Ijaz Ahmed (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: ) (born 20 September 1968) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played 60 Test matches and 250

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

from 1986 to 2001. He was a part of the Pakistani squad which won the

1992 Cricket World Cup The 1992 Cricket World Cup (known as the Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992 for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth Cricket World Cup, the premier One Day International cricket tournament for men's national teams, organised by the International Cric ...

Personal life

Born in

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

, his family roots lie in the city of

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

(now in

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

) where some of his cousins still live. He is a brother-in-law of former Pakistan international cricketer and captain Saleem Malik.

Career

Cricket career

Ahmed scored six Test centuries against the world's top-ranked side,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

– a record number of centuries by a Pakistani against Australia, shared with

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...

. 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 Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (, ; born 1 March 197is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman. Afridi made ...

Inzamam-ul-Haq Syed Inzamam-ul-Haq Sitara-e-Imtiaz, SI (; born 3 March 1970), also known as Inzi, is a former Pakistan cricketer and captain of Pakistan national cricket team. He is regarded as one of the greatest players Pakistan has produced and one of the ...

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, Coach (sport), coach, and former cricketer and captain (cricket), captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is regarded as one of the ...

, Saleem Malik, Younis Khan, Waqar Younis and

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...

. 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 Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, 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.

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. He was later appointed assistant coach of the national team before the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe on request of team management. Ahmed was appointed as the coach of Pakistan's Under-19 cricket team on 20 October 2019. He was the head coach for Lahore Qalandars in the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

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 Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

in September 1988, scoring 122. He scored his final Test century, also against Australia at the

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

on in November 1999, scoring 115. His highest Test score is 211, scored against Sri Lanka at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in 1999. He scored his first ODI century against Bangladesh at

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, scoring 124 *. He scored his final ODI century against England at

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

in 1999, scoring 137. His highest ODI score of 139

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

came against India in 1997 at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Controversies

Fraud case

In 2009, he was jailed for fake issuance of bank cheques. He was remanded for six weeks in jail and later received a bail. In 2012, a local court charged him with forgery.

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 Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Ijaz 1968 births Living people Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistani prisoners and detainees Durham cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England Gujranwala cricketers Habib Bank Limited cricketers Islamabad cricketers Lahore City cricketers Pakistan Automobiles Corporation cricketers Rawalpindi cricketers Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Sialkot Pakistani cricketers Sialkot cricketers Pakistan Starlets cricketers Pakistani cricket coaches Cricketers from Lahore