Currently, the Pakistan team is on tour in England, where their performances have not yielded the expected results. The team has lost two consecutive Test matches, trailing the series 0-2. Now, the Pakistani team aims to win the final match of the series, scheduled for September 9th, to avoid the disgrace of a complete defeat. Significant changes have also occurred within the Pakistani squad ahead of the Edgbaston match: seven players were dropped, and the coaching staff underwent reshuffles.
Despite the current difficult period, the Pakistani team once held a very strong reputation in world cricket, featuring many outstanding athletes. Among them, one cannot forget the left-handed opener Saeed Anwar, whose trademark was the ability to score quickly from the start thanks to excellent timing and shot placement.
Saeed Anwar's international career, which marked his 58th birthday on September 6th (Sunday), spanned from 1990 to 2003. For Pakistan, he amassed thousands of runs in both Tests and ODIs. In 1997, during an ODI against India in Chennai, he played a knock of 194 runs off 146 balls, which was the highest individual score in an ODI at that time. He approached two hundred runs but was caught by Saurav Ganguly off a Sachin Tendulkar delivery.
Interestingly, this record of Saeed Anwar was matched in 2009 by Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe, who scored 194 runs without being dismissed. Subsequently, in 2010, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar played a historic innings of 200 runs without being out against South Africa, thereby surpassing Anwar's record.
Anwar batted actively not only in ODIs but also in Tests, where he also registered many big scores. It is worth noting that many of his best Test performances took place on foreign soil. In 1994 in Wellington against New Zealand, he scored 169 runs, marking his first Test century. Two years later, in Hove against England, he delivered an impressive innings of 176 runs. In 1998, in a Test match against India in Calcutta, Anwar remained unbeaten on 188 runs, which was his highest Test score. His batting attracted attention because he hit boundaries not so much through power as through mastery of timing and placement.
For Pakistan, Saeed Anwar scored 4052 runs in 55 Test matches, maintaining an average of 45.52, and scored 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries. His ODI statistics were even more impressive: in 247 matches, he accumulated 8824 runs, including 20 centuries and 43 half-centuries. He was particularly renowned for his magnificent drives off the off-side. If a bowler left even a small gap outside the mid-stump, Anwar would immediately drive the ball to the boundary. His game combined aggression with a special kind of beauty.
Saeed Anwar's Test career concluded under very emotional circumstances. In August 2001, in a Test match against Bangladesh in Multan, he scored 101 runs, which was his 11th and final Test century. In that match, Pakistan posted a formidable total of 546/3 in the first innings, and five batsmen from the team scored centuries. This unique record of five centuries in one Test match is jointly held by Pakistan and Australia. However, for Anwar, this match brought more pain than joy.
After his daughter Bismah, who was three and a half years old, passed away after a long illness just two days after his century in the Multan match, Anwar returned to Lahore. After this tragedy, he did not play any more Test matches. He stepped away from cricket for some time, and his life changed. This is why the 101 runs scored in Multan entered the list of the most memorable and touching centuries of his career.
Having lost his daughter, Saeed Anwar returned to ODIs and scored a century against India in the 2003 World Cup. Although Pakistan lost that match, Anwar's innings was magnificent. He dedicated this century to his daughter Bismah. This innings became one of the most emotional moments of his international career.
Saeed Anwar announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket on August 15, 2003. Following this, he engaged in religious activities and began growing a beard. Anwar actively participated in events related to the propagation of Islam. Muhammad Yusuf, a former batsman for Pakistan, was also significantly influenced by Anwar in life. Yusuf converted to Islam in 2004 and later stated that Saeed Anwar had provided him with great assistance during his religious change. Before converting to Islam, Yusuf was known as Yusuf Johana.