Sohail Khan (born 6 March 1984), is a Pakistani cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he gained instant recognition during his debut first-class season in 2007 when he broke Fazal Mahmood's record for the best bowling figures by a Pakistani in a first-class match.
Published Date : 1/15/2015
By :PK Mart

Detail

Sohail Khan

Early and personal life:

Sohail was born and raised in Malakand Division in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He played tennis-ball cricket from a young age and bowled at a lively pace, something he says he owes to the muscle strength he built up from throwing stones and swimming in rivers and streams present in the mountainous environment. Realising his potential and on the advice of a friend, he moved to Karachi to play professional cricket.

Domestic career:

After playing some minor cricket in Karachi, Sohail entered a speed hunt talent contest held by former Pakistan bowler Sikander Bakht and attained top position, his speed of 85 mph was also the third fastest in the country. A stint at Millat Club, in Malir, was followed by a place in Sind Police's team. A few months later he was spotted by Dr. Shah, a renowned individual in Karachi's cricket fraternity, who convinced him to play for his team, A.O. Club. While playing for Shah's team, Sohail was spotted by former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif who offered him a place at his cricket academy, which he accepted. During his time at the academy he also played for Deewan group, before joining Sui Southern Gas Company's (SSGC) cricket team. He picked up 21 wickets in his initial matches for SSGC, and the team was promoted to first-class cricket shortly afterwards. Sohail made his first-class debut for SSGC against Pakistan Customs in the 2007/08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He impressed in his first innings with the ball, picking up a five wicket haul for only 59 runs off 25 overs, and followed up with another five wicket haul in the second innings for 75 runs off 23 overs, to finish with a ten wicket haul on debut. In SSGC's final game of the competition, Sohail broke Fazal Mahmood's long-standing record for the best bowling figures by a Pakistani in first-class cricket with a match haul of 16–189 off 52.5 overs against WAPDA at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi. He finished as the highest wicket-taker for the competition, with 65 wickets at an average of 18.43 including eight five wicket hauls and two ten wicket hauls. Playing for Sind in the 2007/08 Pentangular Cup, Sohail took four wickets in his team's opening match of the competition. He followed that performance up with consecutive five wicket hauls against Baluchistan and Federal Areas in the next two matches. Against Punjab he took six wickets, including Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal, helping Sind to victory in the tournament. Sohail was subsequently named bowler of the tournament, leading with 23 wickets at an average of 16.69, meaning he ended his debut first-class season with 91 wickets from 14 matches.

International career:

Sohail made his international debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in the fourth match of the five ODI series. He was expensive on the flat wicket, although managed to pick up one wicket, finishing with figures of 1/38 off 7 overs. He then played in the third and fourth ODIs against the visiting Bangladeshis in April 2008, going wicketless in the first and picking up three wickets in the second. He was selected to replace Mohammad Asif in the 16-man squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh in June 2008, which involved the hosts and India, after Asif was detained at Dubai International Airport. On 7 January 2015, Chief Selector of PCB, Moin Khan announced the Pakistan Cricket team world cup squad of 2015 in which Sohail Khan was the surprise selection. He had been out of international team since 2011 and got the selection due to strong domestic performance in 2014 season and the fact that he remained one of the quickest bowlers in the country.