Faisal Iqbal (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: فیصل اقبال; born 30 December 1981) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for

Pakistani national cricket team The Pakistan men's national cricket team represents Pakistan in international cricket. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Counc ...

in Tests and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s. Previously, he has played as for Karachi Region,

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier of Pakistan. With its primary hub at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the airline also operates from its secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport ...

(PIA),

Pakistan National Shipping Corporation The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is a Pakistani national flag carrier headquartered in Karachi. The corporation is principally engaged in the business of shipping, including charter of vessels, transportation of cargo and prov ...

, Sindh Dolphins and Pakistan A in First class, List A and T20s. He is now a coach and also appears as an expert cricket analyse on different TV channels.

Early life and family

Iqbal is the nephew of

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (; ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him ...

. His wife is a South African national.

Cricket career

Domestic career

Iqbal was part of the PIA team which reached the finals of

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...

Division One held at Karachi in January 2011. In the two innings he scored 0 (6) and 15 (26). He was the leading run-scorer for

Karachi Whites Karachi is the capital city of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the largest city in Pakistan and 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea ...

in the

2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was the 60th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class cricket competition. It was contested by 16 teams representing eight regional associations and eight departments, and took place ...

, with 413 runs in seven matches.

International career

Iqbal's first ODI was against Sri Lanka, a game in which the whole Pakistani batting line-up capitulated. He showed that he preferred to take his time to get settled in the middle of the pitch. Because of that, the selectors chose to give him his first Test match start soon after. He started his International test career during Pakistan's tour of New Zealand where he played multiple strong innings in which he displayed his range of strokes and the ability to play off some hostile bowling. Iqbal was a prolific junior-level scorer. He played two Tests in South Africa in 2002–03 but was dropped after not performing well. Upon returning to Test cricket after a two-year hiatus, he scored his maiden Test century against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to help Pakistan win the 2005–06 Test series in the final Test in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. He proved his doubters wrong by playing some solid innings especially an impressive innings against Australia which turned out to be in vain as it did not prevent a loss. He continued on for a few more tours but was ultimately dropped due to a lean period where he did not contribute significantly with the bat. He continued to play domestic cricket though and was recalled to the side after injuries hit some of the other players. He was never cut out to be an ODI player, never crossing 150 runs in a calendar year. He played his last ODI against the West Indies in 2006. His test career however, is a different story. Since he made his debut in 2001, he played every year until 2010 with 2006 being the most fruitful in terms of runs scored. He made over 300 runs in 12 innings, but the team failed to win more than 2 matches(4 innings). Since then he has been in and out of the side, playing the odd match or two. He played his last game in 2010 in a losing effort against the Australians. He made a Test comeback in 2012 to 2013 with extraordinary first class season with 5 first class and 1 List A century, but could not able to get into playing X1 after doing 12th man duties on Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe tours and later dropped without playing from Test squad and Central contract.

Coaching career

Since his retirement, and after doing coaching courses from England, he has become a coach, for example serving as batting coach and consultant to the

Karachi Kings Karachi Kings (; ) is a Pakistani professional franchise Twenty20 cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, and was formed in 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Boar ...

in previous seasons of the

PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

. As of 2020, he was the head coach of the Balochistan team. In 2022, he was appointed head coach to the Northern Warriors squad for the sixth season of the

Abu Dhabi T10 The Abu Dhabi T10 also known as T10 League, is a T10 cricket league in the United Arab Emirates launched and owned by T Ten Sports Management. The league is approved by the Emirates Cricket Board. The matches are 10-overs-a-side and the dur ...

References

External links

*
Faisal Iqbal Cricketer Official Website

Scorecard , Zimbabwe v Pakistan - One Day International Series First Match - 30-11-2002 00:00 , Cricket365 , Cricket NewsScorecard , Pakistan v India - Test Series First Test - 29-01-2006 00:00 , Cricket365 , Cricket News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Faisal 1981 births Living people Cricketers from Karachi Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Karachi cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Pakistani cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Sindh cricketers Muhajir people Karachi Urban cricketers Pakistan National Shipping Corporation cricketers Karachi Dolphins cricketers Karachi Zebras cricketers Sylhet Division cricketers Sylhet Strikers cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Pakistani cricket coaches St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni