Khalid Latif

Some Lesser Known Facts About Khalid Latif

• Khalid Latif is a former Pakistani cricketer who represented the national team in five ODIs and 13 T20Is between 2008 and 2016. He was an opening batsman in Pakistan’s international cricket squad. Notably, he captained the Pakistani team to victory in the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and also secured a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games. In 2023, he made headlines when a Dutch court sentenced him to a 12-year prison term for his involvement in an attempt to instigate the murder of Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

• He began his journey in domestic cricket shortly before turning 15.

• He made his first-class debut in the 2000/01 season and List A debut in the 2001/02.

• In the 2000/01 season, he played for Karachi Blues, Pakistan A, and Pakistan U-19.

• Later, he took on the role of captain for the Port Qasim Authority team, which competes in Pakistan’s domestic cricket circuit.

  

• He didn’t make a significant impact until he got his start in Youth Test cricket in 2003.

• He took on the role of captain for the Pakistan Under-19 team during a series against Sri Lanka, where he claimed a score of 77 in the opening match.

• Khalid Latif led the Pakistani squad to victory in the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, marking Pakistan’s maiden title in the tournament. They secured the title by defeating West Indies in the final, winning by a margin of 25 runs at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. Throughout the tournament, he stood out as Pakistan’s top run-scorer who amassed a total of 291 runs in eight innings.

  

• He made his T20 debut for Karachi Zebras against Multan Tigers at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on  25 April 2005.

• In 2005, Latif claimed his first century in first-class cricket, finishing the season with nearly 400 runs.

• From 2005 to 2015, he played for the Karachi Dolphins in limited-overs cricket. In 2009, he briefly captained the Karachi Dolphins for two matches. On March 26, 2012, he played a crucial role, scoring 88 off 61, leading Karachi Dolphins to a 32-run victory over Rawalpindi Rams in the 2012 Super 8 Twenty20 Cup and earning the Player of the Match award. In the final against Sialkot Stallions, Khalid showed his mettle by carrying his bat through the innings, ending with 81 off 59, although Sialkot Stallions ultimately won by 8 wickets. He emerged as the top run-scorer in the tournament with 243 runs. Khalid Latif was a prominent figure in the Karachi Dolphins team, amassing the most runs (1057) for them before the team disbanded in 2016.

• In the 2007-08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, he scored close to 600 runs, leading to his inclusion in the Patron’s XI lineup against the touring Zimbabwean team.

• He received a selection to the Pakistani One Day International (ODI) team in 2008, but his ODI career was rather limited, with only five appearances spread over two years.

• He was included in the national team for the Pakistan vs. New Zealand ODI Series in the 2009/10 season. During the 1st ODI against New Zealand in November 2009, he played a well-controlled innings, scoring 64 runs from 112 deliveries in a match that Pakistan convincingly won by 138 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

  

• Latif captained the Pakistan cricket team during the 2010 Asian Games, where Pakistan secured a bronze medal despite a loss to Afghanistan in the semi-finals.

• In January 2010, during the 5th One Day International (ODI) match in Perth against Australia, a spectator ran onto the field and tackled Latif from behind. Fortunately, Latif was unhurt, but the spectator was arrested for assault and received a lifetime ban from the stadium. Subsequently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) asked Cricket Australia to provide a comprehensive report regarding the security breach.

  

• Later, he was selected for the Pakistani squad in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. On 7 September 2016, he contributed significantly by scoring 59 runs off 42 balls, helping his team defeat England in the sole T20I match.
• He participated in a total of 13 T20Is over an eight-year span, with his last appearance against the West Indies in 2016 when the West Indies cricket team toured the UAE for a series of three T20Is, ODIs, and Test matches against Pakistan. Pakistan emerged victorious in the T20I series with a clean sweep of 3-0.

• He was part of Islamabad United in the 2016 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which clinched its first title by defeating Quetta Gladiators by 6 wickets in the final.

  

• In the 2016 Pakistan Cup, he represented the Sindh team. One of the standout moments of his career was when he scored an unbeaten 168 runs for Sindh against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) in the same tournament. Latif’s remarkable innings of 168 runs is recognized as the third-highest score in Pakistan’s list A cricket history for successful chases, following Naved Malik’s 179 and Asif Zakir’s 176 not out.

  

• During his leadership, Karachi Blues secured victory in the 2016–17 Jazz National T20 Cup, narrowly defeating Karachi Whites by 3 runs in the final.

  

• He was a part of the Comilla Victorians team in the 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier League. Comilla Victorians were the defending champions but were eliminated in the group stage.

• In 2017, Khalid was banned from all forms of cricket for five years after he was found guilty in a spot-fixing scandal.

• He was a part of the Mlair Gymkhana club.