Hashim Amla

Regarded as one of the best opening batsmen of all time, Hashim Amla is known for his excellent stroke maker. In a career that spans over 16 years, Amla displayed excellent batting talent and rose to become one of the best ODI batsmen.

Table of Contents

1. Biography - About Hashim Amla
2. Hashim Amla: Along the Years
3. Records
4. Awards and Accolades
5. Career
6. Domestic Career
7. International Career
8. Family

Biography - About Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla also captained the national Test side for two years. Amla is known for his supple wrist work and his ability to score runs at will. Amla has also done well in limited-overs franchise cricket despite not having a reputation for power hitting. Amla retired from international cricket in August 2019.

Hashim Amla: Along the Years

Records

1. First and only South Afrcian to score a triple-century in Test cricket
2. Fastest player to reach 2,000 runs in ODIs (40 innings)
3. Fastest player to reach 3,000 runs in ODIs (59 innings)
4. Fastest player to reach 4,000 runs in ODIs (81 innings)
5. Fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in ODIs (101 innings)
6. Fastest player to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs (123 innings)
7. Fastest player to reach 7,000 runs in ODIs (150 innings)
8. 1000 runs in both Tests and ODIs in the same calendar year.

Awards and Accolades

1. Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2013

Career

Domestic Career

Hashim Amla started playing cricket when he made his debut for his provincial team the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and was soon appointed the captain of the team.. Amla was the captain of the national Under-19 side in the 2002 Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in New Zealand. South Africa cricket team ended the tournament as the runners-up. In 2013, Amla moved to Cape Cobras from KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins.

Amla played county cricket for four different teams. For Essex in 2009, Nottinghamshire in 2010, Surrey in 2013 and Derbyshire in 2015.

Amla has played in Caribbean Premier League and Mzansi Super League as well. In CPL, he played 11 matches and scored 410 runs. He played for Durban Heat in the maiden edition of the Mzansi Super League.

IPL Career

Hashim Amla was picked by the Kings XI Punjab for the 2016 season of the IPL. Amla went on to become an integral part of the team and even scored two centuries in the IPL during 2016 and 2017. Despite his good performance, he was not picked by any franchise in the auction for IPL 2018.

International Career

ODI Career

Amla made his ODI debut in 2008 against Bangladesh cricket team. In 2010, he was part of the team touring West Indies for the 5 match ODI series. He scored two centuries and a half-century in the series. The same year, he scored two centuries in the ODI series against Zimbabwe and a century against Pakistan as well. In 2012, he scored 150 from 124 balls against England in Southampton. Amla continued his good form in 2013 and was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

In 2015, he was selected for the World Cup squad. Amla scored a century in the World Cup but other than that, his performance was not very impressive. Although he did perform well in 2015 after the World Cup and was named in World ODI XI by ICC. 2016 and 2017 were good years for Amla but his form took a dip in 2018. Amla was named in the 2019 Cricket World Cup squad. During the tournament, he went on to score 8000 runs in ODI.

Test Career

Amla made his Test debut against India in 2004. His initial time in Test cricket was not easy and he had to face criticism for his technique. Amla worked hard on improving his batting and returned on to solidify his position in the national side. In the 2008 calendar year, he scored 1012 runs, including an unbeaten 159 against India national cricket team in tough conditions. He continued his excellent form in the Test series against Australia in 2009. In 2010, in the series against India, he scored 253 not out in the first Test match. He was named in World Test XI by the ICC in 2010.

In 2012, Hashim Amla became the first South African to score a triple century in Test cricket in the first Test of South Africa’s tour of England. He ascended to the top of the ICC Test rankings after scoring a century in the second Test. In the following series against Australia, he scored centuries at the Gabba and the WACA. He was named in the World Test XI for 2012.

Amla kept scoring runs in the following year as well and was again named in the World Text XI by the ICC. In 2014, he became South Africa’s first permanent non-white Test captain. Two years later, he stepped down from the captaincy due to the poor run of results for the team and also his poor form. In 2017, Hashim Amla played his 100th Test and scored a century in that match.

T20 Career

Amla made his Twenty20 International debut in 2009 against Australia. In his T20I career of 10 years, he played 44 matches, scoring 1277 runs. He also scored five half-centuries with 97 not out being his best Twenty20 international performance. Amla was the part of the national side in three ICC TWenty20 World Cups: 2012 in West Indies, 2014 in Bangladesh and 2016 in India.

Also see - Faf du Plessis biography

Family

Hashim Amla comes from a family of Indian origin. His parents migrated to South Africa from Gujarat. His elder brother, Ahmed Amla was also a professional cricketer. Amla is married to Sumaiyah and they have two sons.