Anwar Ali

Hailing from a humble background, Anwar Ali was born on 25 November 1987 in Swat. His family migrated to Karachi when he was young. He belongs to a middle-class Pashtun family living in the Orangi Town area of Karachi and has spent his early years as a factory worker, ironing socks.

Inspired by Wasim Akram and Imran Khan, Anwar Ali is a fast bowler out of the typical Pakistani mould, capable of swinging the ball, both old and new, at decent pace. He gave the world a brief glimpse of his talent with a destructive display in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup final against India, in Colombo, when his 5 for 35 spearheaded Pakistan's 38-run win.

Anwar Ali made his T20 debut for Pakistan on 12 October 2008 against Zimbabwe. Pakistan won the series 2–0. Anwar Ali took 2 wickets in both matches. After good form against Zimbabwe and in domestic, he got an ODI cap. He scored 43 not out and also took 2–26 in 6 overs. He also made a fine 41 not out in an ODI against Sri Lanka and took a wicket in the match.

During the T20 series against Sri Lanka in August 2015, Ali smashed a match-winning knock of unbeaten 40 runs. Sri Lanka batted first and scored 172 runs in 20 overs. The score showed a win for the Sri Lankans. Pakistan came on to bat and lost first five wickets for just 40 runs on the board. For the sixth wicket, skipper Shahid Afridi smashed a quick 45 runs off 22 balls. After Afridi's wicket, Ali came on to the crease and showed immense talent and hard hitting against Sri Lankan pace attack and scored blistering 40 runs off 17 balls with 3 fours and 4 huge sixes. Pakistan won the match comfortably and Ali won the man of the match award.