On This Day: August 15, 2003 - Saeed Anwar announced his retirement from from international cricket

[Gotham Cronie]

On this day in 2003, Pakistan destructive left hand opening batsman Saeed Anwar retired from cricket.

Needless to say, we have been looking for a replacement for 9 years.

 

[imshally81]

hats off for Saeed bhai

 

[Legend Killer]

IMO he was the best opener we have produced however the older fans may argue that Hanif deserves that title.

 

[hassan.incredible]

Yeah.. He is The Best Opening BAtsman ever produced.. There is no One To replace Him Currently.. Even though I See a Bright Future ahead in Sami Aslam.!!! he could possibly be the best Replacement I Hope .INshallah.. May He continue his form in U-19 as well when he makes into the senior Team!!!

I still Remember his 194 mtach against India.. It was a memmorable one..!!
He could have made Double century easily if he had a mind To play For Himself, Instead he went for His teams Runrate..!! It was only 45 overs when he got dismissed.

 

[TalhaSyed]

A fantastic batsmen to say the least!

The scenario in which he retired was also very very sad and left a big gap in the Pakistani side that has not been filled since.

 

[Hamza78]

Saeed is best ever he,s my ideal and I luv him

 

[Bhaijaan]

Elegant player, top performer and a very nice bloke. Haven't come across anyone who doesn't appreciate Saeed Anwar. Too bad that some tragic incidents in his life led him to take retirement from the game.

 

[AlizeeFan]

It's now only when I realized that Pakistan hasn't find someone to fill his shoes yet.

 

[Arfan Shafiq]

Afridi is a better batsman

 

[bixby]

retired or forced to retire?

 

[shoib_superstar]

majestic! No ne will ever have the wristiness of him

 

[Anwar_194]

Afridi is a better batsman

sure.. next

 

[mastermind_quad]

Yes Pakistan didn't find the single opener in these years which is even half of what Anwar was.

IMO Salman Butt was one of the good find but he had different priorities..

 

[mastermind_quad]

Right now Jamshed looks good.

 

[Raz]

My favourite batsman, in the classical sense of all time. One of the biggest match winners for Pakistan in ODI cricket and underachieved in Test cricket. He was just so easy on the eyes, could watch him bat all day and never get bored. Could anyone play that pick-up flick for six better than him? Has there been a batsman with a flourish of similar beauty?

 

[Akmal Dynasty]

afridi is a better batsman

hahaha :107:

 

[Lethalweapon]

My favourite batsman, in the classical sense of all time. One of the biggest match winners for Pakistan in ODI cricket and underachieved in Test cricket. He was just so easy on the eyes, could watch him bat all day and never get bored. Could anyone play that pick-up flick for six better than him? Has there been a batsman with a flourish of similar beauty?

Really? that is far far from being true.It is the EXACT opposite. You can check his career record in both forms.
I remember many of his test innings against many teams, His best odis innings are mostly against India and Lanka.

 

[Havoc]

@OP Yes Pakistan didn't find the single opener in these years which is even half of what Anwar was.

IMO Salman Butt was one of the good find but he had different priorities..

Butt had the makings to become decent, but wasn't even half the genius that Anwar was I'd say.

 

[Canistani Hero]

For a while, I thought Salman Butt would be groomed into the next Saeed Anwar. Now, they say Sami Aslam. Truth is, they can never be another SA194.

 

[GujjarSher]

I personally think this was Saeed Anwar's most impressive performance: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/63830.html

 

[Lethalweapon]

I personally think this was Saeed Anwar's most impressive performance: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/63830.html

Yes, an awesome innings. that was a TEST. why do people mention ODIs when he clearly underperformed?

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/42605.html?class=2;template=results;type=batting

I admire him for his test performances, I really do. a legend in tests as an opener.
see here
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/42605.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

Pakistani fans, Tell me how is Anwar better in ODIS?
Don't mind, he is behind many odi 'greats'.

 

[Raz]

Really? that is far far from being true.It is the EXACT opposite. You can check his career record in both forms.
I remember many of his test innings against many teams, His best odis innings are mostly against India and Lanka.

His man of the match performances seal the deal in ODIs. Second to Afridi in number, but played a significant matches less than Afridi, Wasim and Inzamam did. I would say one of the best openers from era he played in and would merit a place in an all-time ODI XI side.

In Tests, he averaged 59 against Australia with 3 100s and 5 50s from 15 innings, but still, I believe underachieved. Forget the fact that he only played in 55 Test matches, for someone of his talent an average of 45.5 is low.

 

[Havoc]

Yes, an awesome innings. that was a TEST. why do people mention ODIs when he clearly underperformed?

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/42605.html?class=2;template=results;type=batting

I admire him for his test performances, I really do. a legend in tests as an opener.
see here
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/42605.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

Pakistani fans, Tell me how is Anwar better in ODIS?
Don't mind, he is behind many odi 'greats'.

The reason most people naturally assume he was better in ODIs is because of his ability to score at a very brisk rate with purely cricketing strokes. Not saying you're not right in stating the fact that record wise Anwar's achievements in tests are probably greater than in ODIs.

 

[Lethalweapon]

His man of the match performances seal the deal in ODIs. Second to Afridi in number, but played a significant matches less than Afridi, Wasim and Inzamam did. I would say one of the best openers from era he played in and would merit a place in an all-time ODI XI side.

In Tests, he averaged 59 against Australia with 3 100s and 5 50s from 15 innings, but still, I believe underachieved. Forget the fact that he only played in 55 Test matches, for someone of his talent an average of 45.5 is low.

That is very good point. why does Inzi has lesser MOM than both? He was better than any batsman in Asia as a matchwinner.(even SRT) I'm surprised.
I am a Ganguly fan and I like lefties like Jayasuriya,Gayle,Gilly ,etc. Maybe that makes me critical of Anwar in Odis as compared to them.
Playing 55 tests is underachieving, don't think so. that is a very good track record for opening in the 90s. refer my previous post.

 

[dhump]

Brilliant Brilliant batsman I will never forget how amazing it was to see him hit the first ball of the match for a boundary just with a movement of his wrists. Wonderful person always remained free of controversies and just gave his best for the country. It is sad that he retired so early he could have easily played on top level for so much longer.

 

[Abdullah719]

Legend

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> in 2003. At the age of 34 Saeed Anwar retired from cricket. Anwar scored 4052 runs at 45.52 in 55 Tests & 8823 runs at 39.21 in 247 ODIs. His most memorable innings was 194 against India at Madras in 1997 - at that time the highest score by any batsman in ODIs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xc1f6OaVfN">pic.twitter.com/Xc1f6OaVfN</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1294540710277001216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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