Majid Khan: When the Pakistani batsman made the fastest century in the era of slow batting
On 31 August 1974, the Pakistani cricket team played its first ODI against England at Trent Bridge Nottingham. Was needed.
Majid Khan started the innings with Sadiq Mohammad. Both of them gave the team a solid start of 113 runs. As long as Majid Khan remained on the crease, commentators on every stroke praised him with words like Glory of Drive, Beautiful Shot, and Great Shot and also said that those who are watching this innings today It will be remembered and indeed the spectators sitting in different stands of the ground were lost in the magic of batting.
Majid Khan completed his century off just 88 balls with the help of 16 fours and a six and when he was bowled out for 109 off 99 balls, the match was in Pakistan's hands.
The highlight of the innings was Pakistan's first ODI century. This was only the fourth ODI century to date. Earlier, Dennis Ames of England, Ken Wordsworth of New Zealand and David Lloyd of England had managed to play three-digit innings.
Majid Khan says: "I did not have a specific strategy for this innings. The day was good and the ball was coming to bat.
The bowling attack that Majid Khan scored in front of this century consisted of experienced bowlers like Bob Willis, Peter Lever, Chris Old, Tony Gregg, and Derek Underwood.
Successful opening pair
Majid Khan's opening partner Sadiq Mohammad says: * Majid Khan became my opening partner during the 1974 tour of England. Earlier, seven or eight openers had played with me in about 16 Test matches, but I had a mental harmony with Majid Khan and we opened together for a long time.
"Starting the innings, my style was defensive while Majid Khan dominated the bowlers from the other end."
It should be noted that Majid Khan and Sadiq Mohammad opened the innings together in 26 innings of Test cricket and scored a total of 1391 runs which included 4 centuries and 9 half-centuries.
I will make the fastest century today
Majid Khan had failed miserably in three Test matches during the Pakistan team's tour of England in 1967, but in the first-class matches of the tour, he was not taking the name of stopping runs with his bat. He scored centuries against Kent, Middlesex, Sussex and Glamorgan. His 147 not out against Glamorgan County is one of the few memorable innings in first-class cricket.
Majid Khan says of the innings: "I told my teammates in the dressing room that I would score the fastest century today."
Majid Khan came to bat after Pakistan's third wicket fell in the second innings, after which it started raining fours and sixes at St. Helens Ground, Swansea. In this innings, Majid Khan stayed on the crease for only 89 minutes and completed the century in just 61 minutes.
When captain Saeed Ahmed, who was batting with Majid Khan himself, declared Pakistan's innings at 324 for three, Majid Khan hit 10 fours and 13 sixes in his aggressive innings.
It was the second-highest number of sixes in a first-class innings after New Zealand's John Reid's 15.
Off-spinner Roger Davis was the biggest target of Majid Khan's aggression in which Majid Khan hit five sixes in one over.
Interestingly, exactly one year after Majid Khan's innings, in August 1968, at the same St. Helens Ground, Sergei Sobers hit six sixes in a single over for Glamorgan's Malcolm Nash while playing for Nottinghamshire.
Majid Khan was part of Glamorgan's team in this match.
Majid Khan's brilliant 147-run innings forced Glamorgan County not to delay his inclusion in their squad.
The fate of the county changed when Majid Khan came to Glamorgan and the team that used to appear at the bottom of the points table also became the county champion in 1969 in which Majid Khan had a significant share of more than fifteen hundred runs.
He was named one of Wisden's five best cricketers of the year for his performance.
As long as Majid Khan remained associated with Glamorgan County, he was very popular among the fans there. Whenever he was playing, Majid Majid's slogans were echoing in the ground.
Majid Khan was the first captain when cricket commentator Alan Wilkins joined Glamorgan as a cricketer.
He says: * Majid Khan had a quiet nature and a dignified personality, which is why everyone respected him. He also spoke less in the field and usually instructed the fielders with hand gestures.
"His batting reflected his personality, which quickly attracted the attention of the fans. He used to play strokes with great pomp."
A century before lunch but recording missing
On the first day of the third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on October 30, 1976, Majid Khan completed his century before the lunch break.
He was the fourth batsman in the world to win the award. Earlier, the feat was performed by three Australian batsmen, Victor Trumper, Charles McCartney, and Sir Don Bradman.
Majid Khan says that I did not go to bat with the intention of scoring a century before lunch but in those days my form was very good and whatever shot I played seemed right. There was a time during this innings when Sadiq Mohammad said that there could be a century before the lunch break and it was done.
Anyone who once watched this innings of Majid Khan considers himself a lucky person because he did not get a chance to watch this innings again because the recording of this innings is not safe even in the record of Pakistan Television.
Most importantly, when Majid Khan became the director of sports for Pakistan Television, he too searched for his historic innings and tried his best to find a recording of it, but he was disappointed.
Dennis Lilly couldn't get a hat from the bouncer
The Pakistan team's tour of Australia in 1976 saw an interesting match between Majid Khan and fast bowler Dennis Lilly. Dennis Lilly challenged Majid Khan to drop his famous floppy hat with his bouncer.
But in this series of three Test matches, he could not do it even once. In the second innings of the last Test in Sydney, when the Pakistani team was close to victory, Dennis Lilly made a bouncer as a last attempt, which was hooked by Majid Khan and hit a six.
At the ceremony at the end of the Test series, Majid Khan presented his famous floppy hat to Dennis Lilly.
Majid Khan was invited to eat sandwiches
The book (Cricket Gallery) compiled by David Firth contains articles about fifty cricketers. In his article, Mike Stevenson mentions Majid Khan's good food and writes an interesting incident attributed to former Test cricketer Pervez Sajjad.
He writes: * When the Pakistan Eagles team arrived in an area of Leicestershire on a tour of England, it was late and it was not possible to find food in any restaurant, so six or seven players ordered 36 sandwiches at the hotel.
"One of the players, Pervez Sajjad, thought that 36 would mean 36, but when the waiter came an hour and a half later with two full trays, he realized that double sandwiches meant 72."
How many sandwiches do these players eat? On this occasion, Pervez Sajjad said that call Abu Koo from the room. All these used to call Majid Khan 'Boo Ko' in Punjabi. Majid Khan came and as soon as he saw it, he cleaned several sandwiches.
Majid Khan says that food was good in his youth. At that time, food could be eaten openly like this
I asked Majid Khan's son, former Test cricketer Bazid Khan, what Boo means and what it has to do with your father.
Bazid Khan began to say, "Boka is actually like a leather jug which is put in a well to draw water." Since my father used to catch catches well in slips, one of his fellow cricketers, Faqir Azaz-ud-Din, jokingly told him that his hands were too big for him to catch. These hands are like Boke. Later, the word Boke became Bo.
Great batting on bad wickets
Former India sniper Bishan Singh Bedi says: "Majid Khan not only scored runs on a good wicket, but his strength was that he batted brilliantly on difficult and bad wickets."
A similar inning of Majid Khan was witnessed against Australia in 1980 at the National Stadium in Karachi where Ray Bright, Iqbal Qasim, and Taseef Ahmed, who played his first Test, were not allowing any batsman to play openly. It was not possible for Javed Miandad and Greg Chappell to play big innings. Majid Khan played an extraordinary inning of 89 runs.
Wrong out in the last innings
Majid Khan's greatest virtue that everyone acknowledges was his sportsmanship.
He did not hesitate to leave the crease after being caught behind the wicket, but in the Lahore Test against India in January 1983, the world saw him in a different light when umpire Javed Akhtar bowled Kapil Dev's wicket at zero. He was caught out by Kirmani.
Majid Khan knew that the ball had not touched the bat, so for the first time he was seen walking towards the pavilion muttering angrily.
It was the sad end of a glorious career.
Interestingly, at the start of the Lahore Test, Majid Khan was the highest-scoring Pakistani Test cricketer at 3931, but in the same innings, Javed Miandad was ahead of him with 85 runs.