Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
- Runs
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Today Majid Khan turns75.I wish a book was written about this legend.
There could be few more majestic sights than witnessing Majid in full flow.His batting blended the agression of a tiger with the grace of a poet .On a bad wicket he was arguably the best batsman in the world,resembling a surgeon curing patient considered incurable.Majid took batting artistry ,wizardry or domination to depths rarely traversed ,,resembling a magician at his best.After Viv Richards,Noone was a better exponent of the hook shot.Majid's driving was also classical,treating even good balls with contempt.The sheer beauty in his batting was like a lotus in full bloom.Few cricketers gave more justice to batting aesthetics.Majid looked like performing a combing operation with surgical precision ,but still retaining the grace of a priest bowing before a pulpit.
Majid's 167 at Georgetown against the great Caribbean pace battery,ranks amongst the best ever innings against genuine pace ,or to avert a defeat.He simply resurrected Pakistan from the grave in a classic partnership with Zaheer Abbas,for the 3rd wicket.In it's own right his 98 at the Oval in 1974 and 158 at Melbourne in 1972-73 were classics ,or even his 88 ball century n the 1974 Prudential Trophy.In 1st class cricket his 156 versus Glamorgan in 1969 ,compared with the best innings of all time on bad wickets,in the Victor Trumper class.
I recommend every reader to refer to Tony Lewis's description of Majid Khan's 156 at Wourcester.It gives vibrations of an epic.
Zaheer Abbas may have been more elegant or technically correct but in a crisis Majid outscored him.Arguably in the 1970's it was Majid who challenged the likes of Viv or Barry Richards,the Chappell brothers and Gavaskar for the title of the best batsman .I simply cannot seperate Majid from Gundappa Vishwanath.Against pure pace n the 1970's I only rank Viv Richards or Ian Chappell ahead.I would have chosen Majid to open the innings for a test world XI in the lat 1970's.
What may have gone agaisnt Majid was his lack of footwork,which he earlier compensated with his razor sharp reflexes.
Statistics hardly did him justice averaging around 39,but in his peak Majid was in the very top bracket.Sadly he retired on a sour note against India in 1982-83,completely losing his touch.After a loss in form,he revived hi sold touch in 1980 when scoring 110 not out and 89 in a home series against Australia and scoring 74 at Melbourne in 1981-82.
Facing pure pace I rank Majid,with Inzamam Ul Haq and Gundappa Vishwanath as the best pamongst Asian batsmen.On bad wickets with Vishwanath or Rahul Dravid,the best Asian batsman.In term sof pure talent I would rate Majid just a whisker ahead of Inzamam Ul Haq and Javed Miandad.
Where would Majid ranks amongst the greats?To me maybe just a notch below the likes of David Gower, Martin Crowe,Ted Dexter,Kevin Pieterson etc.and on par with Gundappa Vishwanath,Mark Waugh or Aravinda De Silva.
Majid may miss out in pace amongst the 100 best cricketers of all,because of inconsistency in patches. Arguably Kerry Packer cricket and dissension within Pakistan cricket politics,curtailed his career.
I praise his efforts to ressurect Pakistani cricket as a manager in 1994 in New Zealand,getting the bests out the pace duo of Wasim-Waqar.
Umpire Dicky Bird classes Majid in the highest bracket and so did Bishen Bedi.Sadly he was hardly praised enough by the likes of Dennis Lillee or Gary Sobers.
There could be few more majestic sights than witnessing Majid in full flow.His batting blended the agression of a tiger with the grace of a poet .On a bad wicket he was arguably the best batsman in the world,resembling a surgeon curing patient considered incurable.Majid took batting artistry ,wizardry or domination to depths rarely traversed ,,resembling a magician at his best.After Viv Richards,Noone was a better exponent of the hook shot.Majid's driving was also classical,treating even good balls with contempt.The sheer beauty in his batting was like a lotus in full bloom.Few cricketers gave more justice to batting aesthetics.Majid looked like performing a combing operation with surgical precision ,but still retaining the grace of a priest bowing before a pulpit.
Majid's 167 at Georgetown against the great Caribbean pace battery,ranks amongst the best ever innings against genuine pace ,or to avert a defeat.He simply resurrected Pakistan from the grave in a classic partnership with Zaheer Abbas,for the 3rd wicket.In it's own right his 98 at the Oval in 1974 and 158 at Melbourne in 1972-73 were classics ,or even his 88 ball century n the 1974 Prudential Trophy.In 1st class cricket his 156 versus Glamorgan in 1969 ,compared with the best innings of all time on bad wickets,in the Victor Trumper class.
I recommend every reader to refer to Tony Lewis's description of Majid Khan's 156 at Wourcester.It gives vibrations of an epic.
Zaheer Abbas may have been more elegant or technically correct but in a crisis Majid outscored him.Arguably in the 1970's it was Majid who challenged the likes of Viv or Barry Richards,the Chappell brothers and Gavaskar for the title of the best batsman .I simply cannot seperate Majid from Gundappa Vishwanath.Against pure pace n the 1970's I only rank Viv Richards or Ian Chappell ahead.I would have chosen Majid to open the innings for a test world XI in the lat 1970's.
What may have gone agaisnt Majid was his lack of footwork,which he earlier compensated with his razor sharp reflexes.
Statistics hardly did him justice averaging around 39,but in his peak Majid was in the very top bracket.Sadly he retired on a sour note against India in 1982-83,completely losing his touch.After a loss in form,he revived hi sold touch in 1980 when scoring 110 not out and 89 in a home series against Australia and scoring 74 at Melbourne in 1981-82.
Facing pure pace I rank Majid,with Inzamam Ul Haq and Gundappa Vishwanath as the best pamongst Asian batsmen.On bad wickets with Vishwanath or Rahul Dravid,the best Asian batsman.In term sof pure talent I would rate Majid just a whisker ahead of Inzamam Ul Haq and Javed Miandad.
Where would Majid ranks amongst the greats?To me maybe just a notch below the likes of David Gower, Martin Crowe,Ted Dexter,Kevin Pieterson etc.and on par with Gundappa Vishwanath,Mark Waugh or Aravinda De Silva.
Majid may miss out in pace amongst the 100 best cricketers of all,because of inconsistency in patches. Arguably Kerry Packer cricket and dissension within Pakistan cricket politics,curtailed his career.
I praise his efforts to ressurect Pakistani cricket as a manager in 1994 in New Zealand,getting the bests out the pace duo of Wasim-Waqar.
Umpire Dicky Bird classes Majid in the highest bracket and so did Bishen Bedi.Sadly he was hardly praised enough by the likes of Dennis Lillee or Gary Sobers.
