Aamer Sohail: the aggressive left-handed opener

In the Pakistan team of the 1990s, there was an opener who came out intending to attack the bowler from the first ball. This was Aamer Sohail. According to ESPNcricinfo, he was a combative left-handed opener who played mostly off the back foot and whose real strength was inventing new shots². In one-day cricket he scored 4,780 runs in 156 matches, and in Test cricket 2,823 runs in 47 matches¹.

Early life and start of cricket career

Aamer Sohail, whose full name is Muhammad Aamer Sohail Ali, was born in Lahore on 14 September 1966. He batted left-handed and bowled left-arm slow orthodox spin. His first-class career began in 1983-84. During it he represented Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Allied Bank and Habib Bank, as well as the English county Somerset².

His ODI career began against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on 21 December 1990. An innings of 91 against India, also in Sharjah, in October 1991 showed his ability¹.

1992: the World Cup and Old Trafford

According to ESPNcricinfo, Aamer Sohail played a big part in Pakistan’s World Cup win in 1992². In the same tournament, on 27 February 1992 in Hobart, he scored 114 against Zimbabwe off 136 balls with 12 fours. It was his first ODI century. He then scored 62 against India in Sydney on 4 March and 76 against Australia in Perth (WACA) on 11 March¹.

His Test career began in the summer of the same year. After the first Test against England in Birmingham on 4 June 1992, he scored 73 at Lord’s. Then, on 2 July 1992 at Old Trafford, Manchester, in only his third Test, he scored 205 in an innings lasting 343 minutes, with 32 fours. According to ESPNcricinfo, it was his first Test century, and a big one³. It remained his highest Test score¹.

Highlights in Test cricket

Aamer Sohail’s batting had steadiness as well as aggression. On 1 November 1994 in Lahore, batting at number seven against Australia, he scored 105. On 9 November 1995 in Brisbane, he fell one run short of a century and was out for 99. His average in nine Tests against Australia was 45.11¹.

The home series against West Indies in 1997 was special for him. In consecutive Tests, in Rawalpindi on 29 November and immediately afterwards in Karachi on 6 December, he scored 160 and 160. On 22 October 1998 in Karachi, he scored 133 against Australia as captain. He led Pakistan in six Tests in 1998 and in 22 ODIs between 1996 and 1998. His last Test began against Sri Lanka in Peshawar on 5 March 2000¹.

The ODI opener

Aamer Sohail’s record in one-day cricket is richer. He scored 31 half-centuries and five centuries. His highest ODI score is 134 off 146 balls against New Zealand in Sharjah on 20 April 1994. His other centuries are 100 against Sri Lanka in Durban on 2 December 1994, 111 against South Africa in Karachi on 29 February 1996 and 105 against India in Sharjah on 12 April 1996¹.

In the 1996 World Cup quarter-final against India in Bangalore on 9 March 1996, he scored 55 off 46 balls with nine fours and a six, and was bowled¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, in that match he took on the bowler Venkatesh Prasad in front of the excited Bangalore crowd, but Prasad had the last word, dismissing him³.

According to ESPNcricinfo, he was also an effective left-arm spinner, though more of an ODI bowler than a Test one². He took 85 wickets in ODIs. His best bowling is 4 for 22 in eight overs against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on 12 October 1995; in the same match he also scored 85. His last ODI was against Sri Lanka in Lahore on 19 February 2000¹.

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Impact and legacy

In the 1990s Aamer Sohail gave Pakistan’s one-day batting a fast start. In the ODIs that Pakistan won, he scored 3,088 runs at an average of 41.72. In Test cricket his average was 49 against England and 58.28 against West Indies¹.

According to ESPNcricinfo, he liked to attack and played fearlessly². That fearlessness became his hallmark: from the Hobart century to the double century at Old Trafford, the determination of a fighter was evident in Aamer Sohail’s batting.