Saeed Anwar - International Career

International Career

An opening batsman capable of annihilating any bowling attack on his day, Anwar was an attacking batsman in ODI matches and once settled in Test matches, scored quickly and all over the field. His success came from good timing. Anwar became famous for his trademark flick. He was able to lift a ball that had pitched outside off stump for six over midwicket. Anwar's timing and ability to score quick runs made him a crowd favourite. In 1997, when he was as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden described him that he "moved his front foot and head well across, then his wrists hovered, hawk-like, over the advancing ball, extending further and further as if they were elastic if the ball was slanted ever more away from him, before the bat flowed into a square-drive to the boundary".

used an eclectic approach to batting – classical betrothed to unorthodox, footwork against spin as quick as a hiccup supple yet powerful to brush the field like a Picasso. — Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, 2010.

Anwar was the first Pakistani batsman to score a century against India on Indian soil in an ODI match. He has the highest Test batting average (59.06) of any Pakistani against Australia, and once scored two consecutive centuries against them. He scored a classic century against South Africa in Durban, which allowed Pakistan to win a Test match for the first time in South Africa.