Birthday special: Imran Khan – Pakistan’s finest leader and all-rounder

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran khan will always be first and foremost, the captain of Pakistan’s national cricket team who transformed a bunch of talented cricketers into world-beaters. The man is responsible for changing the shape of Pakistan’s cricket team and giving them the title of World Champions with his strategic brain and leadership qualities. On the occasion of Imran’s 68th birthday (October 5), let’s revisit the golden era of his domination in the world of cricket.

The legacy

Imran might not have been the best all-rounder of his time, but he was surely the best captain. There were many international captains during the ’80s but there was only one leader on the cricket field and that was Pakistan’s Imran Khan. Under his captaincy, Pakistan was known as a side who could defeat anyone anywhere in the world especially their arch-rivals India. Such was the impact of the veteran captain that the Indians also secretly wished to have a leader like him in their side.

Imran had an eye for talent. He was always there with his players and stood by them to guide them throughout their career. If today, Pakistan boasts of having legends like Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, Waqar Younis and many others on their side, it is because of Imran Khan.

A stellar career

Imran secured a spot for himself in the Pakistan team in 1976, but he hit the headlines in 1978, when he was declared as the third fastest bowler in the world at Perth ahead of the greats like Dennis Lillee and Andy Roberts. He was a ferocious leader and this can be deduced by the fact that he could manage to draw the series against West Indies, the best side of that era and also defeated India in their own den in 1984-1985.

There was a twist in the tale when Imran suddenly took retirement from the game after his team failed to excel in the 1987 World Cup. However, the man was made for greater things, and thus he resumed as the leader of the side on a special request of then Prime Minister Zia-Ul-Haq. He made the comeback in 1988 and started assembling a relatively aggressive and brittle line-up of cricketers with the World Cup of 1992 in sight.

Fairytale ending

In the 1992 World Cup, Pakistan, under the leadership of Imran Khan, scripted a fairy tale comeback to win their maiden World Cup title. He was probably the only player in the team who had a firm belief that they would win the Cup that year. The 1992 World Cup was one where he played more as a batsman and rarely bowled his quota of overs due to a shoulder injury. In fact, he played on pain-killing injections. He played an unattractive but effective knock in that final and took that last England wicket in what turned out to be a fitting finale to a colourful cricketing career.

In the words of West Indies great Viv Richards, “Imran Khan was one of the fiercest competitors and no matter how well you were batting, he would always have a delivery which could come and destroy you. I respect him and his cricketing views; and if the Pakistani side had a leader they looked up to and respected like they did him, they would be a much better and more consistent team than they are now.”

In the years between 1970 to 1992, Imran played in 88 Tests and 175 ODIs for Pakistan. He amassed 3807 and 3709 runs respectively with a batting average hovering in the 30s. The right-arm bowler also claimed 362 and 182 wickets in both the formats.