Syed Mushtaq Ali

Mushtaq Ali was one of those cricketers on whom the words, swashbuckling, dashing and aggressive fitted with consummate ease. He was also the first Indian cricketer to score a Test hundred outside India, and then, in the last Test match that he played, India won their first ever Test match.

Mushtaq Ali was considered as the pioneer of powerful stroke play in Indian cricket history, but he managed to play only eleven Test matches. This was partly due to a misunderstanding between the Indian Cricket Board and him, which led to the officials believing that he had disappeared. Dropped for a Calcutta Test, the fans went gaga over his exclusion, which dealt a final blow to his chances in front of the egoistic BCCI officials. That obviously did not deter him from playing more than 200 first class matches, in which he scored close to 13k runs. All at an entertaining pace for the audiences.

Described as the “Errol Flynn of cricket”, he died at the age of 90 in his sleep, but not before he had been honoured with the Padma Shri in 1964 and awarded the life membership of Marylebone Cricket Club for his invaluable contribution to cricket.