Saqlain was born on 29 December 1976, in Lahore to a government clerk. He has two elder brothers, Sibtain, who also played first-class cricket for Lahore, and Zulqurnain. Saqlain played for Govt. M.A.O College Lahore for three years and college won the Championship each year. Saqlain never played cricket at school level, but start paying cricket in Zareef Memorial Cricket Club Second Eleven when he was only 13. He always wanted to be an off-spinner: " I never wanted to be a quick bowler. I was very skinny and never had too much strength in the body." Saqlain was coached by, Ahmad Hassan and his brothers at the club level. At the age of 14 he went to the Govt. M.A.O College Lahore where he was coached by Mumtaz Akhtar Butt. He played for the college and won the championship for three consecutive years.

Domestic career

Saqlain started his first-class career in 1994–95 at the age of 17. In his first season, he took 52 wickets, and was selected to play for Pakistan A in a one-day tournament at Dhaka. In September 1995, he got international recognition, taking seven wickets for the PCB Patron's Eleven against the visiting Sri Lankans. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said about him that he was "the greatest off-spinner he has seen" and "as aggressive as a fast bowler, not afraid of getting hit, and has this total belief in himself."

Saqlain represented Surrey for eight successive seasons, from 1997 to 2004. However, his time was interrupted there, and his international career with Pakistan effectively ended in 2004. In August 2005, he played his first match against Bangladesh A after recovering from injury, and took 4–87 from 35 overs bowling over two innings. However that same week, in his return to the County Championship, he conceded 110 off 28 overs against Gloucestershire, taking just one wicket.

In February 2006, he signed for Ireland for the C&G Trophy, along with teammate Abdul Razzaq. Later in February 2007, Sussex announced that Saqlain had signed a two-year contract with them. His initial requirement was to cover for fellow Pakistanis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who were part of Pakistan's World Cup campaign. On 26 September 2007, Saqlain was released by the county on his request. On 8 October 2007, Saqlain was re-signed by Surrey. On 28 October, according to Cricinfo, he was released by Surrey.

In April 2009, he joined Old Whitgiftians CC to play in the Surrey Championship. He took 64 wickets in his first season, including five 5 wicket hauls to earn Whits promotion to the first division. He was also involved in the youth game setup. In 2010, after relocating to Leicestershire, he joined Syston Town Cricket Club, playing in the Everards County League. In late 2010, he was training in Taunton at the facilities of Somerset County Cricket Club, whom he has now joined as a temporary spin-bowling coach for the 2011 Caribbean Twenty20 competition. On 11 April 2013, it was announced that Saqlain woul