Tests
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the most successful Pakistani
all-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...
s and went on to captain his country in nineteen Test matches. He was the first and to date only Pakistani to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same test match twice.
He was one of the five Mohammad brothers, four of whom played cricket for Pakistan. Mushtaq recently coached the
United States national cricket team
The United States national cricket team is the team that represents the United States in international cricket. The team was formerly organised by the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which became an associate member of ...
, but has returned to cricket commentary for
Pakistani television
Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in Lahore.Junagadh
Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state.
Literally t ...
in what would become a border region of India with
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 ...
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 ...
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
''. 20 February 2010. Retrieved on 10 March 2020Published by Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
First-class cricket
Mushtaq began his first class career at the age of 13 years and 41 days, scoring 87 and taking 5 for 28 on debut. He played for Karachi and Pakistan International Airlines at home and went on to represent
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
in
county cricket
Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...
from 1966 to 1977, scoring more than 1,000 runs in every season. In both 1967 and 1971 he stayed with the county during Pakistan tours of England, playing for the touring side only in Test matches and a few other fixtures.
Mushtaq captained
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
between 1975 and 1977, and in 1976 led the side to victory in the Gillette Cup, the county's first-ever trophy, and to second place in the
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
, equalling its best-ever position. But his captaincy ended in some controversy. According to ''
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 ...
'', Mushtaq resigned, claiming that his future had not been made clear and that there were rumours – which turned out to be true – that former captain
Jim Watts
Patrick James Watts (born 16 June 1940) was a professional cricketer who spent his entire career at Northamptonshire.
Personal life
Watts was educated at Stratton School, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. His brother, leg-spinner Peter, also played f ...
was to be reappointed for 1978. Mushtaq had in any case signed for
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establishe ...
in Australia, but there were harsh words from the county's chairman about dressing room politics and Mushtaq did not play for Northants again.
He scored 72 hundreds in a 502-game first-class career. Mushtaq was the first Pakistani to score 25,000 first-class runs, ending up with 31,091, more than half of them for Northamptonshire. His record included a highest score of 303 not out. As a wrist-spinner, he bowled the legbreak, googly and flipper.
Test cricket
On 26 March 1959 against
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
at Lahore, Mushtaq succeeded his elder brothers Wazir and
Hanif
In Islam, a ( ar, حنيف, ḥanīf; plural: , ), meaning "renunciate", is someone who maintains the pure monotheism of the patriarch Abraham. More specifically, in Islamic thought, renunciates were the people who, during the pre-Islamic perio ...
into Test cricket. Based in his publicised date of birth of 22 November 1943, he was then 15 years and 124 days, the youngest person to play Test cricket at the time, though some doubt exists if this date of birth is accurate. He scored 18 runs in the match and Pakistan were defeated by an innings and 156 runs. The first of his ten Test hundreds would come in his 6th Test, 101 against India in
Feroz Shah Kotla
The Feroz Shah Kotla or Kotla ("fortress", "citadel") was a fortress built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq to house his version of Delhi city called Firozabad.
A pristine polished sandstone Topra Ashokan pillar from the 3rd century BC rises from the pa ...
, when he was believed to be 17 years and 78 days old which was the youngest age for a test centurion. The record stood for over 40 years until it was bettered by
Mohammad Ashraful
Mohammad Ashraful ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুল; born 7 July 1984) is a Bangladeshi cricketer, who has represented the Bangladesh national cricket team, captaining the team in all formats of the game. A top-order batsman ...
. His next century came against England in 1962 and he would have to wait another 9 years until his next century.
In 1970 he played for the
Rest of the World
Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or countr ...
against England in the series that was later stripped of its Test status. Early in 1973, he scored 121 against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and 201 against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in his next match a month later. In the latter game, he became the only cricketer other than
Denis Atkinson
Denis St Eval Atkinson (9 August 1926 – 9 November 2001) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches as an all-rounder, hitting 922 runs and taking 47 wickets. He also played first-class cricket for Barbados and Trinidad.
Atkinso ...
to score a double century and take five wickets in a
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
. He finished the year with 777 runs at the average of 86.33.
He captained Pakistan in 19 Test matches from 1976–77 to 1978–79. During this time, he scored 121 and 56 and took eight wickets against
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
at
Port of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
in 1976–77 to inflict a rare home defeat on West Indies. Thereby Mushtaq also became only the second player after
Garfield Sobers
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...
to score a century and take
five wickets in an innings
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman.
Taki ...
in a test match on more than one occasion. He led Pakistan to a 2–0 win over
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
when the two countries played their first series against each other in eighteen years in 1978–79.
Mushtaq is regarded as one of the first cricketers to use the reverse-sweep in the 1970s. Though his elder brother
Hanif Mohammad
Hanif Mohammad PP ( ur, , 21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani cricketer.
He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98 scoring twelve ...
is sometimes credited as the inventor. Cricket coach
Bob Woolmer
Robert Andrew Woolmer (14 May 1948 – 18 March 2007) was an English cricket coach, cricketer, and a commentator. He played in 19 Test matches and six One Day Internationals for the England cricket team and later coached South Africa, Warwick ...
has been credited with popularising the stroke.
He joined
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
's
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establishe ...
in the late seventies. He went on to become a coach of
Pakistan Cricket Team
The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...
and led the side which reached the final of the 1999
Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
.
Minor cricket
Mushtaq also appeared below first-class level in Minor Counties cricket for
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
in 1984-1985 (appearing for them in 15 matches and achieving an exact century in one match), as well as for
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
and
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
. He spearheaded a rare triumph for Shropshire against a first-class county in the
NatWest Trophy
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.
It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class cricket, first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scott ...
in 1984, winning the
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
award aged 40 for an all-round performance as the county beat
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. At club level in the 1980s in England he played in the Birmingham League for Walsall and
Old Hill
Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurba ...
in
Cradley Heath
Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...
.
Awards
*
Pride of Performance
The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...
Award by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Mushtaq Mohammad's Pride of Performance Award on Pakistan Sports Board website Retrieved 10 March 2020
References
External links
*
*
Christopher Martin-Jenkins
Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of MCC. He was also the longest serving commentator for ''Test Match Special'' (TMS) on ...