22 facts about Hashim Amla: The Bearded Batting Maestro

Hashim Amla defines class and elegance as a batsman. He is a quiet man who possesses a saint like temperament but, has always displayed a strong penchant for run scoring on the field. Regarded as on the best modern day cricketers, Amla’s achievements with the bat have been extraordinary. Most of his success is due to his ability to adapt to any format and conditions. He is currently South Africa’s most prolific top-order batsmen across all three formats. His batting style is very wristy and is a treat to watch when playing the cover drives and leg-side flicks.

1. Birth:

Hashim Amla was born on March 31, 1983 in the coastal city of Durban of Kwa-Zulu-Natal Province.

2. India descendent:

Amla was born in an orthodox South African Muslim family which has its roots in India. His grandfather originally belongs from the city of Surat in Gujarat.

3. Education:

Amla went to the prestigious Durban High School in his hometown. The school has also seen the growing years of other class Proteas cricketers like Lance Klusener and Barry Richards.

4. Cricketing brother:

Hashim Amla has an elder brother, Ahmed Amla, who was also a professional cricketer. Actually, his elder brother made his debut two years earlier than Hashim and went on to captain the Dolphins. However, he could not advance to play for his country like his younger sibling did in future.

5. Early cricketing year:

Former Western Province captain and Coach Hylton Ackerman was an influential person in Amla’s cricketing career. It was Ackerman who first spotted Amla’s talent and honed his skills during his coaching career.

6. Provincial team:

Hashim Amla was impressive in the youth circuit and soon graduated from the Durban High School. Later, Amla was picked in the for his provincial team, the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins. His promising talent  led his provincial team appoint him as the captain at the young age of 21.

7. Under-19 days:

Amla led the South Africa U19 team at the 2002 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, leading his team to the final.

8. International Debut:

Hashim Amla made his Test debut after starring for the South African ‘A’ side. He played his first Test against his country of origin India in 2004 at Kolkata.

9. The Prolific 2010:

Hashim Amla was in top form during the 2010 season and scored runs in heaps, amassing over 1000 runs in both Tests and ODIs in the same calendar year. In the Test format, he scored 1249 runs at an average of 78.06 which included 5 centuries and 4 half-centuries. Whereas, in the ODI format, he made 1058 runs at an average of 75.57 with the help of 5 centuries and 4 half-centuries

 10. The Triple Centurion:

On 19th July 2012, Amla became the first South African to score a Test match triple century when he plundered an unbeaten 311 against England at The Oval.

11. Wisden Cricketer of the Year:

He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2013.

12. The Apex:

In 2013, Amla became the first batsman since Ricky Ponting to head both the Test and ODI rankings at the same time in the latest ICC charts.

13. Test skipper:

Amla was cited as a future captain of South Africa ever since his first class years. He was appointed as South Africa’s Test skipper in June 2014. He leadership wasn’t as good as his batting and he struggle to fulfill the role and eventually stepped down from the responsibility in January 2016.

14. A Run Machine:

Amla is the fastest batsman to reach 2000 (40 innings), 3000 (59 innings), 4000 (81 innings), 5000 (101 innings) and 6000 (123 innings) runs in ODIs.

15. The Record 4th Wicket Stand:

Hashim Amla and AB de Villers’ partnership of 308 runs against West Indies is the record 4th wicket partnership for South Africa in a test match, was played from 17–20 December 2014.

16. Supreme Stand with Faf du Plessis:

Hashim Amla & Faf du Plessis hold the highest partnership for South Africa (247 runs), set against Ireland in the 24th match of World Cup Cricket on 3 March 2015 at Manuka Oval, Canberra. Amla made his career best of 159 in that match and South Africa became the first team to make back to back scores over 400 in ODIs, setting a total of 411/5.

17. Ton after ton:

Fastest cricketer to reach 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd centuries in ODIs.

18. Synonym for Consistency:

Amla has scored ODI centuries against all Test playing countries. He is apparently the only the fourth person to achieve this feat.

19. County Cricket:

Amla has also had four stints of county cricket in England. He made his county debut for Essex in 2009. He then moved to three different county’s – Nottinghamshire in 2010, Surrey in 2013 and Derbyshire in 2015.

20. The Dean Jones controversy:

In 2013, during a Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo, former Australia batsman and commentator Dean Jones called Hashim Amla a ‘terrorist’. Jones said, “the terrorist has got another wicket” when Amla took the catch that dismissed Kumar Sangakkara. This created a big controversy. Later on, Dean Jones apologized for the meaningless comment but that did not stop the broadcasters from sacking him from the job.

21. A Devout Muslim:

Amla is a devout Muslim who wears a beard for religious reasons and has successfully negotiated with the South African team’s main sponsors, SA Breweries, not to wear the Castle Lager logo on his playing and practice gear.

22. Personal life:

Hashim Amla is married to Sumaiyah Amla.  He is blessed with two kids, a son and a daughter.