Brief Profile: Rashid Latif

Pakistan News & Features Services

Rashid Latif, a former Pakistan cricket captain, is recognized as one of greatest wicket-keepers produced by the country. Besides being very safe behind the stumps he was also a handy batsman in the middle-order.

He has been a fearless person all along, on and off the field. He is known and also feared for calling a spade a spade. He has not been afraid in sharing his thoughts openly and his candid opinions have quite often shaken those in the corridors of power in the Pakistan cricket. 

He has also not hidden his feelings about the controversial issues, having been in forefront in speaking about match-fixing and other critical matters.

Born in Karachi on October 14, 1968, he made his first-class debut in only his 18th year and he started playing international cricket four years later. He scored a match-winning half century in his maiden Test against England at The Oval in the summer of 1992. 

He played 37 Test matches in which he scored 1,381 runs at an average of 28.77 with 150 being his highest score. He caught 119 batsmen and stumped 11 which took his aggregate of dismissals to 130.

He also appeared in 166 One-day Internationals, scoring 1,709 runs at an average of 17.42 with his strike rate being 76.39. He amassed three half-centuries with 79 being his highest. His total dismissals in the shorter format of the game were 220 comprising of 182 catches and 38 stumpings. 

He had announced his retirement from international cricket in dramatic circumstances during the course of Pakistan's 1994-95 tour of Zimbabwe but he was installed as captain upon his return. He was reappointed as the national captain in 2003 but his tenure didn’t last long. 

Following his retirement from first-class cricket in 2005, Rashid Latif has been engaged in coaching assignments. He has set up his own Rashid Latif Cricket Academy in Karachi, which has produced quite a few successful cricketers. 

***Rashid Latif has contributed foreword to Mohali Mystery