Majid Khan (cricketer, born 1946)

Majid Jahangir Khan (Urdu: ماجد جہانگیر خان‎) is a former cricketer, a former captain of the Pakistan cricket team and one of the most attractive, entertaining and fearless batsmen of his time. In his prime, Majid Khan (often referred to as "Majestic Khan" by the British press) was considered one of the best batsmen in the world, able to decimate any bowling attack, including the mighty West Indian fast bowlers of that era. It is a shame that over an 18-year Test career, he only played in 63 Test matches, primarily because Pakistan played a very limited Test match schedule. Thus, the cricketing world was deprived of the pleasure of watching one of the greatest exponents of batting in the world. Khan's first-class career spanned 1961 to 1985. Overall, he played 63 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 3,931 runs with 8 centuries, scored over 27,000 first-class runs and made 73 first-class centuries, with 128 fifties.^[1] Majid played his last Test for Pakistan in January 1983 against India at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore^[2] and his last One Day International (ODI) was in July 1982 against England at Old Trafford, Manchester.^[3]

Early life

Born on 28 September 1946 in Ludhiana, in the state of Punjab in India, Khan grew up in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab in Pakistan. His father, Jahangir Khan, had played Test cricket for British India before the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Majid Khan started his career as a pace bowler, but a back injury and doubts over his technique converted him into an off-spin bowler and batsman.^[4] He also played for Glamorgan and Cambridge University in Britain, for Queensland in Australia, and in Pakistan for Pakistan International Airlines, Rawalpindi and the province of Punjab.

Majid's father, Dr. Jahangir Khan, famously killed a bird in flight while bowling during an MCC vs. Cambridge University match in 1936.^[5][6] This bird is now part of the permanent MCC museum exhibit at Lord's Cricket ground.^[7] Dr. Jahangir Khan was the Chief Selector of then Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP) when Majid Khan was close to national selection. Dr. Jahangir Khan resigned from his post to maintain the impartiality of the Cricket Board during selection.

International career

Majid's Test career started in 1964 against Australia at National Stadium, Karachi.^[8] Khan is one of only four batsmen (the other three are Trumper, Macartney and Bradman) to have scored a century before lunch in a test match, scoring 108 not-out off 112 balls against New Zealand in Karachi during the 1976–77 test series.^[9][10] Khan made his ODI debut against New Zealand in 1973 at Lancaster Park, New Zealand.^[11] He also holds the unique honour of scoring the first one-day century for Pakistan, in an ODI against England at Trent Bridge on 31 August 1974.^[12][13][14] Khan scored 109 from 93 balls with 16 fours and a six.^[12][13]

Majid had played for Lahore since 1961/62 and had made his Test debut against Australia in 1964/65 and toured England and Wales with the 1967 Pakistanis. During a match with Glamorgan, Majid blasted a rapid 147 in 89 minutes, hitting Roger Davis for five sixes in one over. Wilf Wooller, the club secretary, had been a close friend of Majid's father when Dr Jahangir Khan had been up at Cambridge, and the influential Glamorgan secretary persuaded Glamorgan county to sign him as the overseas player from 1968.^[15][16][17] In 1972 he won the Walter Lawrence Trophy for the season’s fastest century which he scored in 70 minutes for Glamorgan against Warwickshire. He captained the Welsh county between 1973 and 1976, scored over 9000 runs punctuated with 21 first-class centuries for them. Imran Khan,^[18] the legendary Pakistani ex-captain and fast bowler, and Javed Burki^[19] are his cousins.^[20] Bazid Khan,^[21] Majid's son, has also played for Pakistan, making the family the second, after the Headleys, to have three consecutive generations of Test cricketers.^[20][22]

Initially, Majid Khan continued to boost Pakistan's middle order, until he was promoted to fill the opener's slot with Sadiq Mohammad in 1974.^[23][24] He was the first century scorer for Pakistan in One Day International Cricket, scoring 108 runs against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in the same season.^[12][13] Majid Khan was also a specialist slip fielder and made most catches look easy. Khan was also well known as a "walker", maintaining the standards of the game in an era when professionalism was straining at the game's traditional etiquette.

The 1976–77 tour of West Indies was the most remarkable period for Majid Khan, where he scored 530 test runs against one of the most powerful bowling attacks in the history of the game. His best innings was perhaps the 167 in Pakistan's second innings at Georgetown that saved Pakistan from likely defeat. Pakistan lost that series 2–1.^[25]

After retirement from International Cricket, Khan became an administrator with the Pakistan Cricket Board, becoming the CEO of the board in mid-1990s.^[22] He now lives in Islamabad.

References

External links

• Player profile: Majid Khan from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Majid Khan from CricketArchive
• Player profile: Majid Khan from Yahoo! Cricket

Pakistan squads
Pakistan squad – 1975 Cricket World Cup 1 Asif Iqbal (c) 2 Asif Masood 3 Imran Khan 4 Javed Miandad 5 Majid Khan 6 Mushtaq Mohammad 7 Naseer Malik 8 Pervez Mir 9 Sadiq Mohammad 10 Sarfraz Nawaz 11 Wasim Bari (wk) 12 Wasim Raja 13 Zaheer Abbas Pakistan squad – 1979 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Asif Iqbal (c) 2 Haroon Rashid 3 Imran Khan 4 Javed Miandad 5 Majid Khan 6 Mudassar Nazar 7 Sadiq Mohammad 8 Sarfraz Nawaz 9 Sikander Bakht 10 Wasim Bari (wk) 11 Wasim Raja 12 Zaheer Abbas