Pakistan has a rich history in sports and has produced a number of great athletes and icons over the years. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary, let’s take a look at the top five athletes, who made the nation proud.
Jahangir Khan
Without a doubt, he is the greatest player in the history of squash and iconic personality. He won the sports’ top competition, the World Open, six times, and the British Open title 10 times (1982-1991), a feat that many only dream of achieving.
Jahangir became the youngest winner of the World Open at the age of 17 in 1981. He defeated Australia’s Geoff Hunt in the final.
He retired as a player in 1993. But by then, he had set a record for the most consecutive wins by any player in any sport – 555 wins, a record that still stands today.
Imran Khan
He is one of the most dominating captain and a legendary all-rounder in the history of cricket. He began his international cricket career at the tender age of 18, during the Test series against England in 1971. Later, he went on to lead Pakistan to its maiden ICC World Cup triumph in 1992.
Imran retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England in Melbourne, Australia. He played in 88 international Test matches, scoring 3,807 runs in 126 innings at an average of 37.69 runs per innings, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136. Imran scored 3,807 runs and took 362 wickets in Test cricket and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
After retiring from cricket, Imran became a politician. He founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and was elected as the country’s 22nd prime minister in August 2018.
Jansher Khan
He is also one of the all-time greats of the game, having won a record eight World Open titles, and the British Open title six times.
Jansher Khan, dubbed as “the fastest man in squash” was ranked number 1 in the world of squash in January 1988. He maintained that ranking until January 1998, (513 weeks) (118 months) (9.8 Years). His retirement in 2001 brought an end to nearly 50 years of domination of the sport of squash by Pakistan.
Sohail Abbas
Sohail Abbas is one of the most creative and iconic figures in international hockey. He was popular as the ‘King of the Drag Flick’, making him the ultimate penalty corner specialist. He became the first player in the history of the game to score 300 goals. His total tally was also simply world-class, scoring 348 goals in 311 appearances.
Abbas won a gold medal at each of the 1999 and 2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cups held in Kuala Lumpur. Sohail was also the top scorer in the 1999 competition, with 12 goals. With five goals, he was also the top scorer in the 2003 tournament. Pakistan beat Germany 1-0 in the final at the Azlan Shah Stadium, on March 30, 2003. He also went on to secure a gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Sohail himself scored a goal in the final, courtesy of a penalty corner.
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar aka “the Rawalpindi Express” is the fastest and the only bowler in the world who recorded bowling at 100 miles per hour, a feat he achieved twice in his career.
Many legends of yesteryears found themselves on the receiving end of Shoaib’s blistering spells. Be it greats such as Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting or be it, or Sourav Ganguly. You name them and Shoaib has given that batter a taste of his medicine.
