Aslam Khan (cricketer)

Aslam Khan
Personal information
Full name
Mohammad Aslam Khan
Born(1935-03-15)15 March 1935
Manavadar, Princely state of Junagadh, British India
Died29 April 1980(1980-04-29) (aged 45)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RelationsGhulam Moinuddin Khanji (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1955/56–1970/71Karachi
1977/78Pakistan Security Printing Corporation
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 28
Runs scored 398
Batting average 19.90
100s/50s 1/0
Top score 112*
Balls bowled 5,170
Wickets 84
Bowling average 22.63
5 wickets in innings 5
10 wickets in match 1
Best bowling 6/45
Catches/stumpings 27/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 August 2015

Aslam Khan (Urdu: اسلم خان), sometimes known as Prince Aslam Khan (Urdu: شہزادہ اسلم خان, romanized as: Shehzada Aslam Khaan; 15 March 1935 – 29 April 1980) was a Pakistani cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1955 and 1978. Some people consider him the inventor of the doosra.[1]

A son of Ghulam Moinuddin Khanji, he was a member of the royal family of Manavadar, a princely state which is now part of the Indian state of Gujarat.

Aslam Khan was a left-arm spinner. In the final of the Ayub Trophy in 1964-65 he took 6 for 45 and 5 for 92 (match figures of 81.5–43–137–11) to help Karachi to an innings victory over Lahore Education Board.[2] In a semi-final of the Ayub Trophy in 1965–66, playing for Karachi Blues against Public Works Department, he took 3 for 35 and 5 for 41 in another victory.[3]

Khan played his last first-class match in February 1978 for the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation team in the Patron's Trophy. A month short of his 43rd birthday, he took 6 for 154 off 47 eight-ball overs against Sargodha, who won by an innings and 143 runs.[4]

He batted at number 10 or 11 and only once reached 40 in first-class cricket. On that occasion he scored 112 not out as Karachi Whites scored 762 and beat Karachi Blues by an innings in a semi-final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 1956–57. He also took three catches and three wickets in the match.[5]

Khan was a flamboyant character, "playing practical jokes, dating a series of movie stars, driving to matches (often late) in a Cadillac, firing revolver shots in the air in protest at an umpire's decision". Mushtaq Mohammad credited him with the invention of the doosra.[6]

His father, the last Nawab of Manavadar, also played first-class cricket and represented India at hockey.

  1. ^ "The prince of Pakistans cricket". 9 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Lahore Education Board v Karachi 1964-65". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Karachi Blues v Public Works Department 1965-66". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Sargodha v Pakistan Security Printing Corporation 1977-78". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Karachi Blues v Karachi Whites 1956-57". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  6. ^ Peter Oborne, Wounded Tiger: The History of Cricket in Pakistan, Simon & Schuster, London, 2014, p. 139.