Saleem Malik
Encyclopedia
Saleem Malik (born April 16, 1963) (also known as Salim Malik) is a former Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who played between 1981/82 and 1999, at one stage captaining the Pakistani cricket team
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....

. He was a right-handed wristy middle order batsman who was strong square of the wicket. His legbreak bowling was also quite effective. Despite playing over 100 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 he would go down in cricket history as the first of a number of international cricketers to be banned for match fixing around the turn of the 21st century. Saleem is the brother-in-law of former teammate Ijaz Ahmed.

Career highlights

Malik played his first Test match in March 1982, against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...

 at Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

. After making 12 in his first innings he made an unbeaten 100 in the second to set up a declaration. Aged 18 years and 323 days he was at the time the second youngest player to make a century on Test debut.

During the tour of England in 1987, Malik fell for 99 at Headingley and made 102 at The Oval. He would become familiar with English conditions, playing for Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

 for a couple of years during the early 1990s. He had a good season in 1991, scoring 1972 runs, the 3rd most by a non English player for Essex.
In Test cricket he performed better against England than any other of his opponents, appearing 19 times and making 1396 runs at 60.70.

One of his notable performances in One Day International cricket was an innings that he played against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....

 in 1987. Chasing 238 in 40 overs, Pakistan were reduced to 5/161 when Saleem arrived at the crease. He scored 72 out of the remaining 77 runs required, making them from just 36 deliveries. He finished unbeaten and Pakistan won by 2 wickets with 3 balls still to spare in the match.

He captained Pakistan in 12 Tests, winning 7. In ODI cricket he led his country 34 times and won 21 of them.

Match Fixing

Malik captained Pakistan in tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe before being suspended from cricket having been accused of bribery. He was however found innocent and allowed to continue his career. Malik played his last Test match in January 1999 but ended his cricket career in disgrace, having been banned from associating himself with the game in any capacity by Justice Qayyam's enquiry in May 2000. He became the first ever cricketer to be banned for match fixing and his appeals of innocence have not borne fruit since, remaining an outcast in the cricketing world.

A local court of Lahore, has lifted the life ban imposed by Pakistan Cricket Board on October 23, 2008. Civil judge Malik Mohammad Altaf ruled in favor of Malik and quashed the ban imposed for alleged match fixing.

He was selected as the Chief Coach for country's National Cricket Academy on 3rd November, 2008 just days after the ban was lifted. Saleem Malik rejected to become the head coach of Pakistan Cricket Academy.

External links

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