Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Sami is one of the most enigmatic players to have emerged from Pakistan. Another product from Pakistan's conveyor belt of quicks, Sami sets the speed gun on fire, clocking speeds north of 145kph on a consistent basis. The Karachi born pacer is a sound exponent of the yorker as well. However, he lacks accuracy and direction, serving batsmen up with 'hit-me looseners'. If the Pakistanis were Greeks they would have already scripted a tragedy on Sami.

He opened his Test career on a positive note, taking a match haul of 8 wickets (including 5-36 in the second innings) in his debut Test against New Zealand at Auckland in 2000-2001. Two Tests later, he bagged a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship final. Later in 2002, he picked up his second hat-trick, this time in an ODI against West Indies, earning the distinction of only the second Pakistan bowler after Wasim Akram to claim a hat-trick in both Tests and ODIs.

Looking through the other end of the spectrum, Sami also holds the notoriety of bowling a 17-ball over (7 wides and 4 no-balls) - a sequence which took Bangladesh from 6-1 to 30-1 in the 2004 Asia Cup. It was this Jekyll-Hyde temperament, which prevented Sami from fulfilling his potential.

Spraying the ball all around the shop meant that he was axed from the team for the tour to Sri Lanka in 2006 but he earned a lifeline when he was included for the English sojourn the same year (in the aftermath of injuries to front-line pacers) but the comeback did not amount to much as Sami had failed to rectify the chinks in his armour.

He then enrolled himself into the Indian Cricket League, a move that all but ended his international career. Upon snapping ties with the unsanctioned league, he was called back into the Pakistan side in 2009-2010 for the tour of Australia as a surprise inclusion. He had a forgettable Test series and wasn't picked in the ODIs that followed. He hasn't been picked for a Test match since the 2012 encounter against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

Constant injuries didn't help Sami's cause and he decided to dedicate himself more into limited-overs cricket. After a hiatus, he was picked for the historic home series against Zimbabwe which saw international cricket returning to the country after a gap of six years. Sami had a fairly decent outing in the ODIs as well as T20Is.

His comeback was made on the basis of strong domestic performances in the same year and he continued to impress in the following months which led him to a call up for the 2016 World T20. He had a good tournament barring the virtual knockout game against Australia where he got the stick badly. Pakistan exited the tournament with that loss and Sami wasn't picked thereafter. His express pace still remains and being a seasoned campaigner, Sami also plies his trade in franchise T20 tournaments like the PSL and BPL.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan