Mohammad Sami (; born 24 February 1981) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who played for the

Pakistan 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 ...

between 2001 and 2016.

Domestic career

Sami joined the

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a short-lived cricket league that ran from 2007 to 2009. It was sponsored by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, a media company. The ICL had two seasons, featuring four international teams and nine domestic teams ...

following the tour of India in December 2007. He played for the Lahore Badshahs, a team composed entirely of Pakistani cricketers, during the

's second Twenty20 tournament. His participation in the league meant that he, like many other Pakistan players, was banned from representing his country at both international level and domestic cricket in Pakistan. Sami was bought by

Islamabad United Islamabad United () is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, and was formed in 2015 to compete in the first ...

for US$50,000 in the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

. He finished the season as the 2nd highest wicket-taker for his team and 4th overall in the tournament with 12 wickets in 7 matches. He was retained by Islamabad United in 2017 season again finishing the season as 2nd highest wicket-taker for his team. He is the second leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in 16 matches. In 2013, Sami was retained by the BPL team,

Duronto Rajshahi Durbar Rajshahi () is a Bangladeshi franchise Twenty20 cricket team. The team is based in Rajshahi in Bangladesh and competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket competition. The team is currently owned by the V ...

to play as the main fast bowler, but cause of disagreements between PCB and BCB no Pakistani player (including Sami) was allowed to play in the BPL. This was a big loss for Duronto, because Sami was the highest wicket-taker last season. He was signed by Jamaica Tallawahs for the 2017 Caribbean Premier League. He was then picked by St Lucia Stars for the 2018 Caribbean Premier League. He was the leading wicket-taker 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 28 dismissals in five matches. In April 2018, he was named in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

's squad for the

2018 Pakistan Cup The 2018 Pakistan Cup was the third edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 25 April to 6 May 2018, with all the matches played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Feder ...

. In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the

Rajshahi Kings Durbar Rajshahi () is a Bangladeshi franchise Twenty20 cricket team. The team is based in Rajshahi in Bangladesh and competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket competition. The team is currently owned by the V ...

team, following the draft for the

2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League 2019, also known as BPL Season 6 or United Commercial Bank Ltd, UCB BPL 2019 Powered by TVS Motor Company, TVS (for sponsorship reasons), was the sixth season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the top level p ...

. In March 2019, he was named in

's squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

International career

Golden years

Sami, initially named as the modern

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

, made his Test cricket debut against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2001 by taking 8

wickets In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a ...

for 106 runs in the match, including five wickets in the second innings. During his third Test match he achieved a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and in 2002 he took his second hat-trick in his career, against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

during a One Day International match. This led to him becoming one of only a two bowlers in cricket (the other was

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, Coach (sport), coach, and former cricketer and captain (cricket), captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is regarded as one of the ...

) to achieve this mark in both forms of the game. He also displayed excellent performances against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and

in 2003. On 1 December 2003, he achieved his best bowling figures in One Day International cricket by taking 5 wickets for 10 runs during a match. Earlier in April during that year in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, he had taken 4 wickets for 25 runs against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

during the match. Sami played his 50th

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 ...

match 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 ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in Pakistan on 24 March 2004. He has also taken over 100 wickets in

First-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

and in

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the num ...

Loss of form

Sami also earned the ignominy of bowling the longest over in One Day International cricket during the Asia Cup match against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2004, when he bowled 17 balls in one over which consisted of seven

wide WIDE or Wide may refer to: * Wide (cricket), a type of illegal delivery to a batter *Wide and narrow data Wide and narrow (sometimes un-stacked and stacked, or wide and tall) are terms used to describe two different presentations for tabular data ...

s and four

no-ball In cricket, a no-ball (in the Laws and regulations: "No ball") is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal d ...

s. He is also the only bowler in

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

history to have over 50 wickets and a bowling average of 50. After losing form and failing to achieve success for the Pakistan cricket team, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

and its national selectors replaced Sami for the One Day International series against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

with fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif. However he was recalled for the series against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 2007. He was selected in the 15-man Pakistan squad for the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

, although he was named as one of five reserves. After teammates

Shoaib Akhtar Shoaib Akhtar (; born 13 August 1975) is a Pakistani former international cricketer and commentator. Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", he is the fastest bowler in cricketing history, with an unbeaten 161.3 kmph (100.23 mph) delivery. Akht ...

and Mohammad Asif were dropped from the World Cup squad, since neither of the two had been declared fit and they had not undergone official doping tests, Sami and

Yasir Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, President of the Stat ...

were called up as replacements.

Comeback

In 2009–2010, he was recalled back to the Pakistan team and on 3 January 2010, during Pakistan's Test match series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, he played at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

in Australia and took 3 wickets for 27 runs in the first

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

of the second Test match. On 19 April he was selected in the Pakistan squad as one of the replacements for the injured fast bowlers

Umar Gul Umar Gul (Urdu: , ) (born 15 October 1982) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who is the current bowling consultant of Peshawar Zalmi and interim bowling coach of the Pakistan national cricket team. Gul was a member of the Pakis ...

and

, in the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was wo ...

tournament held in the West Indies. Sami was recalled and played against South Africa in the middle east in November 2010. In May 2012 Sami received another recall and was announced in the squad that toured Sri Lanka in June 2012, because of his amazing performances in the Bangladesh premier league (which included a hat trick and a 5-wicket haul). He bowled brilliantly in the 2nd T20I. Following that, in the 1st ODI he bowled economically and with pace, which earned him a place in the 15-man squad to play the touring Australians and also the

2012 ICC World Twenty20 The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was the fourth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, an international Twenty20 International, Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place in Sri Lanka from 18 September to 7 O ...

. Sami was selected for these international tours, but didn't get to play an official game (he got to play two warm up matches), as Pakistan made it to the semi-finals, but lost to Sri-lanka. In May 2015, Sami was selected for the T20I side that is going to play Zimbabwe in

. This happened after impressive performances in the Faysal Bank T20I cup. Sami made comeback in the home series against Zimbabwe. In his comeback match, Mohammad Sami took three wickets for Pakistan. Sami has been included in Pakistan squad for the

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 International cricket tournament that was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edi ...

as a result of strong performances in the BPL, 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 ...

& the Asia Cup where he bowled accurately at more than 140 km/h on a consistent basis.

Bowling action

Sami has a quick arm action and he is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket and has the ability to swing the

cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork (material), cork core wound with String (structure), string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-clas ...

at high pace. He has unofficially bowled the fastest delivery in cricket when he clocked at 164 km/h (101.9 mph) during a One Day International match. However, it was revoked by cricket officials after it found faulty speed measurements on the speed meter. However, despite his speed, he has been in and out of the national side for several times. However he has received support from 2 former

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

captains

and

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI ( Punjabi, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowle ...

, who both saw Sami's speed and wicket taking ability as an important skill for the Pakistan team.

Coaching career

In September 2022, he was appointed bowling coach to the Mardan Warriors squad for the inaugural season of the Pakistan Junior League.

Cricket administration

In February 2023, he became a member of Haroon Rasheed's national selection committee.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sami, Mohammad 1981 births Living people Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Pakistan Test cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers One Day International hat-trick takers Karachi cricketers Kent cricketers Sussex cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England ICL Pakistan XI cricketers Lahore Badshahs cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Pakistan Customs cricketers Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Pakistani cricketers Cricketers from Karachi Port Qasim Authority cricketers Karachi Zebras cricketers Karachi Dolphins cricketers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricketers Sindh cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Islamabad United cricketers Fortune Barishal cricketers Rajshahi Royals cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Saint Lucia Kings cricketers Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistan cricket team selectors