13 compelling facts about Mohammad Sami

Pakistan have always had a vast pool of extraordinary fast bowling talent and Mohammad Sami is one of them. He did not have a typical fast bowler’s physique but could bowl at a scorching pace with the help of his shortish run-up and high arm action. The Karachi-born pacer is a sound exponent of the yorker as well. Sami began well and people expected him to become the spearhead the Pakistan pace attack with the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in the twilight of their career. However, fate had different things written for him. He could not live up to his full potential and slowly the newer crop of young quicks made their mark and overtook him while he was rectifying the chinks in his armor.

1. Birth:

Mohammad Sami was born on February 24, 1981 in Karachi, Sind

2. Nickname:

Sami was named as the modern ‘Malcolm Marshall’ by  Pakistan’s World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.

3. A debut to remember:

Sami made his Test cricket debut against New Zealand in 2001 and took 8 wickets for 106 runs in the match, including 5/36 in the second innings. He was named as the man of the match for his efforts. This match figures was also a world record for the most wickets by a debutant.

4. ‘Hattrick’ man:

In the third Test match of his career, Sami achieved a hat-trick against Sri Lanka. In 2002, he took his second hat-trick in his career, against the West Indies during a One Day International match. This led to him becoming one of only a two bowlers in cricket to achieve this mark in both forms of the game. The other player to do so was Wasim Akram.

5. Unofficial record:

Sami has unofficially bowled the fastest delivery in cricket when he clocked at 164 km/ph (101.9 mph) during a One Day International match against India. The batsman facing him was Rahul Dravid.However, it was revoked by cricket officials after it found faulty speed measurements on the speed meter.

6. The notorious over:

Sami has earned the embarrassment of bowling the longest over in One Day International cricket during the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in 2004, when he bowled 17 balls in one over which consisted of seven wides and four no balls.

7. Another unwanted feat:

He is also the only bowler in Test cricket history to have over 50 wickets and a bowling average of 50.

8. Risks his international career:

Sami joined the Indian Cricket League in 2007. He played for the Lahore Badshahs, a team composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers, during the Indian Premier League’s second Twenty20 tournament. His participation in the league meant that he, like many other Pakistan players, he was banned from representing his country at both international level and domestic cricket in Pakistan.

9. Comeback:

However, the league became defunct and he snapped ties with the unsanctioned league to play domestic cricket in Pakistan, His performance in the domestic was him a call back into the Pakistan side in 2009-2010 for the Test series against Australia. In spite of his comeback did not regularly feature in the Pakistan teams. In May 2012 Mohammad Sami received another recall and was announced in the squad that toured Sri Lanka

10. ICC T20 World Cup:

In June 2012, his amazing performances in the Bangladesh Premier League franchise Duronto Rajshahi (he took a hat-trick and a 5-wicket haul for them) earned him a place in the 15-man squad to play the touring Australians and also the 2012 World Twenty20. Sami, however, didn’t get to play an official game but played two warm-up matches .

11. Stages another comeback:

In May 2015, Mohammad Sami again made a comeback in the home series against Zimbabwe and played Zimbabwe in Lahore. This happened due to impressive performances in the Faysal Bank The took three wickets in that Match.

12. Pakistan Super League:

In 2016, the Pakistan Super League was born and Mohammad Sami was bought to play for Islamabad United. Sami was very impressive in PSL. He finished as the fifth highest wicket-taker in the league with 11 wickets in 6 games with an impressive average of 9.72 and an economy rate of 5.17. He was also the only one of three bowlers to have picked up five wickets in a PSL match.

13. Gets rewarded for his performance:

His performance in the PSL earned him another call-up to the Pakistan squad. He was included in the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup and World T20 2016.