The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : British media pays tributes to Mushtaq Ali

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Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005

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British media pays tributes to Mushtaq Ali

London: British press on Monday paid glowing tributes to Syed Mushtaq Ali, describing him as the grand old man of Indian cricket and a batsman of grace and flair who scored a famous Test century at Old Trafford.

The Guardian said Mushtaq Ali, who died aged 91, was ``the grand old man of Indian cricket and one of the last romantic figures of the game.''

A brilliant and artistic right-hand batsman ``he scored India's maiden Test century abroad, in England, in 1936.''

Quoting Australian all-rounder Keith Miller, the newspaper said ``he was the Errol Flynn of cricket, dashing, flamboyant, swashbuckling and immensely popular''.

The Daily Telegraph in its obituary column described Mushtaq Ali as ``Indian batsman of grace and flair''.

It said ``Mushtaq Ali earned a niche in cricketing history by becoming the first Indian to score a Test century on foreign soil''.

As an opener who liked to attack the ball, Mushtaq thought nothing of using his feet to come down the wicket to the quick bowlers: ``We learnt to play fast bowling by practising on matting wickets,'' he once recalled. ``We did not have helmets, and footwork was the key.''

Not immune to sudden rushes of blood to the head, Mushtaq was liable to jump out of the crease and hoist the ball straight into the hands of a fielder.

Vijay Merchant, with whom he formed a brief but fruitful opening partnership, sometimes found himself alarmed by his teammate's cavalier tendency to chase the bowling in the early overs of an innings.

But Mushtaq could be particularly devastating with the hook shot, and he was adept at steering a ball pitched on the off side to on — a device which, he said ``puzzled the opposition''.

The Australian fast bowler Sam Loxton once speculated that Mushtaq could be the best opening batsmen in the world, the Daily Telegraph wrote. — PTI

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