Saeed Anwar Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Saeed Anwar

• Saeen Anwar is a former Pakistani cricketer who is regarded as one of the most stylish left-handed openers ever. His shot-striking abilities, placement, and timing are acclaimed by cricket lovers. He also became captain of Pakistan for a short duration of time. After his retirement, he became an Islamic preacher and is an active member of Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan.

• He, along with his family, moved to Iran and later to Saudi Arabia at the age of five.

• He returned back to Karachi, Pakistan to live with his grandparents at the age of nine.
  

  An old photo of Saeed Anwar (in a brown suit)

• He played squash and table tennis during childhood and idolised the legendary Pakistani squash players Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.

• He later joined Malir Gymkhana Club as a spin bowler where he practised batting as well with his friend Rashid Latif, who bowled to him and later became a renowned wicketkeeper-batsman for Pakistan.
  

  An old photo of Saeed Anwar (right)

• He performed well in Pakistan’s domestic circuit following which he was selected for the Pakistan A team.

• After completing his graduation in 1989, he decided to pursue his master’s; however, he got selected for Pakistan national team following which he dropped the idea of studying further. ^[4]MensXP

• In his debut test match on 23 November 1990 against West Indies at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Pakistan, he got out for a pair (bowled on zero in both innings of a debut match) following which he was dropped from the team for four years.

• He scored his first ODI century in his 12th match with 126 runs off 99 balls against Sri Lanka in the 1989-1990 Benson & Hedges World Series played in Australia.

• He emerged as the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1992-1993 Wills trophy played between Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka with 191 runs in 3 ODI matches including 110 runs in the final match against Sri Lanka to help his team win the trophy. He put on a partnership of 204 runs with Ramiz Raja, which was the highest opening partnership for Pakistan at that time. He also won the Man of the Match award for his wonderful performance.

• He emerged as the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1993-1994 Pepsi Champions Trophy played between Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and West Indies with 387 runs in 5 ODI matches including 3 centuries.

• He was the second-highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1994 test series against New Zealand with 261 runs in 3 matches including 169 runs in the first innings of the second test which was the highest score by a batsman for both teams in the series.
  

  Saeed Anwar playing in a test match

• He emerged as the highest runscorer in the 1994 test series against Sri Lanka with 261 runs in 2 matches including 94 and 136 runs in the first and second innings of the first match respectively. His score of 136 was the highest score by any batsman in the series.

• He scored 202 runs in 6 ODI matches in the 1994-1995 Wills Triangular Series played between Pakistan, Australia, and South Africa with the highest score of 104 runs not out in a match against Australia.

• He was the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1995-1996 Wills World Cup with 329 runs in 6 ODI matches at an average of 82.25.

• He was the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1996 test series against England with 362 runs in 3 matches including 176 runs in the first innings of the third test which was the highest score by a batsman for both teams in the series.

• He emerged as the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1998 test series against Australia with 290 runs in 2 matches with a century in each match.

• He emerged as the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1997-1998 Silver Jubilee Independence Cup played between Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh with 315 runs in 5 ODI matches including 194 runs against India, which was the highest individual ODI score at that time.
  

  Saeed Anwar during his highest ODI innings of 194 against India

• He scored 290 runs in 3 test matches in the 1999 Asian Championship against India and Sri Lanka including his highest score of 188 runs not out in the second innings of the first match against India. He carried the bat in the match (opened innings and remained not out throughout the complete innings).
  

  Saeed Anwar during his highest test innings of 188 runs not out against India

• He was the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup with 368 runs in 10 ODI matches including 113 runs against New Zealand in the semifinal. He got out for 15 runs in the final against Australia which Pakistan lost.

• He was one of the seven senior players including captain Moin Khan and vice-captain Wasim Akram who revolted against the then-head coach Javed Miandad in October 2000. ^[5]The Telegraph

• He suffered a knee injury in 1999 which he ignored and kept on playing; however, the injury aggravated, and he underwent knee surgery in 2000. He could not play for one year after the surgery. ^[6]Arab News

• He scored 156 runs in 3 ODI matches in the 1999-2000 Asia Cup including 82 runs in the final match against Sri Lanka to help Pakistan win the tournament.

• His average against India, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka in tests is above 50.

• He emerged as the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 2000-2001 ARY Gold Cup played between India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh with 329 runs in 5 ODI matches at an average of 89.65.

• He injured his hand in October 2001 and started playing after six weeks; however, the injury grew serious. He suffered a stress fracture in his left hand in December 2001 which took 3 months to heal. ^[7]Dawn

• His life took a surprise turn in September 2001 when his daughter, Bismah, died after a prolonged illness at the age of three and a half years. He was playing in a test match against Bangladesh at that time. He was joined at his daughter’s funeral held at Cavalary ground, Lahore, Pakistan by PCB officials and cricketers. He took a break of 8-9 months after her death.
  

  Saeed Anwar with his daughter Bismah who passed away in September 2001

• He became a committed follower of Islam after his daughter’s death. He started praying regularly, grew his beard, and became a member of Tablighi Jamaat.

• When he made his return to cricket, fans were surprised to see him in a long beard. He said in an interview that his beard had a spiritual effect on him. He said,
  

  Then in September 2001, Bisma died. For a father, a daughter is very special. Mine was so extraordinary. I was barely conscious for eight or nine months. People were very surprised to see me. But I was numb with pain because only recently, I had lost my daughter Bisma. I did not like anything. I felt very empty but I was surprised by people’s reaction. They came up to me and started asking me about the beard, about who I was. Also, I was respected more than ever before. Australian cricketers are famous for their rudeness and bad language. On a tour last June, the fast bowler Glenn McGrath collided with me. Normally he would hurl some abuse at me but instead he put his arms around my shoulders, and said, ‘It’s my fault, I’m sorry.’ The beard has had a strange spiritual effect on me which I cannot describe. When you wear a sweater it gives you warmth inside. Also, my beard has affected the people around me. They never utter a filthy word in my presence. So my five senses are protected from exposure to bad things.” ^[8]Arab News

  

  Saeed Anwar playing in a match after his return to cricket after his daughter’s death

• He was the highest runscorer for Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup with 218 runs in 5 ODI matches including 101 runs against India at an average of 54.50.

• He won 2 Man of the Match awards in tests and 27 Man of the Match awards in ODIs.

• He captained Pakistan in 7 tests and 11 ODIs. He said after giving up the captaincy that he could focus more on his batting as the burden of the captaincy was removed. He said,
  

  I enjoyed every bit of the captaincy, it was a great experience and I felt proud to have been selected to lead the country. However, it has to be stressed that it was a stop gap arrangement, and now that Wasim Akram, our real leader and one of the best all rounders in cricket today, has taken back the captaincy, I have no regrets. In fact, now that the pressure, the burden of captaincy has been removed, I can properly concentrate on my batting. As long as I get runs for my team, I am more than happy.” ^[9]Rediff

  

  Saeed Anwar introducing Queen Elizabeth II to the Pakistani team

• He suffered from an unknown stomach disease throughout his career.

• He was not happy when he took retirement from international and first-class cricket on 15 August 2003 and said that he had two more years of cricket left in him. He said,
  

  I am retiring on a high note but am disappointed. I could have played for two more years. I played for Pakistan with pride and want to be remembered as a good and decent player. I thought the selectors would give me a chance after the World Cup and I waited for two, three months but they decided otherwise.” ^[10]Dawn

• He made the record of the highest individual ODI score with 194 runs which he made against India on 21 May 1997 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India was broken 13 years later by the Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar on 24 February 2010 with a score of 200 runs not out against South Africa. Interestingly, Anwar was dismissed by Tendulkar when he was batting on 194.

• After his retirement, he became a preacher of Islam and tours different cities and countries to spread the religion.
  

  A photo of Saeed Anwar clicked during a preaching tour

• Former Pakistani captain Mohammad Yousuf aka Yousuf Yohana, who was a Christian, converted to Islam in 2005 and cited Saeed’s family environment as the factor behind adopting Islam. He said,
  

  Anwar became more religious after the death of his daughter. Seeing him also inspired me to accept Islam.” ^[11]CNN-News18

  

  Saeed Anwar (in the centre) with Wasim Akram (right) and Mohammad Yousuf (left)

• He was scheduled to board an aeroplane of Pakistan International Airlines en route from Chitral to Islamabad which crashed near Havelian in the Abbottabad district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; however, he changed his mind at the last moment and decided to stay back at Chitral.

A family member of Saeed Anwar has confirmed Saeed was due to return on the PIA flight that crashed but instead he stayed back in Chitral

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 7, 2016

• Saeed Anwar usually stays away from making any controversial comments; however, he openly denounced the BCCI’s decision to not send Indian players to Pakistan and said that PCB should also not send Pakistani players to India.

When all international teams and international cricketers come to Pakistan for @OfficialPSL, what is @BCCI's problem. If BCCI is willing to go to a neutral venue, then @TheRealPCB should also be willing to go to a neutral venue for the WC in India next year.#PAKvIND #Cricket

— Saeed Anwar (@ImSaeedAnwar) October 18, 2022

• His brother-in-law Asad Munir was kidnapped by unknown people from his home in Lahore on 20 January 2018. ^[12]Geo TV
  

  Saeed Anwar’s Brother-in-law Asad Munir