Syed Ijaz Hussain (born 7 April 1942) is a Pakistani former

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

who played

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 officiall ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

from 1957 to 1976. He represented

in the 1960s but did not play

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

Early life

Syed Ijaz Hussain, also known as Ijaz Khapra, was born in 1942 in what is now

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Prior to India's partition in 1947, his father moved the family to

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

, where he worked as a road inspector. Following his father's death in the late 1950s, Ijaz, the eldest of seven, assumed additional responsibilities. His cricket skills were noticed at Government Technical High School in Bahawalpur. Despite being initially interested in hockey, a leg injury steered him towards cricket. A serious incident, when he was thrown from a train by classmates, resulted in a head injury that nearly ended his sporting career. After he left school he went to

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 List ...

in 1960 to work in a textile mill.

Cricket career

Hussain was a wicketkeeper-batsman who usually opened the innings. He could also bowl medium-pace and wrist-spin. His highest score was 173 in an innings victory for Railways Reds over Lahore Reds in 1965-66. Hussain toured England with the

Pakistan Eaglets Pakistan Eaglets were a team of young cricketers from Pakistan, founded by Justice A.R. Cornelius. They toured England and Wales every year from 1952 to 1959, Malaya and Ceylon in 1960-61, and England again in 1963. Most of their matches were no ...

in 1963, playing in three of the eight first-class matches. He played two matches for Pakistan against the touring Ceylon team in 1966-67, and all three matches for Pakistan Under-25 against MCC Under-25 later that season. He also played for Pakistan against The Rest (of Pakistan) in 1969-70.

Later life

Hussain worked for the

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

in the 1970s before moving to

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, where he was among a group of Pakistani cricketers who developed the game in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. He was employed there in industry and banking. He retired in 2004 and returned to live in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussain, Ijaz 1942 births Living people Pakistani cricketers People from Muzaffarnagar Bahawalpur cricketers Multan cricketers Pakistan Railways cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Public Works Department cricketers