An attacking middle-order batsman with a characteristic high backlift and a helmet sans a visor, Saleem Malik had a penchant for lashing the ball square of the wicket on the off-side. He recast his technique in Tests, adding circumspection and caution to his game plan. After making his Test and ODI debuts in 1982, Malik carried on to establish himself as a regular in the team. He stacked up 5768 Test runs in addition to 7170 ODI runs. Malik also led Pakistan in 12 Tests, winning 7.

However, the match-fixing saga blotted his CV irretrievably as Malik became the first ever player to be slapped with a life ban for match-fixing in 2000 after three top Australian cricketers accused him of offering them bribes to under-perform.

Almost a decade later, a local court in Lahore overturned the ban and swiped aside all match-fixing allegations.

Interesting fact: At the age of 18 Malik hit a hundred on his Test debut, becoming the youngest batsman to do so.

By Deivarayan Muthu