Faisal Iqbal

Faisal Iqbal

Pakistan

Full name Faisal Iqbal
Born December 30, 1981, Karachi, Sind
Current age 25 years 61 days
Major teams Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Reserves
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	18	32	2	773	139	25.76	1755	44.04	1	5	96	4	12	0
ODIs	18	16	2	314	100*	22.42	519	60.50	1	0	24	4	3	0
First-class	107	167	18	6185	200	41.51			13	33			86	0
List A	93	86	14	2497	123	34.68			4	16			23	0
Twenty20	8	8	2	173	42	28.83	152	113.81	0	0			1	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	18	6	7	0	-	-	-	7.00	-	0	0	0
ODIs	18	18	33	0	-	-	-	11.00	-	0	0	0
First-class	107	138	98	1	1/6		98.00	4.26	138.00		0	0
List A	93	51	83	0	-	-	-	9.76	-	0	0	0
Twenty20	8	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland - Mar 8-12, 2001
Last Test	South Africa v Pakistan at Centurion - Jan 11-15, 2007
ODI debut	Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore - Feb 19, 2000
Last ODI	Pakistan v West Indies at Multan - Dec 13, 2006
First-class span	1998/99 - 2006/07
List A span	1997/98 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2005/06 - 2006/07

Profile

Wisden overview
A gutsy strokeplayer with a sound defence and an attitude to boot, Faisal Iqbal is an exciting middle-order prospect for Pakistan. A prolific performer at junior level, Iqbal's elevation into the Test team was criticised on ground of nepotism - he is Javed Miandad's nephew. But he demonstrated that he was worth that Test cap with an aggressive counter-attacking 83 off 85 balls in the first Test against Australia in Colombo in 2002-03. He was particularly impressive against Shane Warne, using his feet superbly to seize the momentum for Pakistan, and he did it all with a swagger that was refreshingly reminiscent of his uncle. He couldn't repeat his performance in the rest of that series, or in the two Tests he played in South Africa in 2002-03.

A hiatus followed from the national side though he remained a performer at domestic level. It seems to have finally paid off when in 2005-06, on the back of an astonishingly successful domestic season, Iqbal was called up to play for Pakistan against India in his hometown of Karachi, as a replacement for the injured Inzamam-ul-Haq. A failure in the first innings meant pressure in the second was plentiful; it didn't seem to affect him as with some assured, trademark backfoot play and composed defence, he scored an attractive maiden Test hundred, eventually assuring Pakistan a comfortable win. He got another opportunity in the very next Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo and didn't disappoint; if his previous noteworthy innings had been attacking ones, here was a good, honest rearguard, as his 60 helped Pakistan see off Murali on the last day to secure an honourable draw. Soon after, at Lord's, he was called on to display similar traits to eke out another battling last-day draw.

Opportunities will continue to hinge on injuries to one of Pakistan's solid middle order or any of the allrounders for the moment but he is now sweetly placed to cement his spot when Inzamam retires, ahead of the likes of Hasan Raza and Asim Kamal.