A DEEP DIVE INTO THE CRICKETING CAREER OF JAVED MIANDAD

Pakistan, the land famous for producing some of the best pacers in the international cricket space, took the entire cricket fraternity by storm after introducing Javed Miandad to the national squad for international cricket tournaments. Miandad was one of the most dependable players in Pakistan’s batting lineup during the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. The player did not seem intimidating with his stature, fluffy hair, and iconic mustache, but destroyed every single bowler of his generation with his extraordinary batting prowess. Apart from holding multiple records in all the major formats of the game, Miandad has also been a hot topic of discussion because of his controversies and upfront nature off-field. That said, let’s take a look at the cricketer’s journey from being a typical Karachi-born boy to becoming one of the most celebrated players in international cricket. Follow us for more such cricket stories, cricket betting tips from the best tipsters for free, international fixtures, match highlights, expert match analysis, and the latest updates on world cricket news.

Early Life and Background

The Karachi-born cricketer, Javed Miandad, who went on to become one of the most dependable batters for his country and helped Pakistan win multiple tournaments internationally, was born on 12th June 1957. While the entire world was adapting to Pakistan’s incredible collection of pacers, Miandad’s international debut came as a shock to many, as the player possessed exceptional batting caliber and was a sight to witness on the pitch. Hailing from a family of cricketers, Miandad’s love affair with the sport started pretty early in his life. Miandad, along with his three brothers, did not leave a single chance to play cricket as kids and were pretty popular among the domestic cricket fraternity for their skills.

Miandad started his domestic cricket journey representing the Karachi Whites during the 1973-74 first-class cricket tournament. The batting caliber that Miandad displayed on the ground while adorning Karachi Whites’ jersey was completely unexpected for a 16-year-old boy. He played excellently in his debut year, which forced the domestic cricket fraternity to sign Miandad for the next season. He scored over 20,000 first-class runs from his 402 appearances from the 1973-74 season to the 1993-94 season. Two years after his debut in first-class cricket for the Karachi Whites, Miandad made his List-A debut and played exceptionally well in his debut season. From his 439 List-A appearances, he was just 27 runs behind crossing the 13,000-run mark. His domestic figures represent just a fraction of the kind of powerhouse Miandad was on the ground. He managed to score over 900 runs from his 12 domestic campaigns in the 1974-75 season, which forced the selectors and cricketing fraternity to include him in Pakistan’s national squad for international cricket.

International cricket career

Miandad’s first-ever international appearance came during the 1975 Prudential World Cup, wherein the cricket gave a decent performance by scoring 24 off 32 with a strike rate of 75 against the Caribbean country. His performance during the 12th match of the Prudential World Cup against Sri Lanka was also decent, as the player managed to score 28 off 35 at a strike rate of 80, which helped Pakistan stretch the final run-chase to 330 from their 60 overs. The year 1976 wasn’t very gracious for Miandad, as he could participate in only one of Pakistan’s One-Day campaigns against New Zealand, but he came back stronger than ever in the following year. Although Pakistan failed to outperform the Englishmen during the 1977 England tour of Pakistan, Miandad was successful in scoring his first-ever ODI half-century by smashing an unbeaten 77 off 109 at a strike rate of over 70. 

The 1982 India tour of Pakistan witnessed Miandad in excellent form, as the player displayed his ability to stick to the pitch and play big innings. Pakistan started the ODI series on a bang by winning the first match of the series by 14 runs, which wouldn’t have been possible without Miandad’s century, an unbeaten 106 off 106, in the first innings. Just when everyone regarded Miandad’s century as luck after his underwhelming performance in the next match against India, he scored another century, an unbeaten 119 off 77 at a strike rate of over 154, and become the player of the match. Another memorable performance from Miandad came during the 1992 Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan, wherein the Karachi-born player smashed an unbeaten 115 off 103 at a strike rate of over 111, which helped Pakistan build the massive run-chase of 241 from their 40 overs and mark their victory by 49 runs.

Among all the other countries, most of Miandad’s centuries and double-centuries came against New Zealand and Australia. As per his Test figures, Miandad has registered two double-centuries and five centuries against New Zealand.

His Test debut against New Zealand came a year after his ODI debut in the 1975 Prudential World Cup, wherein the cricketer proved why he deserved to be in Pakistan’s batting lineup by smashing 163 runs in his debut in the longest format of the game. The last two matches of the 1976 Test series against New Zealand witnessed Miandad in a lethal form, as the player smashed a double century (206) in the fifth and a half-century (85) in the last match of the ODI series. His career-best Test performance came during the fourth match of the 1983 Test series against India, wherein the player smashed an unbeaten 280 off 460 at a respectable strike rate of 60.86, which helped Pakistan witness their iconic win against India by an innings and 119 runs. Overall the former batting maestro from Pakistan has six double-centuries and 17 centuries in the longest format of the game.

We hope this article helped you gain some insights into the life, history, career, and international accomplishments of Pakistan’s cricketing legend, Javed Miandad. Keep scrolling to explore more such legendary stories, cricket betting tips, IPL highlights, and the latest news on national and international fixtures.