He made his debut for Pakistan in 1997 in a Test against the West Indies and announced his arrival. The world had not seen so much of pace in a long time. But ego tussles, over ambition and attitude problems with seniors in the team have often left Shoaib Akhtar out in the dark. His career has always been shadowed by controversies. However, with his devastating bowling, he has assured himself a more or less permanent place in the Pakistani national side. Fondly called the Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhtar is very popular with the masses who admire his cricketing talents as much as they do his style. Cricketscorelive.com provides the profile of Shoaib Akhtar and other cricketers around the world.
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Full name --Gary Kirsten
Born --November 23, 1967, Cape Town, Cape Province
Current age-- 38 years
Major teams --South Africa, Western Province
Batting style --Left-hand bat
Bowling style --Right-arm offbreak
The stylish left handed opener Gary Kirsten has established himself as one of the greatest cricketers of all time with his unique technique and brilliant timing. He scored a total of 14087 international runs and consolidated his position as one of the best South African players of all time. Having made his Test debut against Australia in 1993, he had a solid 11 years of cricket ahead of him. He was often compared to his half brother Peter, but outshined the later on many occasions, brilliant fielding being one. Gary Kirsten is remembered most for his immense ability to concentrate and play long innings. A drawback however, was that he did tend to get out in similar fashions over a phase of time. But he worked it out and gained his form back each time he lost it. He was specially successful in the subcontinent where most players falter against the turning ball. He currently shares the South African individual Test record of 275 with Daryll Cullinan. His glorious batting continued with him scoring centuries against England in 2003. This made him push back his retirement till the end of the New Zealand series early the following year. He was once again successful with one century and one half century in the series that helped him sign off in style from the game he contributed so much to. Cricketscorelive.com provides the profile of Gary Kirsten and other cricketers around the world.
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Full name --Muttiah Muralitharan
Born --April 17, 1972, Kandy
Major teams --Sri Lanka, ACC Asian XI, ICC World XI, Kent, Lancashire, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club
Batting style --Right-hand bat
Bowling Style --Right-arm offbreak
Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the greatest crickets in modern day cricket, and he has also held the record for having taken the most number of wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan's career however has been marked by many unprecedented incidents, the controversy regarding his action topping the list. He made his Test debut in 1992 as a right-arm off-spin bowler. He is the first Sri Lankan to take 100 wickets in Test cricket. By taking 500 Test wickets, he became only the third player in the history of the game to do so. He overtook Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test wickets in 2004 and held the top spot in the leading wicket taker's list, only to be toppled by Shane Warne later that year.
But his career has often been marred by controversies and many a times he has been accused of "throwing" the ball. Even after being cleared by the ICC on many occasions, his woes seem to continue. He underwent extensive tests in Australia under experts who concluded that his action was legal. However, it is unlikely that this matter will not come up again. But Muralitharan seems to have taken it in his stride and continues to be a dominant force when he is on the cricket field. With many more years of cricket ahead of him, it can be certainly said that his dream of reaching 700 Test wickets is by no means an impossible dream. Cricketscorelive.com provides the profile of Muttiah Muralitharan and other cricketers around the world.
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Before his debut match against Australia in October 2000, few had thought that Yuvraj Singh would almost single handedly take India to victory against the world champions. But he did just that and with a stylish 84 and some breathtaking fielding announced his grand arrival in international cricket. He was previously known as a member of the Indian Under 19 side that had recently won the World Cup. However he took to international cricket like a natural and with his raw talent, tremendous strength and amazing determination, Yuvraj Singh soon cemented his place in the ODI team. He is specially remembered for his performance in the 2002 Natwest Series in England where he contributed heavily to assure India's fairytale run ended in victory. His Test debut got delayed by sometime and he finally played his first test in 2003 when captain Sourav Ganguly could not play owing to injury. After being in and out of the team for some time, he now is a regular in the Test team as well. However he is seen more as a one-day player, he is irreplaceable in the Indian team at the moment. Cricketscorelive.com provides the profile of Yuvraj Singh and other cricketers around the world.
