Farveez Maharoof

Maharoof got married on Saturday 18 July 2009 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankan and Pakistani cricketers attended the all-rounder's wedding.[2]

Born in Colombo, Farveez Maharoof began playing cricket around the age of eight. He also played football until he was twelve and touch rugby. Maharoof, who attended Wesley College in Colombo, began as a wicketkeeper-batsman and only began bowling regularly from under-13 cricket onwards. Five players were absent with the flu in one match and Maharoof was called upon to bowl. He took six wickets, including a hat-trick, and from then on concentrated on fast bowling.[3]

In December 2003 and January 2004, at the age of 19, Maharoof toured India with the Sri Lanka A team for a tri-series with India A and Pakistan A. He took nine wickets in the series at an average of 11.77, the best average of the tournament;[4] Maharoof was named Man of the Match in the tournament's final, which Sri Lanka A won.[5] A month later, Maharoof was appointed captain of Sri Lanka Under-19s for the Under-19 World Cup.[6] He had some experience of leading teams, having captained school sides and the national youth sides.[3] In one of the matches, Maharoof scored 56 to help his team to victory over Australia and was named Man of the Match.[7]

The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), an eight-team domestic twenty20 competition, was held in 2008.[8] Maharoof was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for $225,000.[9] He took 15 wickets in the tournament at an average of 16.60, making him the equal ninth-highest wicket-taker in competition.[10] While playing for in the IPL in 2008, Maharoof was teammates with Australia seam bowler Glenn McGrath; according to Marahroof, McGrath helped him with his bowling variations, making a "huge difference",[8] and introduced more control to his slower ball.[11] For his performances in 2008, he was named in the Cricinfo IPL XI[12].

On 17 March 2011, it was announced that Maharoof would be joining Lancashire County Cricket Club for the entire English cricket season.[13] He joined Lancashire with the intention of forcing his way back into Sri Lanka's Test team.[14] He made his first-class debut for the club on 20 April, taking the place of injured captain and bowler Glen Chapple.[15] Batting at number eight Maharoof scored a century and took two wickets in the match as Lancashire won by an innings and 20 runs;[14][16] it was just the seventh time a player had scored a century in their maiden first-class match with Lancashire.[17]

After the second Test, Maharoof returned to play for Lancashire. Towards the end of June he was forced to miss a County Championship due to a stiff back.[18] A few days later he took his 50th T20 wicket when he dismissed Martin Guptill in Lancashire's 10-wicket win against Derbyshire,[19] and in the process helped dismiss Derbyshire for their lowest total in the format.[20] Maharoof was due to leave in mid-June to participate in the inaugural season of the Sri Lanka Premier League, planning to return to Lancashire in August,[1] however the tournament was postponed until 2012.[21] In the last match of the season, Lancashire won the County Championship for the first time since 1950 when they shared the title.[22]

On his return to Sri Lanka, Maharoof finished as the leading run scorer in the 2011–12 Premier Limited Overs Tournament, a domestic competition. His team, the Nondescripts, won the Tier A title for the first time in five years and Maharoof was the competition's leading run-scorer.[23] In the final Maharoof scored 52 runs while opening the batting and dismissed Sachithra Senanayake to claim his 200th wicket in list A matches.[24] His strong performances for the Nondescripts team led to a recall to the ODI squad for the 2011–12 Commonwealth Bank Series with India and Australia. He captained Kathmandu Kings XI in Everest Premier League 2017 held in Nepal.

The Castrol Asian Cricket Awards were held for the first time in June 2008, and Maharoof was named best ODI Asian bowler.[54] Although selected to tour Pakistan for three ODIs and two Tests in January to March 2009, Maharoof sustained a groin injury and was ruled out of the Tests.[55]

When it comes to batting, Maharoof has described himself as "more of a hard hitter than a technician",[3] and as of February 2012 his batting strike rate (85.24) is the fourth highest amongst Sri Lankans in ODIs.[56] In the opinion of Kumar Sangakkara, he has "the technique and the shots to be an excellent No. 7 batsman [at international level]".[57] Maharoof has a sound batting technique and is able to adapt to many different scenarios. He is mostly known as a player who can score quick runs down the order, but he can also bat a more patient innings, especially if the top batting order collapses.

He bowls at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h)[30] and concentrates on accuracy rather than pace because pitches in Sri Lanka are generally slow.[3] Sangakkara has also noted that Maharoof is able to swing the ball, complementing his accuracy.[57] Under the advice of then Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody, in 2006 Maharoof altered his bowling action slightly so that his front arm was coming down straight in delivery.[58] Of Sri Lankan players who have bowled at least 2,000 balls in Tests, Maharoof's strike rate of one wicket every 117.6 deliveries per wicket is third worst behind Asoka de Silva (291.0) and Arjuna Ranatunga (148.3).[59] Maharoof has been more successful in the opposition's first innings in Tests, taking 20 of his 25 wickets under such circumstances at a strike of 107.7, which increases to 157.2 in the second.[60]

• Farveez Maharoof at ESPNcricinfo