On This Day: September 6, 1968 - Saeed Anwar was born

[Gotham Cronie]

The legendary Pakistani batsman was born on this day in 1968 in Karachi.

He played 55 Tests and scored 4,052 runs at an average of 45.52. He also played 247 ODIs and scored 8,824 runs at an average of 39.21.

He comfortably holds the record for most ODI centuries by a Pakistani batsman, with 20. The most famous one, of course, was his 194 vs India in Chennai which was the record for the highest ODI score in an innings for over 12 years.

Needless to say, Pakistan today is missing such a quality opener as him!

Happy Birthday sir and thank you for your services!

 

[DHONI183]

On This Day September 6, 1968: Saeed Anwar was born

Saeed Anwar was such a beautiful timer of the ball and so pleasing to watch when when he played those drives to the off-side.

Happy Birthday!

 

[saiyan0312]

After him we had no one. Legend and those flicks were awesome. I remember that flick and six. Effortless. He was so natural that he made batting look like childs play.

 

[Azlan Khan]

Undoubtedly the best opener we have produced.

 

[ghalib]

Inflicted lot of pain to us in ODI's. I think he and Aamer Sohail used to specially love our bowling.

 

[bin_pendi_ka_lota]

Happy Bday Anwar Mian! You were class opener...

 

[mebs]

Happy birthday Saeed Anwar, any chance of coming out of retirement? I'm sure you can still bat better than the lot

 

[JibranAnsari]

Happy Birthday!

The best pakistani timer.

 

[PakGirl!]

Wonderful player he was!
Happy Birthday..

 

[WNC]

Brilliant player, grew up watching him and used to love watching him play. Left a big hole in our opening department, one that is yet to be filled.

 

[Saj]

Legend and one of my all time favourite players.

Here's his 194 versus India. Enjoy Anil Kumble's facial expressions as Anwar hammers him around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t--X5o48jwE

 

[MenInG]

On this day: 6th September, 1968: Saeed Anwar was born

46 years of age today, Saeed Anwar was a sight to watch in his heydays - he played 55 Test matches racking up 4052 runs with 11 hundreds and 25 fifties at an average of 45.52

He had an equally distinguished record in ODIs, where in 247 ODIS, he scored 8824 runs with his highest being the famous 194 against India. He ended up with 20 hundreds and 43 fifties.

A wonderful sight for any Pak fan - Saeed Anwar to this day remains the yardstick by which we measure the progress of all our openers!

 

[menace2society]

This is a special day.

 

[Fastandfurious]

Super batsman masha'Allah, would have been Pakistan's best if he kept on going.

 

[Scrolln]

My favorite Pakistani batsman of all time.


The best test opener of the 90's and the Pakistani batsman with the most 'great' knocks IMO -

In tests -

118 against SA
145 against Aus
188 against India

In ODIs -

194 vs India
113 vs New Zealand
131 vs West Indies

Also, if my memory serves me right, none of his 31 international tons have come in dead matches. So he was a big match player.

Stellar record in ICC events too.

 

[junaid.ahmed]

Greatest opener ever

 

[Sakss]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>On this day 1968. One of Pakistan's finest & most stylish batsman Saeed Anwar was born in Karachi <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pakistan?src=hash">#Pakistan</a> <a href="http://t.co/D8SJwyknyl">pic.twitter.com/D8SJwyknyl</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/508164105795305472">September 6, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Anchorman]

The most elegant Pakistani batsman I've seen play. A true legend!

 

[AZ]

the most dashing and stylish opener we have ever produced, he was all touch and class, never played a shot in anger.

not a shot in the book that he couldn't play, and make it look oh so easy.

Legend!

 

[JibranAnsari]

Wow ..he was just awesome.

The most stylish pakistani batsman ever.. His wrists were magical.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZZeetCziNiU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Sakss]

On this day in 1968 : Pakistan's greatest left handed opening batsman Saeed Anwar was born

Majestic timing and placement were Saeed Anwar's hallmarks. He was an opener capable of electrifying starts in all cricket through graceful strokeplay rather than brute force.

His 194 against India remained a long standing record. It would be safe to safe that he was Pakistan's best opener ever

 

[Mamoon]

What a player. Didn't do justice to his talent though, but his performance in Test cricket and World Cups speaks for itself.

Should have played a lot more and achieved greater things, but still a wonderful opener. Haven't seen a better timer of the ball in my life, the ball literally flew of his bat - those effortless sixes on the leg side and those cover drives. Majestic.

Guilty of the softest of dismissals as well though, along with Mark Waugh. Bother players were very similar in many ways.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

One of best left hand batsman . He was so good to watch.
On the other hand there have been only two 150 scores for Pak in odi, was really surprised by that even Dravid two highest scores are 153 and 145.

 

[Hawkeye]

The man who was my inspiration. Elegance and class. Indeed the best left handed opener.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Superb player . Eye catching . Elegant , classy , stylish .

Our greatest Odi cricketer . Best and distinct thing was that he was a big match player whether Worldcups or whether Asian cricket championship .

PCB to blame for forcing him to retire 3 years earlier and for wasting him at lower order from 1988,1989 to 1993 needlessly . Insecure senior players would have made sure he bats low down .

One of my favourite . Majestic player .

 

[hk031992]

One of the best openers i have ever seen. I would like to see how well today's openers would do in the 90's

Was a beast against Australia in particular. In test cricket, he was even better than in ODI's

 

[bond007]

his cover drives.............

 

[ExplicitAI]

This guy retired too early, could have offered a lot more but a fantastic player nonetheless.

 

[Rana]

Should have played 3-4 years longer

 

[Ottoman]

If we could some how find a opener, who has half a talent then his!

 

[larkykid]

Elegance and grace personified. One of our most stylish batsmen in history. Back in those days, you actually look forward to watching the opening of the batting.

 

[axl100mph]

One of those batsmen that u wish would hv never retired.
He was the epitome of stroke making
For years I tried to find the next anwar but to no avail with only yuvraj showing glimpses
However, I hv to say, I do think that saumya sarkar is the heir of anwar's magical strokeplay

 

[ChachaCricket]

What a player man. I thought he'd go down as an ATG regardless of the crappy system he played in.

 

[ChachaCricket]

One of those batsmen that u wish would hv never retired.
He was the epitome of stroke making
For years I tried to find the next anwar but to no avail with only yuvraj showing glimpses
However, I hv to say, I do think that saumya sarkar is the heir of anwar's magical strokeplay

Second that. Soumya is special.

 

[Hamza78]

What a player love him

 

[The_KING]

What a player he was. A shame that when I got into cricket, he was at the end of his career. We still haven't replaced him. We need to find an opener like him if we are to become a force in cricket again.

 

[Hawkeye]

This day one of the most elegant batsmen Saeed Anwar was born

Started loving batting because of him.

To this date, couldn't find anyone in the world of cricket who is more elegant, more classy. His flicks and cuts are still unmatched. Of course, the cover and straight drives, too.

Was the best opening bat in the world when he was still in the game, specially in ODIs. 90s were ruled by him. Sad that he left cricket way too early.

Happy birthday, legend!

 

[anuk]

sep 4th is only about 100 days from my own birthday. feels great to be have been born so close to the day the great man was born on.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Very entertaining bat.

 

[indian_sap]

Started loving batting because of him.

To this date, couldn't find anyone in the world of cricket who is more elegant, more classy. His flicks and cuts are still unmatched. Of course, the cover and straight drives, too.

Was the best opening bat in the world when he was still in the game, specially in ODIs. 90s were ruled by him. Sad that he left cricket way too early.

Happy birthday, legend!

Nailed it with your words - couldn't agree more. My dp says it all, by the way its my permanent dp not the one being used only for today.

 

[Hawkeye]

Nailed it with your words - couldn't agree more. My dp says it all, by the way its my permanent dp not the one being used only for today.

Nice! I remember you from previous posts. It's good to be a fan of such a classy bat.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

Happy Birthday brother May Allah bless you

 

[Ellipsism]

Arguably the most synthetically pleasing batsman to watch in the world. His elegance and class is something fans will never be able to witness in the modern era.

Happy Birthday! May Allah bless him with many more such days.

 

[#GreenRoars]

HBD Saeed Anwar. Indeed he was very elegant.

 

[#GreenRoars]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On this day 1968. The brilliant Saeed Anwar was born in Karachi <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/mkwDwioKTC">pic.twitter.com/mkwDwioKTC</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/773056443889160192">September 6, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[street cricketer]

He was one of the great openers of his time, but was not the best [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

Happy birthday to him.

 

[Hawkeye]

He was one of the great openers of his time, but was not the best [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION]

Happy birthday to him.

It's fine if you hold that opinion, let's agree to disagree. Competition was tough indeed.

 

[90MPH]

Happy Birthday brother May Allah bless you

He has Bengali roots so you should be proud brother

And I bet a lot of people disputing elegance and class have not watched the guy.

He wasn't the best bat ever, he didn't have the most correct technique but he was most of the elegant wristy players in the world, not just Pakistan.

The OP is correct regarding elegance and class. I miss him a lot, him and Afridi opening the batting in ODIs was always exciting.

 

[Ashraful_Rox]

He has Bengali roots so you should be proud brother

And I bet a lot of people disputing elegance and class have not watched the guy.

He wasn't the best bat ever, he didn't have the most correct technique but he was most of the elegant wristy players in the world, not just Pakistan.

The OP is correct regarding elegance and class. I miss him a lot, him and Afridi opening the batting in ODIs was always exciting.

Alhamdullilah, that's good to know.

I agree he was very pleasing to watch, he was the rock of Pakistan cricket. Pakistan are yet to find a replacement of Anwar. Classy brother

Afridi and Anwar opening was scary, Afridi in his prime Tarzan and Anwar the reliable 007. What a pair, miss the good ol days.

 

[Markhor]

Thought he could get out in infuriatingly casual ways at times, and his ODI record v Australia and South Africa was poor.

However he was a delight to watch when on song. Such a wristy player and clean hitter of the ball. His 176 at The Oval which was a masterclass.

 

[Mo Dipsy]

I remember at one stage in the 90s, Anwar, Lara and Tendulkar were neck and neck in competition for the most hundreds in ODIs. Anwar fell off after his daughter's tragedy but until that point, he was competing with legends and scoring centuries for fun.

 

[SuperKhan]

Huge fan. Top player and unmatched.

 

[SuperKhan]

The fact he was also a leftie made him even more difficult for sides.

 

[Hitman]

Happy Birthday to the player I feared the most from Pakistan in the 90's. When did his daughter pass away? So tragic.

 

[Pete Rose]

My favorite player. The original pinch hitter even before the term was invented.

 

[Im Suds]

The best batsmen we have ever produced.
I watched him on the 1996 tour of England - absolutely brilliant - power, finess, timing - one of few batsmen who could hit sixes off his hip like the great viv
Cool guy also

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Happy Birthday to the player I feared the most from Pakistan in the 90's. When did his daughter pass away? So tragic.

August, 2001

This was a very sad moment.

 

[troodon]

Anwar was an expert at bashing Indian trundlers. Remember him making tons of runs against Srinath, Prasad, Kuruvilla, Mohanty etc. Pretty sure he had great time playing against Lankan trundlers too.

Anwar also played Kumble's medium pace very well.

 

[hk031992]

Anwar was an expert at bashing Indian trundlers. Remember him making tons of runs against Srinath, Prasad, Kuruvilla, Mohanty etc. Pretty sure he had great time playing against Lankan trundlers too.

Anwar also played Kumble's medium pace very well.

pretty sure he was an expert at bashing Australian trundlers in tests as well, averaging close to 60 vs them.

 

[Hitman]

August, 2001

This was a very sad moment.

Extremely tragic. You never quite get over the death of your child, no matter how many years it has been.

 

[Suleiman]

Yeah absolute legend, better test opener than ODIs, but man how much we need a guy like him in ODIs atm.

Used to go to the same mosque as him back in Karachi. He's very low key now, unlike other ex-legends he doesn't sit on Geo or wherever and moan and cry about our cricket, and I kinda respect that. He went out with his reputation intact and just slowly faded away...

Tragic end to his career though. He lost focus and drive, and understandably when something like that happens to you.

He could've gone on to play till the 2007 WC if he kept it up.

 

[Abdullah719]

The legend turns 49, whattay player.

 

[UN talkz]

wat a player.... if that daughter incident wouldn't have happened he would have been GOAT... 4 me he still is.

 

[sshakir411]

Happy Birthday Legend. Hands down, one of the two best players of the cut shot from Asia.

 

[Plumb]

Legend one of my fav players to play for pakistan. At one point there was a race between him and Sachin in terms of centuries scored. Anwar lost track with his family issues and other distractions.

 

[PakLFC]

Awesome player. We have never replaced him.

 

[Bilal7]

My favorite player. The original pinch hitter even before the term was invented.

He was a great, versatile batsman. Just because he was batting quicker than almost anyone else does not make him a pinch-hitter.

The legend turns 49, whattay player.

Great player, great man. One of the greatest openers of all time, across formats.

 

[Hasan123]

One of greatest ever batsmen. Was so stylish and pleasing on the eye . Unfortunately only watched his batting on highlights . Wasn't old enough when he was playing.

 

[Saj]

One of my all time favourite batsmen.

Majestic and mesmerising to watch.

Could hit shots that mere mortals could only dream of playing.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Box office.

 

[Ahson8]

Legend.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Very clutch player

Demolished Indian bowling in India when Pakistan had to chase 280+ in a World Cup QF. Seven years later, he was finished as a batsman, yet still managed to score a 100 against India in a high pressure WC match.

Mostly struggled in the 1999 WC but again scored consecutive centuries in knockouts when it mattered the most. Was batting beautifully until he changed his bat's grip and inner edged one in the 1999 final.

 

[Abdullah719]

Half-century.

 

[Hasan123]

Happy birthday to one of our greatest batsmen

 

[MenInG]

Happy birthday to a man who would have been a legend

 

[Savak]

Why doesn't this guy apply for the batting coach position? He has completely kept a distance from Pakistan Cricket after retirement

 

[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> 1968. The stylish and brilliant Saeed Anwar was born in Karachi. Saeed played 302 times for Pakistan and scored nearly 13,000 runs for his country. He scored twenty centuries in ODIs which is more than any other Pakistani batsman in this format <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/hXlY9w5dsk">pic.twitter.com/hXlY9w5dsk</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1169875564900966400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> in 1968. The stylish, exciting and brilliant Saeed Anwar was born in Karachi. Saeed played 302 times for Pakistan and scored nearly 13,000 runs for his country. He made twenty centuries in ODIs which is more than any other Pakistani batsman in this format <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/oY5TKR4tHB">pic.twitter.com/oY5TKR4tHB</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1302501188810813441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Bhaijaan]

Probably the greatest Pakistani batsman ever and the only Pakistani batsman i ever wished played for India. Saeed Bhai's batting was majestic and I feel proud to have grown up watching him, Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Lara level batsmen of highest class.

Today's cricket is efficient but it lacks class.

 

[Ab Fan]

High quality and entertaining bat. Second greatest all format opener from Asia.