Malik and Waqar Younis. He appeared in 4 World Cups and was a World Cup winner in 1992. Ijaz was a powerful hitter especially on the leg side of the pitch.

Career highlights

A powerful hitter of the ball with his bat Ijaz got popularity after becoming the 2nd Pakistani Batsman who scored 10 ODI centuries after Saeed Anwar. He played some memorable innings against countries like India England Australia West Indies Srilanka and South Africa. At Lahore in 1997 Ijaz collapsed the Indian bowling attack by making a quick century of just 68 balls including 9 sixes remaining not out for 139* and this is his highest score in the ODI. In the following year He again returned with his 132 against Zimababwe in the 3rd and decisive ODI of home series. In Pepsi cup 1999 played in India Ijaz helped his team to victory in the second round match against India by scoring 90 not out. Pakistan was given an easy target of 197 but the number of overs were reduced from 50 to 47 due to slow over rate by Pakistan. Initially Pakistan lost its first 3 wickets for just 21 runs when Ijaz Ahamd joined his traditional partner Inzamam ul Haq and attained victory for their side both remaining not out on 90 and 78 respectively. In the same year after Pepsi cup Pakistan cricket team visited Sharjah to participate in the tri-nation cricket tournament with England and India. In the opening match against England Ijaz scored a memorable innings of 137 and was out just two runs short of his highest score which he has scored against India in 1997.

ODI centuries by Ijaz Ahmad

Ijaz Ahamd has scored ten centuries in One Day International against all the cricket playing countries having test status except West Indies against which he has never scored a century throughout his career. The list of his ODI centuries is as follows.

124* vs Bangladesh at Chittagong 29 Oct 1988.
102* vs Sri Lanka Brisbane 10 Feb 1990.
110 vs South Africa Rawalpindi 20 Oct 1994.
114* vs South Africa Durban 17 Dec 1994.
117 vs Zimbabwe Peshawar 3 Nov 1996.
139* vs India Lahore 2 Oct 1997.
117 vs India Dhaka 18 Jan 1998.
111 vs Australia Lahore 10 Nov 1998.
132 vs Zimbabwe Rawalpindi 24 Nov 1998.
137 vs England Sharjah 7 Apr 1999.

Test Batting

In test circket Ijaz Ahmad was much significant with his bat. Though appeared unreliable often Ijaz scored 12 test centuries. Ijaz Ahamd scored his first and only double century of test cricket against Srilanka when he scored 211. This was the same match in which Wasim Akram got his second wicket hat-trick a match which Pakistan eventually won by an innings and 170 runs. Ijaz has also been the top runs maker from Pakistani side against South Africa.

The event of 21 April 1997

On 21 April 1997 in a Test match against Sri Lanka Ijaz Ahmad was at the crease on 97 when the famous run out attempt by Sri Lankan fielder Romessh Kaluwitharana brought ambigouty in the decision. It was difficult for the umpires to tell whether Ijaz should be given run out or if it should be his partner Salim Malik. The TV replays suggested Salim Malik had been run out that he but eventually the third umpire K. T. Francis gave his decision against Ijaz Ahmad and so he remained short of his century. However after repeated replays of the event Ijaz Ahmad was called back to the crease and Salim Malik was declared as run out. After his return to crease Ijaz successfully completed his century. This was the first time for a batsman to return from the pavilion to the crease after being declared out since 1987.

Ijaz as a fielder

Ijaz Ahamd can be regarded as one of the best fielders the Pakistani cricket has ever produced. He was an excellent fielder often inside the circle at square position and mid on. His best fielding in match against Australia in 1999 world cup initial stage greatly restricted the overflow of runs by Australian batsmen in the final moments of the match. It was due to his best fielding that Pakistan won that match by 10 runs after a thrilling battle.

Isolation from the team and Come back

Ijaz Ahmad was a regular member of the team on one down position of 1999 cricket world cup played in England from 14th may to 20 June 1999. His performance appeared not too good. He also got injured in the first match of 1999 world cup when he was hit on the leg by West Indian pacer Dillon during a successful appeal for LBW at Bristol. This injury affected his performance in rest of the matches and he was dropped from the next match against Scotland. After the dramatic collapse of Pakistani Batting line up in 1999 world cup final against Australia Ijaz remained the top scorer of the innings with 22 runs. He was also the batsman who was surprisingly held responsible for the batting collapse in the final match. This regular succession of poor performances led to isolation of Ijaz from the national team and so he was not a part of the national team in the Toranto Cricket Festival of 1999 against the West Indies and Sharjah Cup of late 1999. Though he was given a chance in test series against Australia and the Cartlon & United Serie against India and Australia during which he performed well both in the test and one day series. In the third test Ijaz Ahmad scored his 12th test century and sixth against Australia at Perth a match which Pakistan eventually lost by an Innings and some runs. In the following triangular series Ijaz Ahmad scored three half centuries but still he was unable to take the confidence of selectors and was again dropped from the team for than an year.

Surprising Come Back

Following the captaincy crisis of the national team in the absence of the injued captain Moin Khan The Pakistan Cricket Board surprisingly started giving indications of making Ijaz as the interim captain of the team for then the incoming Singapore Challenge series against New Zealand and South Africa. Nevertheless he was not selected as captain but his come back in the team was confirmed after 14 months. So Ijaz Ahmad joined the team in Singapore in the absence of injured regular skipper Moin Khan. Waqar Younis was leading the team on emergency basis. Ijaz Ahmad made a brilliant batting come back in the Singapore Challenge Series against Newzealand and South Africa. He scored a quick innings of 49 not out of just 21 balls in a rain affected match which was reduced to 25 overs per side before toss. Ijazs Innings helped Pakistan giving a tough target of 192 runs to Newzealand in 25 overs a match which Pakistan eventually won by 29 runs. In the second match against the South Africans he scored 67 a match which was won by Pakistan later on. Ijaz Ahamd remained Man of the Match in both matches and also remained the top scorer in every match of this tournament. But again it was his misfortune that beyond all this good performance he was again dropped from then the incoming ICC Champions Trophy 2002 and was unseen on the national side for more than 7 months. He was again given a chance during Pakistans cricket team tour to Newzealand in 2003 where he was selected for the test squard but this time he didnt perform well and was dropped from then the incoming ODI series. He has never been a part of National Cricket team since then and eventually announced his formal retirement from both formats of cricket in late 2003.

Ijaz Ahmed