Few would dispute that Imran was the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced, or the biggest heart-throb. Suave, erudite and monstrously talented, he gave cricket in the subcontinent real sex appeal in the 1970s and 1980s. As such he and TV completed the popularisation of the game in his country which Hanif Mohammad and the radio had begun. Thousands, if not millions, who had never dreamt of bowling fast on heartless baked mud suddenly wanted to emulate Imran and his lithe bounding run, his leap and his reverse-swinging yorker. He also made himself into an allrounder worth a place for his batting alone, and captained Pakistan as well as anyone, rounding off his career with the 1992 World Cup. He played hardly any domestic cricket in Pakistan: instead he just flew in for home series from Worcestershire or Sussex, or rather from the more fashionable London salons. His averages (37 with the bat, 22 with the ball) put him at the top of the quartet of allrounders (Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev being the others) who dominated Test cricket in the 1980s. And whereas Botham declined steadily, Imran just got better and better: in his last ten years of international cricket he played 51 Tests, averaging a sensational 50 with the bat and 19 with the ball. He gave no quarter during some memorable battles with West Indies - Pakistan drew three series with them at a time when everybody else was being bounced out of sight - and he led Pakistan to their first series victory in England in 1987, taking 10 for 77 with an imperious display in the decisive victory at Headingley. After retirement he remained a high-profile figure, with his marriage - and subsequent split with - the socialite Jemima Goldsmith and a not entirely successful move into the labyrinthine world of Pakistan politics.
Full name : Imran Khan Niazi
Born : November 25, 1952, Lahore, Punjab
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm fast
Test debut : England v Pakistan at Birmingham - Jun 3-8, 1971
Last Test : Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Faisalabad - Jan 2-7, 1992
ODI debut : England v Pakistan at Nottingham - Aug 31, 1974
Last ODI : England v Pakistan at Melbourne - Mar 25, 1992
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in June of 2009. It will be the second World Twenty20 and will consist of 12 teams, contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers (Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland)
The Champions Twenty20 League, formed with the official sanction of ICC will kick off in October 2008. Eight domestic teams from four nations will participate. Cricket Australia will partner the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA). The champion team in the Champions Twenty20 league will get US $5 million, which is the highest ever prize money for a cricket event.
