Syed Iftikhar Ali Bokhari (6 July 1935 – 10 November 2021), also known as I. A. Bokhari, was a Pakistani politician and cricketer. He was a member of the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper house, upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly (Pakistan), National As ...

between March 1988 and March 1991. He played 19 matches of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

between 1952 and 1966.

Early life and education

Bokhari was born on 6 July 1935 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to the Syed family of

Jhang Jhang (Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 18th largest city of Pakistan by population. The historic ...

. He received his early education from Aitchison College. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

Political career

He was elected to the

in 1985. He served between March 1988 and March 1991.

Cricket career

Bokhari made his first-class debut in 1951–52 at the age of 16, opening the batting for the Punjab Governor's XI against Punjab University. As "I.A. Bokhari", he spent a year at

King's School, Ely King's Ely (renamed from "The King's School" in March 2012),The School's Terms and Conditions and the Companies House registration would suggest that the School's legal name remains "The King's School, Ely" is a co-educational public school ...

, where he scored 453 runs and took 19 wickets in 1953. He went up to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

later that year. He appeared in the freshmen's match in 1954 alongside his compatriot Shaharyar Khan, but neither was selected for the university team. He played for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

in the Minor Counties Championship in 1956, scoring 649 runs in seven matches at an average of 72.11, and won the competition's batting award. He eventually played one match for Cambridge University, the first match of 1957, but without success. Returning to Pakistan, Bokhari played two matches as an opening batsman for

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

in the

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...

in 1957–58, and two for

in 1958–59, with a top score of 27. He was in outstanding form for Lahore in the inaugural season of the

Ayub Trophy The Patron's Trophy was a cricket competition that was held in Pakistan between 1960–61 and 2018–19 mainly among teams representing the government and semi-government departments, corporations, commercial organisations, business houses, banks, ...

in 1960–61. In the first match he became the first player to score a double century in the Ayub Trophy when he scored 203 not out against Punjab University; in the semi-final he made 0 and 100 not out against Rawalpindi and Peshawar; in the final he made 50 (Lahore's top score) and 4 not out, to finish the competition as the leading batsman with 357 runs at 178.50. Bokhari scored his last first-class century in the first match of the 1961–62 season, when he made 106 against

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

. He played one match for

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as t ...

, captaining them in the Ayub Trophy in 1964–65, when he top-scored in both innings in a low-scoring match with 17 and 45 against

Combined Services The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

References

External links

Iftikhar Bokhari
at CricketArchive

at Cricinfo {{DEFAULTSORT:Bokhari, Syed Iftikhar 1935 births 2021 deaths Members of the Senate of Pakistan Pakistani cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Aitchison College alumni People educated at King's Ely Alumni of the University of Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Sargodha cricketers Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Lahore cricketers Cambridgeshire cricketers Politicians from Lahore Pakistani sportsperson-politicians