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Who is the greatest Pakistan player to have never been involved in controversy?

Thunderbolt14

Thunderbolt14

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As you can imagine, names like Wasim, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Asif all have their names in various controversies ranging from fixing to drugs.

Inzamam was known to get into religious disputes with Bob Woolmer.

It becomes difficult to identify such a character (whether the allegations are true or not) who has not been alleged of certain controversial actions during their time as player, or afterward (such as Waqar). The only recent example that comes to mind is Babar who hs looked squeaky clean so far.

So who is the greatest goodie two shoes of Pakistan cricket, never in the headlines for the wrong reasons?
 
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Thunderbolt14 said:
As you can imagine, names like Wasim, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Asif all have their names in various controversies ranging from fixing to drugs.

Inzamam was known to get into religious disputes with Bob Woolmer.

It becomes difficult to identify such a character (whether the allegations are true or not) who has not been alleged of certain controversial actions during their time as player, or afterward (such as Waqar). The only recent example that comes to mind is Babar who hs looked squeaky clean so far.

So who is the greatest goodie two shoes of Pakistan cricket, never in the headlines for the wrong reasons?
Click to expand...

I don’t remember Saeed Anwar being involved in any controversies
 
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Umar Gul. good guy, star performer in 3 ICC competitions for Pakistan.
 
rashid latif - the lone moral voice and policeman in a team of fixers.
even now on caught behind, his commentary and arguments are guided by ethical principles and doing the right thing.
 
Zaheer Abbas, the three Mohammed brothers, muddassar, qadir, tauseef, Iqbal qasim, Majid Khan, Abdul hafeez kardar, misbah, younis (maybe)
 
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All iconic Pakistani players over the past 30 years have been in controversies (minor or major). I can't think of one who wasn't.

Only Saeed Ajmal was probably non-controversial (but not sure if he can be considered as a great).
 
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khan_aa said:
rashid latif - the lone moral voice and policeman in a team of fixers.
even now on caught behind, his commentary and arguments are guided by ethical principles and doing the right thing.
Click to expand...

Rashid was caught red handed claiming a catch that had been grounded.
 
It’s a very narrow list to choose from, all of our greatest players have been tainted one way or another. Match fixing, ball tampering, dressing room issues, discipline issues with captain and boards, questionable bowling actions etc

This is why I could only really think of Umar Gul. No way is he up there with our best ever bowlers but the man had 5 years of cricket where Pakistan achieved a considerable name in The world as a limited overs team.

2007 T20 wc runner up. Great tournament as a bowler

2009 T20 wc winner, another great tournament as a death bowler

2011 World Cup semi Finalist. Was one of the best bowlers in the tournament until the India v Pakistan match.

Even the premier Pakistan fast bowler of his era, Shoaib Akhtar cannot boast of anything like this besides his 1999 wc heroics.
 
I hope that Babar will remain controversy-free. He has done well so far. Very humble.
 
None of our greats have been controversy free. Misbah and Gul are probably the best among the ones without controversy
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
As you can imagine, names like Wasim, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Asif all have their names in various controversies ranging from fixing to drugs.

Inzamam was known to get into religious disputes with Bob Woolmer.

It becomes difficult to identify such a character (whether the allegations are true or not) who has not been alleged of certain controversial actions during their time as player, or afterward (such as Waqar). The only recent example that comes to mind is Babar who hs looked squeaky clean so far.

So who is the greatest goodie two shoes of Pakistan cricket, never in the headlines for the wrong reasons?
Click to expand...

Hanif Mohammad
Babar Azam
 
BreadPakoda said:
Zaheer Abbas, Fazal Mahmood, Abdul Quadir. There have been many.
Click to expand...

Abdul blew up at an ump on the Gatting tour when given out though. Refused to leave the wicket for a bit. To be fair to Abdul it was an egregiously bad decision.

I’d say Zaheer.
 
Misbah. And probably Saeed.

The most successful Pakistan Test captain.

And the most successful batsman-captain in our history as well. Raised the game several levels after becoming a captain.

I think only Imran Khan and Misbah raised their games after becoming captains.
 
msb314 said:
Burnt his kit during the summer of 2010 and played a questionably poor shot to hand India inaugural World T20...
Click to expand...

He didn’t burn his kit. He said he felt like burning his kit as he was dropped in 2008/09 for not very good reasons but of course was brought back after 2010 spot fixing.
 
Let’s stick to controversies unrelated to performance (which will always have its ups and downs), unless the controversy is centered around fixing.

Same goes for coaching and selection, unless the controversy is centered around nepotism etc.

Playing bad shots or making bad selection choices should otherwise not count as controversies.
 
The fact that so many Pakistani ex players have been involved in controversy displays a depressing insight into the institutional problems within our cricket.

It makes me wonder how many honest triers like Fawad Alam have been lost to our system? Batameez besharams like Umar Akmal have been given a million chances. It is because you need to have a loud voice and shameless personality to reach the top levels in our cricketing set up? This thread would suggest so.
 
In a society that prizes itself on tearing down its heroes you’d be hard pressed to find people without controversy.
 
Rana said:
Umar Gul. good guy, star performer in 3 ICC competitions for Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

He's definitely top 10 Pakistan fast bowler of all time, mostly for his ICC tournaments heroics. From 2009-2013 he was absolutely top notch.
 
msb314 said:
Burnt his kit during the summer of 2010 and played a questionably poor shot to hand India inaugural World T20...
Click to expand...

Yes, even more controversial was his ( Misbah's ) innings in 2011 SF against India, when he was playing for "draw".
 
Majority of the players have been non-controversial. Umar Gul in recent past and Majid Khan in the last generation were really very nice sportsmen, true role models.
 
Hawkeye said:
Misbah. And probably Saeed.

The most successful Pakistan Test captain.

And the most successful batsman-captain in our history as well. Raised the game several levels after becoming a captain.

I think only Imran Khan and Misbah raised their games after becoming captains.
Click to expand...

You need to read Ed Hawkins’ “Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy”.

He makes a very specific accusation, which survived the scrutiny of Bloomsbury publishing’s lawyers, that in the innings break of the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali an Indian bookie provided him with an accurate script of the innings which Pakistan was about to play.

Misbah played by far the longest innings of that innings, so while he has never been put on trial for Hawkins’ accusations, you cannot dispute that this is a major controversy which has hung over Misbah’s career without him receiving his day in court to clear his name.
 
Red Devil said:
Saqlain? Don't recall any controversies involving him.
Click to expand...
Caused the 1998 Johannesburg Test to be delayed by 24 hours when he got beaten up at Club 69. Google it to find out what kind of place that was.
 
Abid Z said:
Zaheer Abbas, the three Mohammed brothers, muddassar, qadir, tauseef, Iqbal qasim, Majid Khan, Abdul hafeez kardar, misbah, younis (maybe)
Click to expand...
Allan Border is on the record as having stated that Mushtaq Muhammad offered him $1 million to lose the 1993 Edgbaston Test.

It’s in the public domain.
 
I can literally only think of Majid Khan.

His only scandal was when his cousin dropped him from the Test team, which was hardly his fault.
 
YK has had his share of controversies but it never involved drinking, drugs, steroids, women, beating team mates/coach, fake injuries, gambling, match fixing, tampering, chucking. Usually involved him whinging about PCB or his place in the side/ captaincy/coaching roles etc. That's quite tame by Pakistani standards. So I'll give it to him
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
As you can imagine, names like Wasim, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Asif all have their names in various controversies ranging from fixing to drugs.

Inzamam was known to get into religious disputes with Bob Woolmer.

It becomes difficult to identify such a character (whether the allegations are true or not) who has not been alleged of certain controversial actions during their time as player, or afterward (such as Waqar). The only recent example that comes to mind is Babar who hs looked squeaky clean so far.

So who is the greatest goodie two shoes of Pakistan cricket, never in the headlines for the wrong reasons?
Click to expand...

Fazal Mahmood.
 
Razzaq was controversy free for most part of his career almost till the end. I had always rated him very highly in this regard however he's been coming up with silly statements every so often in the past few years. He wasn't the greatest but he was the most entertaining to watch, way above Afridi for me.
 
Junaids said:
Allan Border is on the record as having stated that Mushtaq Muhammad offered him $1 million to lose the 1993 Edgbaston Test.

It’s in the public domain.
Click to expand...

Also in the public domain is a very lucid explanation by mushtaq.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....aq-denies-bribery-allegation-1573082.html?amp

This was dealt with by icc and nothing came of it. It’s not a crime to have an allegation put against somebody. Only if somebody is actually charged.

Mushtaq and Hanif were the cleanest of the Pakistani lot. (Along with majid)
 
MRSN said:
lmao he sacked Mickey and got his job.
Click to expand...

Hardly a controversy. Mickey presided over one of the worst planned & most shambolic WC attempts I can remember.

Got his squad selections wrong & went back & picked discarded oldies after have 2 damn years to groom replacements or form a squad. Meaning WC arrives & no one knows their roles or trusts the performance.

Lets fielding coach go (after fielding had really improved) without adequate replacement= most catches dropped in the tournament.

Didn't include best batsman until tournament was almost over... on & on it goes.

Pathetic coaching effort. He had to go. Hardly a controversy.
 
Azhar Mehmood might not be counted as a great, but given the number of games he played for Pakistan and the controversial team mates he played alongside — one has to applaud the guy for keeping out of any controversy unless someone can prove me wrong here . I don’t even ever recall him giving a bitter statement about a colleague, selectors , PCB or opponent even.

I know someone who met Azhar and said the same about him as a person, very down to earth, polite and ‘shareef’ guy.
 
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Majid Khan said:
Azhar Mehmood might not be counted as a great, but given the number of games he played for Pakistan and the controversial team mates he played alongside — one has to applaud the guy for keeping out of any controversy unless someone can prove me wrong here . I don’t even ever recall him giving a bitter statement about a colleague, selectors , PCB or opponent even.

I know someone who met Azhar and said the same about him as a person, very down to earth, polite and ‘shareef’ guy.
Click to expand...
Azhar was a limited cricketer however he's a great bloke. I've bumped into him on couple of occasions and he greets you humbly and doesn't mind you talking to him.
 
Saqlain Mushtaq, Muhammad Brothers, Zaheer Abbas, Abdul Qadir, Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Fazal Mehmood, Azhar Mehmood.
 
Lala.

All the other Pakistani cricket greats have been in involved in at least minor controversies but Lala has maintained his clean image.

:sa
 
JattMaula said:
Lala.

All the other Pakistani cricket greats have been in involved in at least minor controversies but Lala has maintained his clean image.

:sa
Click to expand...

Nope, you forgot " Fighting with someone in crowed " " Dancing on the pitch incident" "Ball-Biting incident".
 
Junaids said:
You need to read Ed Hawkins’ “Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy”.

He makes a very specific accusation, which survived the scrutiny of Bloomsbury publishing’s lawyers, that in the innings break of the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali an Indian bookie provided him with an accurate script of the innings which Pakistan was about to play.

Misbah played by far the longest innings of that innings, so while he has never been put on trial for Hawkins’ accusations, you cannot dispute that this is a major controversy which has hung over Misbah’s career without him receiving his day in court to clear his name.
Click to expand...

I could have told you that before the game for free
 
Gul is a good shout very underrated, Saqi ( no balls were not his fault) , razzaq (cant remember too much) and Misbah is getting a lot of stick but he is definitely top 5 in this category to say the least.
 
Majid Khan said:
Azhar Mehmood might not be counted as a great, but given the number of games he played for Pakistan and the controversial team mates he played alongside — one has to applaud the guy for keeping out of any controversy unless someone can prove me wrong here . I don’t even ever recall him giving a bitter statement about a colleague, selectors , PCB or opponent even.

I know someone who met Azhar and said the same about him as a person, very down to earth, polite and ‘shareef’ guy.
Click to expand...

Was caught and fined for ball tampering along with Waqar.
 
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