Ijaz Ahmed (cricketer, born 1968)

For other people named Ijaz Ahmed, see Ijaz Ahmed (disambiguation).

Ijaz Ahmed (Urdu: اعجاز احمد) (born 20 September 1968) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played 60 Test matches and 250 One Day Internationals for Pakistan from 1986 to 2001. He was a part of the Pakistani squad which won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Ijaz Ahmed

Ahmed in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Ijaz Ahmed
Born	(1968-09-20) 20 September 1968 (age 56) Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Left-arm medium
Role	Batsman
Relations	Saleem Malik (brother-in-law)[2]
International information
National side	Pakistan (1986–2001)
Test debut (cap 107)	3 February 1987 v India
Last Test	27 March 2001 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 60)	14 November 1986 v West Indies
Last ODI	11 October 2000 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1983/84–1985/86	Gujranwala
1983/84–1985/86	Pakistan Automobiles Corporation
1986/87–2000/01	Habib Bank Limited
1991	Durham
1992/93–2000/01	Islamabad
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 60 250 169 371 Runs scored 3315 6564 9,889 10,037 Batting average 37.67 32.33 38.47 33.01 100s/50s 12/12 10/37 26/41 16/59 Top score 211 139* 211 139* Balls bowled 180 637 2,048 1,853 Wickets 2 5 34 31 Bowling average 38.50 95.20 32.29 46.80 5 wickets in innings 0 0 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/9 2/31 5/95 3/46 Catches/stumpings 45/– 90/– 123/– 135/–
Medal record Men's Cricket Representing  Pakistan ICC Cricket World Cup Winner 1992 Australia and New Zealand Runner-up 1999 England-Wales -Ireland-Scotland-Netherlands
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 4 February 2006

Personal life

Born in Sialkot, his family roots lie in the city of Jalandhar (now in Punjab, India) where some of his cousins still live.^[3]

He is a brother-in-law of former Pakistan international cricketer and captain Saleem Malik.^[2]

Career

Cricket career

Ahmed scored six Test centuries against the world's top-ranked side, Australia – a record number of centuries by a Pakistani against Australia, shared with Javed Miandad. However, 33 of his 92 innings yielded single-figure scores, 54 of them yielded scores below 20.

Ijaz Ahmed came into the national side at the height of the Imran Khan era, and remained on the fringes for nearly a decade, despite several good scores. Dropped after the 1992 World Cup, he came back strongly the following season and established himself at the pivotal "one down" position. He performed poorly at the 1999 World Cup, and the arrival of Younis Khan brought an end to his international career. He formally retired from cricket in 2003.

Ahmed's 250 matches is the seventh-highest of all time in Pakistan, behind Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram, Saleem Malik, Younis Khan, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik.

A powerful hitter of the ball, Ahmed became the second Pakistani batsman to score 10 ODI centuries. At Lahore, in 1997, Ahmed collapsed the Indian bowling attack by making a quick century off just 68 balls including 9 sixes, remaining not out for 139*; his highest ODI score.

In Test cricket, Ahmed scored 12 Test centuries, including his first and only double century against Sri Lanka, when he scored 211. Ahmed is the top scorer for Pakistan side against South Africa.

On 21 April 1997, in a Test match against Sri Lanka, Ahmed was at the crease on 97, when a run-out attempt brought ambiguity in the decision. However, replays declared Salim Malik as dismissed, and Ahmad was called back to the crease. This was the first time for a batsman to return from the pavilion to the crease since 1987.^[4]

Coaching career

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named fielding coach of that time Ijaz as the national side's batting consultant for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.^[5] He was later appointed assistant coach of the national team before the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe on request of team management.^[6]

Ahmed was appointed as the coach of Pakistan's Under-19 cricket team on 20 October 2019.^[7]

He was the head coach for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.^[8]

International centuries

Ijaz Ahmed made 22 centuries in international cricket – 12 in Test cricket and 10 in One Day Internationals. He scored his first Test century against Australia at Faisalabad in September 1988, scoring 122.^[9] He scored his final Test century, also against Australia at the Perth on in November 1999,^[10] scoring 115. His highest Test score is 211, scored against Sri Lanka at Dhaka in 1999.^[11]

He scored his first ODI century against Bangladesh at Chittagong, scoring 124*.^[12] He scored his final ODI century against England at Sharjah in 1999,^[13] scoring 137. His highest ODI score of 139 not out came against India in 1997 at Lahore.^[14]

Test centuries^[15]

No.	Score	Against	Pos.	Inn.	Test	Venue	H/A/N	Date	Result	Ref
1	122	Australia	6	1	2/3	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad	Home	23 September 1988	Drawn	[9]
2	121	Australia	5	4	1/3	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	Away	12 January 1990	Lost	[16]
3	137	Australia	3	1	3/3	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	Away	30 November 1995	Won	[17]
4	103	New Zealand	3	3	1/1	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	Away	8 December 1995	Won	[18]
5	141	England	3	1	2/3	Headingley, Leeds	Away	8 August 1996	Drawn	[19]
6	125	New Zealand	3	2	2/2	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi	Home	28 November 1996	Won	[20]
7	113	Sri Lanka	3	2	1/2	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	Away	19 April 1997	Drawn	[21]
8	151	West Indies	2	2	3/3	National Stadium, Karachi	Home	6 December 1997	Won	[22]
9	155	Australia	3	2	2/3	Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar	Home	15 October 1998	Drawn	[23]
10	120 not out	Australia	3	4	3/3	National Stadium, Karachi	Home	22 October 1998	Drawn	[24]
11	211	Sri Lanka	3	2	Final	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	Neutral	12 March 1999	Won	[11]
12	115	Australia	3	3	3/3	WACA Ground, Perth	Away	26 November 1999	Lost	[10]

ODI centuries^[25]

No.	Score	Against	Pos.	Inn.	SR	Venue	H/A/N	Date	Result	Ref
1	124 not out	Bangladesh	4	1	142.52	M. A. Aziz Stadium, Chittagong	Away	29 October 1988	Won	[12]
2	102 not out	Sri Lanka	3	2	102.00	The Gabba, Brisbane	Neutral	10 February 1990	Won	[26]
3	110	South Africa	5	1	100.00	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi	Home	20 October 1994	Won	[27]
4	114 not out	South Africa	3	2	126.66	Kingsmead, Durban	Away	17 December 1994	Won	[28]
5	117	Zimbabwe	3	1	111.42	Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar	Home	3 November 1996	Won	[29]
6	139 not out	India	1	2	165.47	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	Home	2 October 1997	Won	[14]
7	117	India	4	1	104.46	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka	Neutral	18 January 1998	Lost	[30]
8	111	Australia	3	1	101.83	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	Home	10 November 1998	Lost	[31]
9	132	Zimbabwe	3	1	128.15	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi	Home	24 November 1998	Won	[32]
10	137	England	3	1	105.38	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	Neutral	7 April 1999	Won	[13]

Controversies

Fraud case

In 2009, he was jailed for fake issuance of bank cheques.^[2][33] He was remanded for six weeks in jail and later received a bail.^[34][35] In 2012, a local court charged him with forgery.^[36]

Racism against Pashtuns

Ijaz Ahmed was heavily criticized by a large number of former cricket players, and journalists after he made racist remarks about the number of Pashtun players in the Pakistan cricket team, calling them illiterate and accusing them of not being able to handle pressure because of their upbringing on a talk show in ARY channel.^[37][38]