Syed Mushtaq Ali (; 17 December 1914 – 18 June 2005) was an Indian

cricket 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 ...

er, a right-handed opening batsman who holds the distinction of scoring the first overseas Test century by an Indian player when he scored 112 against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

in 1936. He batted right-handed but was a slow left arm orthodox spin bowler. He bowled frequently enough in domestic matches to be classified as an all-rounder but only occasionally in test matches. Mushtaq Ali was noted for his graceful batting style and a flair which often cost him his wicket by being over-adventurous too soon in an innings.

Career

Mushtaq Ali was the discovery of

C. K. Nayudu Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as CK, was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test cricket, Test matches. He played first-class cricket regularly until 1958, and returned for one ...

who observed him at Indore at the age of 13 and helped to develop his cricketing skills. A

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

Special Award winner, he scored four first-class hundreds in the 1936 tour. He was an opening or middle order right-hand batsman but hardly played international cricket mainly due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In total, he played in 11 tests. He made his debut in the test against England at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, 5–8 Jan 1934, and played his last test against England at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, 6–10 Feb 1952, at the age of 38.

Domestic cricket

He was educated in Indore and at Aligarh Muslim University. He played extensively for regional teams and private clubs when cricket was a young sport in India. In first-class cricket, he represented Holkar, Central India, Muslims, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Bharat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and India between 1930 and 1964. He was not only a sporting legend, but a popular superstar of his time, and an icon for the younger generation of Indian youth. Combining with another legend, the cautious yet skilled

Vijay Merchant Vijay Singh Madhavji Merchant , real name Vijay Madhav Thackersey (12 October 1911 – 27 October 1987) was an Indian cricketer. A right-hand batter and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Merchant played first-class cricket for Bombay c ...

, Mushtaq Ali's aggression and powerful stroke play formed a dynamic and legendary opening partnership for the team for years. He played for

Holkar The Holkar (Pronunciation: �o(ː)ɭkəɾ dynasty was a Maratha clan of Dhangar origin in India. The Holkars were generals under Peshwa Baji Rao I, and later became Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Marat ...

in the National Championship for the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

along with other stalwarts like C. K. Nayudu. He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 1964 and made a life member of the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

for his contribution to the game. He published his autobiography, Cricket Delightful in 1967. He died in his sleep, at the age of 90 in 2005. The Indian domestic T20 series is named after him. Mushtaq Ali's son, Gulrez Ali, and his grandson, Abbas Ali, both played first-class cricket.

Awards

– awarded in 1964 *

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a domestic T-20 cricket championship in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), among the teams from the Ranji Trophy. It is named after Indian former test cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali ...

– This is a

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

domestic championship in India, organized by the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

, among the teams from the

. The 2008–09 season was the inaugural season for this trophy.

References

* Smith, Martin (editor). ''The Promise of Endless Summer (Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph)''. Aurum (2013).

External links

* *
Obituary from Rediff.com

video feature from

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mushtaq Ali, Syed 1914 births 2005 deaths Aligarh Muslim University alumni Central India cricketers Central Zone cricketers Cricketers from Indore East Zone cricketers Gujarat cricketers Holkar cricketers India Test cricketers Indian Muslims Indian cricketers Madhya Bharat cricketers Madhya Pradesh cricketers Maharashtra cricketers Muslims cricketers Rajasthan cricketers Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Uttar Pradesh cricketers