{{Short description|Indian-born Pakistani cricketer (born 1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Rashid Israr | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|7|1|df=yes}} | birth_place = Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India | batting = Right-handed | bowling = {{ubl|Right-arm medium}} | role = Occasional Wicket-keeper | club1 = Pakistan International Airlines B | year1 = 1971/72 | club2 = Public Works Department | year2 = {{nowrap|1972/73–1974/75}} | club3 = Sind, incl. Sind A and Sind B | year3 = {{nowrap|1973/74–1975/76}} | club4 = Pakistan Universities | year4 = 1973/74 | club5 = Karachi Whites | year5 = 1974/75 | club6 = Habib Bank Limited | year6 = {{nowrap|1975/76–1977/78}} | club7 = Pakistan International Airlines | year7 = {{nowrap|1978/79–1986/87}} | columns = 2 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 91 | runs1 = 4,905 | bat avg1 = 39.87 | 100s/50s1 = 11/20 | top score1 = 350 | deliveries1 = 84 | wickets1 = 1 | bowl avg1 = 48.00 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 1/9 | catches/stumpings1 = 81/8 | column2 = List A | matches2 = 21 | runs2 = 152 | bat avg2 = 15.20 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 29 | deliveries2 = 252 | wickets2 = 6 | bowl avg2 = 29.50 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 2/28 | catches/stumpings2 = 13/1 | date = 23 February | year = 2025 | source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/43189.html CricketArchive }} '''Rashid Israr''' (born 1 July 1953) is an Indian-born Pakistani retired cricketer. He played for 16 seasons in domestic cricket, between 1971 and 1987, as a specialist batter who often kept wicket. Israr scored eleven centuries during his career and has one of the highest scores recorded in a first-class match in Pakistan.
==Early career== Born in Sitapur in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on 1 July 1953,<ref>{{cite web|title=Rashid Israr Profile|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/rashid-israr-42539|website=ESPNcricinfo|publisher=ESPN Inc.|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> Israr was the younger brother of Shahid Israr, who played a single Test match for Pakistan in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ex-Test wicket-keeper Shahid Israr passes away|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/794794/ex-test-wicket-keeper-shahid-israr-passes-away|date=30 April 2013|website=Dawn|publisher=Dawn Media Group|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> Israr made his debut in Pakistani cricket during the 1971/72 BCCP Trophy as part of a B squad for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) departmental team.<ref name="CAM">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=First-Class Matches played by Rashid Israr|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/First-Class_Matches.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> In the match, he scored 34 and 19 in his two innings of batting.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Karachi Whites v Pakistan International Airlines B in 1971/72|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32209.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> He moved on to the Public Works Department (PWD) side for the 1972/73 event, which was renamed the BCCP Patron's Trophy by this time, and, in three matches, scored three half-centuries in four innings at the crease.<ref name="CAM"/><ref name="CABt">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Rashid Israr|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/f_Batting_by_Season.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>
During the mid-1970s, Israr represented multiple teams simultaneously, often depending on the competition he was playing in. While representing PWD again in the 1973/74 Patron's Trophy, he also represented Sind{{efn|Sind was the English spelling for what is now the Sindh province at the time Rashid played for them.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sindh, not Sind|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/506227/sind-not-sindh|publisher=The Express Tribune|date=12 February 2013|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>}} in the newly-formed Pentangular Trophy;<ref name="CAM"/> in the former, he made his first career century, taking around nine and a half hours to score an unbeaten 211 against Hyderabad.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Hyderabad v Public Works Department in 1973/74|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/33/33850.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> Overall, he finished the year with a batting average of 61.71 in five total matches.<ref name="CABt"/> The following season, he represented three different teams in four different competitions: PWD in the Patron's Trophy, Sind in the Pentangular Trophy and the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy,{{efn|In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Rashid's team was known as Sind A, as a Sind B side also appeared in the event.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 1974/75|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/3/Quaid-e-Azam_Trophy_1974-75.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>}} and a Karachi Whites team in the final of the Kardar Summer Shield,<ref name="CAM"/> a short-lived event where only the final was considered a first-class match.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Kardar Summer Shield 1974/75|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/8/Kardar_Summer_Shield_1974-75.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> Between all four competitions, he scored 663 runs in 11 matches at an average of 39.00.<ref name="CABt"/>
==Middle career== Israr appeared in eight different competitions in Pakistan during the 1975/76 season, five with first-class status and three with List A status,<ref name="CAM"/><ref name="CAMA">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=List A Matches played by Rashid Israr|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/List_A_Matches.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>{{efn|Among first-class competitions, Rashid appeared in the Sikandar Ali Bhutto Cup, Patron's Trophy, and Abdul Sattar Pirzada Memorial Trophy with HBL, the Pentangular Trophy with Sind, and the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with Sind's B side.<ref name="CAM"/> In all three List A competitions on offer that year, the Servis Cup, Habib Bank Gold Cup, and United Bank Trophy, Rashid appeared with HBL.<ref name="CAMA"/>}} which he split between two teams representing Sind and the Habib Bank Limited cricket team (HBL). His overall numbers in first-class matches fell to 417 runs in a season, with his batting average falling nearly seven points to 32.07.<ref name="CABt"/> In seven List A matches, he only managed a high of 29 runs in an innings, with 67 runs total.<ref name="CABtA">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=List A Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Rashid Israr|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/a_Batting_by_Season.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>
In the 1976/77 campaign, Israr spent the full domestic season with HBL.<ref name="CAM"/><ref name="CAMA"/> He would set a personal best that year with 911 runs in 10 matches,<ref name="CABt"/> a total that ranked third among all domestic cricketers in Pakistan behind Javed Miandad and Mohsin Khan; both were teammates of Israr's at HBL at times during the year.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=First-class Batting and Fielding in Pakistan for 1976/77|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/PAK/1976-77_f_Batting_by_Runs.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> In helping the team win the Patron's Trophy against the National Bank of Pakistan cricket team, he scored 350 in an innings during the final.<ref name="350Inn">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Habib Bank Limited v National Bank of Pakistan in 1976/77|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/36/36868.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> He stayed at the crease for roughly twelve and a half hours of match time to score his total before being dismissed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Longest Individual First Class Innings|url=https://i.imgci.com/link_to_database/STATS/FC/BATTING/BAT_LONGEST_INDIV_INNS.html|date=c. 2001|website=ESPNcricinfo|publisher=ESPN Inc.|accessdate=23 February 2025}}</ref> At the time, Israr's 350 was the third-highest score in Pakistan's domestic cricket history, behind only the then-world record of 499 by Hanif Mohammad in 1959{{efn|Hanif's 499 was later passed by Brian Lara in his unbeaten 501 in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|title=First-Class Double-Hundreds by Score|url=https://stats.acscricket.com/Records/First_Class/Overall/Batting/Double_Hundreds_by_Score.html|website=The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>}} and a score of 428 by Aftab Baloch in 1974.<ref name="Pak300">{{cite web|title=First-Class Double-Hundreds in Pakistan by Score|url=https://stats.acscricket.com/Records/First_Class/Overall/Batting/Double_Hundreds_in_Pakistan_by_Score.html|website=The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>{{efn|As of 2025, it is the fourth highest score on Pakistani soil; Naved Latif would later score 394 in a 2000 match.<ref name="Pak300"/>}} Coincidentally, Aftab was responsible for dismissing Israr by stumping him to end his innings.<ref name="350Inn"/> Israr's 1977/78 season was his final one with HBL.<ref name="CAT">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Teams Rashid Israr played for|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/all_teams.html|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> While appearing in two more matches than the previous campaign, he managed over 300 fewer runs, though his batting average remained above his career numbers.<ref name="CABt" /><ref name="CA">{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Rashid Israr|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/43/43189/43189.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>
==Late career== For the 1978/79 season, Israr rejoined PIA's cricket team.<ref name="CAT"/> In his first Quaid-e-Azam match for the side, he scored his third and final double-century against Punjab,<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Punjab v Pakistan International Airlines in 1978/79|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/38/38701.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=First-Class Double-Hundreds in Pakistan by Date|url=https://stats.acscricket.com/Records/First_Class/Overall/Batting/Double_Hundreds_in_Pakistan_by_Date.html|website=The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> en route to a 648-run season that saw him record his highest batting average, 72.00, over a full season.<ref name="CABt"/> The season also included his final century, an unbeaten 174, during a Patron's Trophy match against Multan that was conceded to PIA before the innings could finish.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Multan v Pakistan International Airlines in 1978/79|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/38/38932.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref><ref name="CABt" />
His runs and appearances would decline sharply over the rest of his tenure with PIA, starting with a 1979/80 season that was limited to four matches and featured his lowest season batting average at the time.<ref name="CABt"/> Seven matches and over 350 runs followed the next year, though an improved 35.80 average was still below average for his career.<ref name="CABt"/><ref name="CA"/> From 1981 to 1985, he would fail to reach 200 runs in a season.<ref name="CABt"/> Despite this, he appeared in his only match outside of Pakistan during 1981/82, when PIA toured Zimbabwe to play first-class and List A matches against their cricket team;<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Pakistan International Airlines in Zimbabwe 1981/82|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/3/Pakistan_International_Airlines_in_Zimbabwe_1981-82.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> his lone first-class match saw him total eight runs, two more than he would score in his two one-day matches combined.<ref name="CABtA"/><ref name="CABt" />
After not appearing in a match during the 1985/86 year, he reappeared for PIA at the end of the following season in 1987, when he was chosen for their PACO Cup{{efn|The PACO Cup was the sponsored name of the Patron's Trophy when the Pakistan Automobile Corporation had naming rights for it in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|title=A brief history ...|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/a-brief-history-261448|website=ESPNcricinfo|date=5 October 2006|author=Balachandran, Kanishkaa|publisher=ESPN Inc.|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>}} final match against United Bank Limited. In the match, ultimately a win for PIA, he managed 20 runs in the two innings combined.<ref>{{cite web|url-access=subscription|title=Pakistan International Airlines v United Bank Limited in 1986/87|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/48/48428.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> Overall, his career ended with 4,905 first-class runs, in addition to 152 in List A matches.<ref name="CA"/>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Israr, Rashid}} Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:Pakistani cricketers Category:Pakistan International Airlines B cricketers Category:Public Works Department cricketers Category:Sindh cricketers Category:Pakistan Universities cricketers Category:Karachi Whites cricketers Category:Sind A cricketers Category:Habib Bank Limited cricketers Category:Sind B cricketers Category:Pakistan International Airlines cricketers