Ijaz Ahmed

Ijaz Ahmed (Urdu: ) (born 20 September 1968) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played 60 Test matches and 250 One Day Internationals for Pakistan from 1986 to 2001.

Born at Sialkot, his family roots lie in the city of Jalandhar, in what is now Indian Punjab, where some of his cousins still live.

He is a brother-in-law of former Pakistan international cricketer and captain Saleem Malik.

Ahmed scored six Test centuries against the world's top-ranked side, Australia – a record number of centuries by a Pakistani against Australia, shared with Javed Miandad.

However, 33 of his 92 innings yielded single-figure scores, 54 of them yielded scores below 20.

Ijaz Ahmed came into the national side at the height of the Imran Khan era, and remained on the fringes for nearly a decade, despite several good scores.

This was the first time for a batsman to return from the pavilion to the crease since 1987.

He scored his first Test century against Australia at Faisalabad in September 1988, scoring 122.

Dropped after the 1992 World Cup, he came back strongly the following season and established himself at the pivotal "one down" position.

At Lahore, in 1997, Ahmed collapsed the Indian bowling attack by making a quick century off just 68 balls including 9 sixes, remaining not out for 139*; his highest ODI score.

In Test cricket, Ahmed scored 12 Test centuries, including his first and only double century against Sri Lanka, when he scored 211.

Ahmed is the top scorer for Pakistan side against South Africa.

On 21 April 1997, in a Test match against Sri Lanka, Ahmed was at the crease on 97, when a run-out attempt brought ambiguity in the decision.

However, replays declared Salim Malik as dismissed, and Ahmad was called back to the crease.

His highest ODI score of 139 not out came against India in 1997 at Lahore.

He performed poorly at the 1999 World Cup, and the arrival of Younis Khan brought an end to his international career.

He scored his final Test century, also against Australia at the Perth on in November 1999, scoring 115.

His highest Test score is 211, scored against Sri Lanka at Dhaka in 1999.

He scored his first ODI century against Bangladesh at Chittagong, scoring 124 not out.

He scored his final ODI century against England at Sharjah in 1999, scoring 137.

He formally retired from cricket in 2003.

Ahmed's 250 matches is the seventh-highest of all time in Pakistan, behind Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram, Saleem Malik, Younis Khan, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik.

A powerful hitter of the ball, Ahmed became the second Pakistani batsman to score 10 ODI centuries.

In 2009, he was jailed for fake issuance of bank cheques.

He was remanded for six weeks in jail and later received a bail.

In 2012, a local court charged him with forgery.

Ahmed was appointed as the coach of Pakistan's Under-19 cricket team on 20 October 2019.

He is also currently appointed as the batting coach and consultant for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.

Ijaz Ahmed made 22 centuries in international cricket – 12 in Test cricket and 10 in One Day Internationals.