Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla is a South African cricketer and opens for the country in the ODIs. He is well known for his batting. The right handed batsman and a right arm off break bowler has been a former captain of the team in ODIs and have also led the team in test cricket from June 2014 to January 2016. He is also the fastest cricketer to reach 2000, 3000, 4000 runs and the fastest to score 20 ODI centuries. He is the first South African to score a triple century in a test match and the fourth person in the world who has been able to score a century against every test playing country in the world.

Amla was born in a Muslim family on 31st March 1983 in Durban, South Africa. His family can trace back its roots to Surat region of Gujarat in India. He completed his schooling from the Durban High School. Hashim Amla was interested in cricket since childhood and he entered the world of cricket after he started playing his domestic career with the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins and after his brilliant performances, was selected as the Under 19 captain for the 2002 World Cup. His spectacular performance in the tournament helped South Africa to reach the number 2 position in the tournament. Due to his brilliant career as a batsman and as captain, he was appointed as the captain of the Dolphins at the age of 21. His skill was spotted by Coach Hyton Ackerman who went on to play a vital role in shaping Amla's batting career. After becoming the Dolphins' Captain, Amla scored four centuries in the 2004-05 domestic season and was then added in the South African A Squad and at the age of 21, was chosen for the 2004 Tour of India. He became the first South African of Indian descent to represent South Africa in International Cricket. He made his test debut on 28th November 2004 in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens against India but he didn't make any mark in the tournament with 24 runs in first innings and 2 in the second. He was criticized for his score of 36 runs against England in the entire series when South Africa toured England later. His performance remained insignificant till 2006 when he made a comeback after scoring 149 against New Zealand at Cape Town and set in motion an excellent spell. In the next 19 test, Amla scored 1599 runs at an average of 57.10 and created an impact in the South African Cricket team and confirmed his spot in the team. He was considered as the permanent player at the number 3 spot and he once again proved his importance and scored an unbeaten 159 against India in 2008 and in the calendar year of 2008 he scored a total of 1012 runs. His ODI debut was against Bangladesh on 9th March 2008 and he made his T20 debut on 13th January 2009 against Australia. Amla was in a marvelous form since 2010 and in February 2010, he scored 253 (not out) in the first test against India and helped his team to win the test by an inning and six runs. In the second match he scored 114 in the first inning and another century with an unbeaten 123 in the second innings of the match. Later in the 5 ODI Series against West Indies, Amla scored 102 in the first match followed by 92, 30,129 and 45 in the series. Later in a five match ODI against Pakistan, he scored a half century in the second ODI and later scored 119 runs. In 2012 playing against England, he created history and became the first South African cricketer to hit a triple century and scored 311(not out), helping his team defeat England by an inning and 12 runs. He was declared as the Man of the Match for his performance. In the third test match, Amla scored another century in the second innings and once again proved to be one of the crucial performers for South Africa's victory and was declared as Man of the Series for his performance in the series. In the ODI that followed, he made his best 150 runs from 124 balls. His form continued in the Australian Tour of 2012 where he scored 104 runs in the first match and shared a 165 run partnership with Jacques Kallis for the 3rd wicket. In the third test, he scored 196 runs in second innings and helped South Africa win the match. Amla was also asked to lead the team in 2013 but he denied to do so and said that he wanted to concentrate only on his batting. However, in June 2014 after the retirement of Graeme Smith, Amla became the captain of the test cricket and became the first non-white captain. The team under his captaincy played against Sri Lanka and made a historic victory. His performance continued in 2015 and he won the Man of the Match for his century against New Zealand. In 2016, Amla stepped down as captain after his poor form and the poor performance of the team against India in November 2015.

Amla is married to Sumaiyah Amla. He is known to be very religious and has earned a reputation for his beliefs. His brother Ahmed Amla is also a cricketer and he has made his debut before Amla. He also holds the record of reaching the fastest 2000 and 3000 runs and has a top average scoring in ODI with an average of 54.5. He was in controversy after former Australian cricketer and commentator Dean Jones called him a terrorist during a test match in 2006 for which Jones received heavy criticism. He then apologized to Amla and Amla accepted his apologies.

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