Monday, November 8, 2010

Wasim Akram

A dream cricketer. At his best Wasim Akram plays like most of us would wish to. He has complete mastery over swing and seam, and sometimes moves the ball both ways in one delivery. All this comes at high speed from a quick, ball-concealing action, and is backed up by the threat of a dangerous bouncer or deceptive slower delivery. Wasim is rated by many as the best left-arm fast bowler of all time and his career record certainly bears that out - along with the high regard of his contemporaries. 
He hits like a kicking horse, but batsmanship is one skill in which Wasim has underachieved, despite a monumental 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in 1996-97. He was the natural successor to Imran Khan as Pakistan's leader and captain, but the match-fixing controversies of the 1990s harmed him, blunting his edge and dimming his lustre. Though he reached the 500-wicket landmark in ODIs in the World Cup, he was among the eight players dumped after Pakistan's miserable performance. He retired shortly after, after a brief spell with Hampshire.

Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi

Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is Pakistan's top professional tennis player and is ranked in top 50 doubles players. He is the only Pakistani tennis player to reach the final of a Grand Slam, which he has done in 2010 competing in both mixed doubles and men's doubles at the US Open

Like other pakistani boys, Aisam used to play cricket and soccer in his school. Along with that he started playing tennis as a hobby. It all started when he was 14 years old when his mother took him to the tennis club and they used to play with each other.

"I never thought I would be a professional tennis player when I started", says Aisam

When he turned to 16, he got into the ITF team which sponsored him for two years. This was the turning point of his life. Later on, he had a successful junior career he managed to get to No.7 (in juniors).

In 1998, Aisamul haq became world number 11 player in junior tennis. This achievement made him Pakistan's highest-ranked tennis player. By the time he had defeated several world junior champions including Andy Roddick (American), Taylor Dent (American), Artem Derepaasco, Simon Dickson (British), Oliver Rochus and Nathan Healy (Australian). After that, he mostly played Pakistan Davis Cup team and ATP tournaments and began appearing ITF tournaments all over the world. After winning plenty of titles, Aisam jumped to top 200 players of the world in men's single and was counted in top 100 in doubles.

In 2002, Aisam played with Israel's Amir Hadad in Wimbledon as well as in US Open. They got eliminated in the 3rd and 2nd round of wimbledon and US open respectively.

In 2007, Aisam became the third tennis player of Pakistan to qualify for the Wimbledon. Khwaja Saeed Hai was the first man to represent Pakistan at Wimbledon singles in 1954, 1955 and 1956. Then it was Haroon Rahim who played at Wimbledon in 1976.

Aisam is not the only Tennis player in his family. His mother Mrs Nausheen Ehtesham was also a tennis player winning Pakistan's several ladies single titles in 1982. She has also represented Pakistan in the Fed Cup, which is women’s version of the Davis Cup. Her father Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmad was also a tennis player who represented both Pakistan as well as India in Davis Cup. In response to the question asked in an interview about his entry into the Tennis, Aisam said, "Tennis is in my blood". It would not be wrong to say that Aisam inherited Tennis from his ancestors.

Khawaja Saad Rafique

Khawaja Saad Rafique(born November 4, 1962 in Lahore) is a Pakistani politician hailing from Punjab. His father Kh Mohammad Rafiq was a renouned Pakistani politician was one of the pioneers of opposition politics in Pakistan. He is an active central leader of PML-N and has been elected as Member of the Pakistan National Assembly since 2002 and was reelected in the Pakistani General Election in 2008. He was the Federal Minister for Culture, with additional portfolio of Youth Affairs for four months in Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani's first cabinet.

He resigned as the minister on May 12, 2008, along with nine other federal ministers of his party under protest for the restoration of deposed judges. He is a graduate of Government M.A.O. College in Lahore and received his masters from University of the Punjab in 1986. He has previously served as Member of the Punjab Assembly. He was also appointed as the special assistant of prime minister for youth affairs with the status of federal minister of state in 1999. He is a former student leader. He is a member of Central Working Committee of PML-N. He was one of the loudest voices in the country raised against the General Mushurruf dictatorship.