About Saqlain Mushtaq


Saqlain Mushtaq is a British Pakistani cricket coach, YouTuber, and former cricketer who played in Tests and ODIs for Pakistani national cricket team.[1] Regarded as one of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket, he is best known for pioneering the "doosra", a leg break delivery bowled with an off break action. He was the fastest to reach the milestones of 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs A right-arm off break bowler, Saqlain played 49 Test matches and 169 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan between 1995 and 2004. He took 208 Test and 288 ODI wickets and also scored a Test match century as well, against New Zealand in March 2001 Until 2016, Saqlain was the fastest bowler in the history of ODI cricket to take 100 wickets . A trend-setter. Saqlain Mushtaq was perhaps the first offspinner to master the doosra, a delivery that spins away from the batsman even though it is delivered with an offspinner's action. Saqlain has a fast, short-stepping action with a halting delivery, and has a propensity to bowl no-balls, unusually for a bowler with such a short run. He is criticised for attempting too much variation and he often throws in the doosra the first time a batsman faces. Saqlain's international career got off to a splendid start - he was the fastest bowler to 100 one-day wickets, and his phenomenal control meant that he regularly bowled at the death. But his finest moment arguably came in a Test match, at Chennai in 1998-99, when his ten-for allowed Pakistan to sneak nerve-tingling 12-run win against India. However, his stock has fallen a long way since then, with Shoaib Malik, a better batsman than Saqlain, usurping the spinner's spot in the ODI line-up and Danish Kaneria becoming the frontline Test spinner. Saqlain did get an opportunity to have a go at the Indians again in the 2003-04 series, but unflattering figures of 1 for 204 at Multan meant that he was quickly consigned to the scrap heap. He was unable to force his way back ahead of Danish Kaneria and he was blighted by injury after a prolific time with Surrey. However, his career was given a lifeline in 2007 when he joined Mushtaq Ahmed at Sussex and there was even talk of him qualifying for England. That could remain a distant dream, after signing a contract with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. Indeed, his ICL contract forced Surrey to severe ties with him after the 2008 season, ending his 11-year relationship with The Oval.

Records and achievements


  • He has taken 13 Test five-wicket hauls with 3 Test tenfers. In ODI, he took seven five-wicket hauls.
  • Saqlain was selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2000
  • A statistical analysis conducted by Wisden in 2003 revealed Saqlain as the all-time greatest ODI spinner, and the sixth-greatest ODI bowler
  • Was the fastest to reach the milestones of 100, 150, 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs.
  • He was the first of only two spinners to have taken a hat-trick in an ODI (the other being Abdur Razzak), and the second of only four bowlers to have taken two ODI hat-tricks (Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga being the others), the second of which was only the second hat-trick in a World Cup match.
  • He holds the record for the most wickets in a calendar year in ODIs-69 wickets in 1997. He is also second in this elite list with 65 wickets in 1996.
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Saqlain Mushtaq Cricket Academy

The Saqlain Mushtaq Cricket Academy aims to get children and young adults active, healthy and involved in the wonderful world of cricket.The objective of the academy is to provide international coaching at the grassroots level which in turn will produce match winning cricketers at club, county and district levels.