On This Day: November 25, 1952 - Imran Khan was born

happy Birthday..My fb newsfeed is full with imran khan lol
 
Tribute to Imran Khan on 60 th birthday

Today,Imran Khan is 60.In this piece I pay this maestro a tribute who was like a Muhammad Ali to cricket.

One of the handsomest personalities to ever grace the sport of Cricket who looked more like a Hollywood Star.His presence on the field exuded the feeling of seeing an emperor commanding his knights.The most charismatic cricketer of his era resembling an emperor Watching Imran Khan was a sight to behold,whether batting ,bowiling or fielding.

He started his test career in England in 1974 but hardly made a significant impact.His true promise was revealed o the tour of Australia in 1976-77.Here his 18 wickets were instrumental in Pakistan sharing a test series for the first time in Australia by winning their first ever test in Australia at Sydney.Like a lion Imran tore the Australian top order with figures of 6-63and 6-102.His pace rattled batsman like Greg Chappell and he most effectively combined pace and bounce with swing.At times he bowled as fast as Dennis Lillee. Imran had now become a legend .

Subsequently,on a tour of West Indies he captured 25 wickets enabling Pakistan to come within ahair breadth of squaring the test series.He troubled the likes of Sir Vivian Richards,Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd deploying variations of swing and bouncers. He was brilliant at TRinidad in the 2nd innings when the home team was just set 180 odd to win and in the final test at Kington o the 1st innings.Hids agression combined with prodigious swing and immaculate control,was athorn in the flseh of the WEst Indian batting.Viv Ricahrds could hardly make abig score.



In 1977 he joined Kery Packer Cricket where he was a thorn in the flesh of great batsman like Greg and Ian Chappeel,Viv RichardsEtc.He captured 25 wickets in 5 games at an average of around 22 runs which was remarkable.He developed his ability to swing the ball and improved his batting,playing some useful knocks. I can never forget his clean bolwing Ian Chappell in the supertest final.Dennis Lille rated him the best allrounder in the World after Mike Procter in that period-ahead of Botham.


In 1978-79 he made spectacular return to the official test arena in a historic series versus India.He captured 14 wickets and he made a great contributio to Pakistan’s 2-0 triumph capturing 14 wickets.At Karachi his big hitting including towering sixes played an instrumental role in the Pak victory.Imran showed his great prowess on dead tracks by repeatedly making crucial breakthroughs in the Indian batting ranks.He often dismissed Gavaskar and Vishwanath.He was effective in the 1979 Prudential Cup but was plagued by injurise on the disastrous tour of India where Pakistan lost 2-0.Imran captured 19 wickets at 19 runs apiece and played some useful innings.He continued to give fine bolwing performances on the dead Paksitani wockets against Australai and WEst Indies in 1980 but above all in the series against Est INdise egistered his first ever test centurysoring 123 not out after his team was idire straights.

In 1981 he bolwed superby in Australai overshadoiwng even DEnnis Lillee and capturing 16 wickets .Ian Chappell felt that he bowled quicker than even Jeff Thomson.Imran;s controlled swing and cut was almsot unplayable. and he was awarded the man of the series.At Melbourne he surpassed Fazal Mahmoods record of 199 wickets and became the record wicket taker for Pakistan.At home he ripped apart Sri Lanka in the 2nd tset with figures of 8-58 and 6-58.


He was appointed captain for the first time on the tour of England and gave an allround performance in the Gary Sobers class.He captured 21 wickets at 18.53 apiece and scored 318 runs at an average of 53.He bolwed brilliantly at Edgabaston taking 7-52 and at Leed got 5-49 in the first innings.Though he only captured 4 wickest at Lords he bolwed brilliantly and his captaincy was outstanding,particularly the way he used Abdul Qadir,the leg spinner who weavedmagic.Pakistan won the first ever test at Lords and squared the series. He made most intelligent field placings and displayed exemplary swing and control. In the final inings of the 3rd test at Headingley on the penultimate Imran bolwed one of the mot sensational spells I have seen.England were cruising requiring 40 odd with 8 wickets .(total target of 219runs)in hand when Imran came steaming in.In no time he trapped Derek Randall and Mike Gatting and Pakistan were on the verge of asensational victory before bad light stopped play.It was one of cricket’s majestic sights watching Imran coming in to bowl with the agression of a tiger coming out of an ambush.At Edgbaston and Headingley he batted superbly scoring superb 50's including an unbeaten 75 at Headingley.,when stalwarts like Zaheer and Majid failed.Imran dispalyed an exempelary defensive technique and when in the mood ravaged he bad balls,remimding you of acommander saving asinking ship.His leadership was instrumental in taking Pakistan to within ahair’s breadth of their first ever serise win in England.Infact dubious umpiring decisions at Leeds cost Pakistan a series win.They were also handicapped with the absence of Sarafraz Nawaz at Leeeds who was reknowned for his mastery in seaming conditions.He looked like an emperor commanding his knights on the field. Above all he overshadowed Ian Botham ,with the bat and the ball.


In 1982-83 he led his team to a series win against Australia and then to historic series win against India where he captured 40 wickets at 13.95.-the greatest pace bowling peformance on the sub-continent.He also played some useful knocks but his bowling was what stood out .His spell of 5-3 of 25 balls(overall 8-60) at Karcahi anf 5-8 of 23 deliveries at Hyderabad are amongts the graetset of all time.In Karachi he clean bolwed the likes of Gavaskar,Vishwanath ,Kapil Def and Sandeep Patil.Etc,like atiger tearing flesh.It was like a bomber destroying an enemy airbase. He bowled Gavaskar with an inswinger brilliantly penetrating through his impregnable defence and bowled Vishwanath with a ball to which he shouldered arms. At Hyderbad he outfoxed Gavaskar with an outswinger and bolwed Vengsakar and his likes.At Faislabad he became the 2nd player ever to score a Century and take 10 wickets.


In the 1983 Workld cup Injury prevented himself from bolwing but he batted like achampion averaging 70 runs including acentury versus Sri Lanka. It was asight seeing him playing with such responsibilty as though he was commanding anavy fleet.It was his century against Sri Lanka that kept Pakistan's hope s alive afte thgey were 50-5.Eventually they pulled of a sensational win.In the final league game his 79 and brilliant partnership wit Zaheer Ababs pulled Pak through to the semi-finals.

He made a comeback as a bowler in 1985 at Sharjah where he ripped the heart of the Indian batting but his team lost.9bolwed out of 87)In 1986 he was re-awarded capataincy and he led his team to win the Australasia Cup as well as to adrawn rubber against West Indise at home.His 18 wickets were most deserved and he captured amatch-wining 5 wicket haul at faisalabad,tearing apart the calypso batting.In the 1986-87 tour of India his leadarship and batting played amajor role in Pakistan wining their first ever series in India as well as the one day series.He demonstrated his competent batting technique avearging 64 runs.His batting set the base for Pakistan's victory as he single-handedly staved off middle orde collapses.His 39 at Banglaore in the deciding test which Pakisatn won by only 16 runs was a major contributio on one of the worst wickets.

In 1987 he led Pakistan to their first series win in England and his 10 wickets at Headingley was the deciding factor.His mastery of pace and controlled swing could not have been more amply demonstrated.At Egbaston he captured 6-129 showing his abilty to bowl marathon spells.He also scored acentury at the Oval.Imran had avenged the series defeat he suffered in 1982 with a a Muhammad Ali type of resurrection.The Pakistan team was now ranked 2nd in the world and Imran's team reminded one of Ian Chappe'ls Australian team of 1972,who were on the verge of becoming world beaters.

In the 1987 Reliance Cup he was the best bowler capturing 17 wickets at 17.65 apiece but his team capitulated in the semi-final.Imram bowled a brilliant line ,but unfortunately his bowling was not at his best in the semi-final and his team was over-confident.However he batted with exempelary application scoring 58 and taking his team close to victory in a big 130 run partnership with Javed Miandad.In the league games he was a thorn in the flesh of the English and West Indian batsman.(England were the best one day side in the world in the past one year)He announced his retirement after the 197 Reliance Cup.


However a few months later he came out of retirement in 1988 like a Greek God ressurected to lead Pakistan to become the first team to draw a series in West Indies since England in 1974.The series was billed as the unofficial world championship.He captured 23 wickets including a match-wining haul of 11 at Georgetown and 9 at Trinidad.In the end Pakistan came within a whisker of winning their first test series on Carribean soil.He displayed his unrelenting hostility and agression and his inswing was unplayable.His spell at Trinidad almost ran through the heart of the West Indian batting and some dubious umpiring decisions at Barbados in the final test cost Pakistan the series. It was remarkable that at 36 he showed the resilience of a sportsman like Muhammad Ali.Imran was voted the man of the serise in 3 consecutive series in India,England and West Indies.


He led Pakistan to further victories in one day tournaments like the Nehru Cup i 1989 and the 1990 Australasi Cap but his greatset triumph was in the 1992 World Cup.After all seemed lost his team came back like tigers out of an ambush and pulled of a string of sensational victories.Imran simply resurrected Pakistan from the grave with the tactical genius and courage of a great military commander.Imran topscored in the final with 70,displaying charsterictic responsibility.He could not have made a more apropriate retirement than see his team crowned world champions. He held his team's morale and nerves after they were on the verge of being eliminated reminding one of the Russian victory from an impossible situation in the Battle of Stalingrad.He avenged the 1987 reliance Cup defeat.


He was not as flamboyant with the bat as Botham or KapilDev or as prolific as Kallis but outplayed them all to aconsiderable extent as a bowler..Overall as an all-rounder.for the 2nd spot to Sobers it is a tussle between Keith Miller,Jacques Kallis,Ian Botham and Imran Khan.I think Imran and Botham are closest together.At his best as a pure all-rounder Botham was the 2nd best to Sobers.From 1977-1982 Ian Botham was the best all-rounder after Sobers but in his next 54 testst or half of his career declined.Imran was at his peak as an all rounder from 1981 to 1988.From 1982-88 he was the best allrounder in the worldwith Botham’s decline after 1982.As a paceman Imran had the best average and strike rate by any fast bolwer from 1980 to 1988 capturing 236 wickets at 17.6 at a strike rate of 43 balls per wicket.No bowler was as successful against West Indies as Imran.From 1989-1992 Imran peaked as a batsman averaging over 55 runs but his bowling declined.Where Ian Botham scored over Imran was his greater frequency in giving outstanding performances with both bat and ball in matches and series. Botham took 5 wickets and scored a century in 5 tests which is a record.Imran has not eqalled Botham’s performance in the 1980 Jubilee test in Mumbai or in the 1981 Ashes if you consider the situations Botham faced.Imran did not excel with the ball and bat at the same time and as a batsman Botham was a greater match-winner.Where Imran scored over Botham was his overall consistency.Remember he outplayed Ian Botham on English soil in both the series he played against.Personally I cannot separate Botham and Imran as an all-rounder .In an all-time 11 with Gary Sobers an automatic choice Imran would be the more likely component being a great fast bowling all-rounderand thus a better accomplice to Sobers.Botham was better match-winner as a pure all-rounder but as fast bowling all-rounder overall Imran had the edge as amatch-winner.In full cry with the ball Imran would tear through the best of batting like a tiger tearing flesh.He was a master of the inswinger and the bouncer and with Wasim Akram the greatset ever exponent of the old ball.Richard Hadlee did not have Imarn;s skill on bad wickets ot agression when being attacked.He could also launch arelentless assault with the bat and often lofted sixes. Above all he will be remembered for taking Pakistan from a team of brilliantly talented individuals to a world champion team in both forms of the game.He brilliantly encouraged the spin wizard Abdul Qadir,brought up Wasim Akram and inspired his taem mates more than any skipper ,bar 3-4 in Cricket history.Under him Pakistan won their first ever serise victory i India and England and almsot clinched the world title in the 1988 serise on Carribean soil.Imran is rated by Wisden as the 7th best Cricketer of the Century,above Hadlee,Botham and Marshall.(Even above Sunil Gavaskar)Imran had a temperament of a military Marshall which is why he outplayed other greats.


As a pacebowler alone Imran is a strong contender for the best of all time with Lillee,Mrashall ,Hadlee Mcgrath etc.Statistically,Imran was arguably 2nd to only Sir Richard Hadlee.


To me Imran Khan is the greatest match-winner with Viv Richards after the retirement of Sir Gary Sobers.He is the greatest fast bowling all-rounder ever (capture wickest on dead sub-continent tracks)and became a great batsman late in his career.(best defensive technique amongst all)No cricketer shaped the destiny of his nation as much as Imran did in his era.He reminded you of a great political leader or emperor.He was the most outstanding skipper of all allrounders ..He was amongst the greatest captains ever leading his team like a Marshall in an Army .He was a master tactician as askipper.Overall amongst post-war captains I rate Imran only behind Ian Chappell,Frank Worrel and Mark Taylor.He led Pakistan to becoming the joint unofficial test champions and the one day Champions.At his best in 1982 -83 and 1987-88 he outplayed any cricketer.In John Armstrong’s 100 best cricketers of all time Imran is ranked 5th behind only Bradman,Grace,Sobers and Warne and ahead of Tendulkar,Hobbs ,Marshall and Viv Richards.Cristopher Martin Jenkins puts Imran in 16th place amongst the 100 best cricketers of all below Marshall,Mcgrath,Gilchrist unlike Armstrong.Adding his leadership qualities,I personally rate Imran on par with Tendulkar and Viv Richards and only behind Bradman,Grace,Sobers,Hobbs and Warne.


Imran khan rates Viv Richards the greatest batsman he has bowled to,SunilGavaskar the most difficult batsman to dismiss,Ian Chappel the graetest skipper and Michael Holding as the best bowler of his era.The destructive potential of Sir Viv Richards,the compactness of Sunil Gavaskar ,the leadership qualities of Ian Chappell and the bowling action and consistent speed of Michael Holding is a phenomenan unmatched till this day.Imran is critical that Tendulkar is not a match-winner and rates Wasim Akram the greatest bowler of the present era.In his day he rated Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal highly and thought Zaheer Abbas had the best timing.In Imran;s view Inzamam Ul Haq is the best player of fast bolwing after Sir Viv Richards.(better than Sachin and Lara)



Let us bow down to this giant.He is one of the handsomest sportsman ever and had great academic prowess which he has applied in Pakistan politics.He built a cancer hospital in the memory of his mother and also actively participated in politics. The charisma he exudes is more like a great leader like Gandhi or Mao Tse Tung. Today he is an astute politician and makes intelligent statements on world politics.


Record of Imran Khan

Batting

Mat I No Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 1 00 50 0

overall 88 126 25 3807 136 135* 123 37.69 6 18 8
matches won 26 31 6 900 117 73* 70* 36.00 1 4 2
matches drawn 45 61 16 2250 136 135* 123 50.00 5 12 2
matches lost 17 34 3 657 67* 65 46 21.19 0 2 4


Bowling

Mat Balls R W BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 5 10

overall 88 19458 8258 362 8/58 14/116 22.81 2.54 53.7 23 6

matches won 26 5941 2248 155 8/58 14/116 14.50 2.27 38.3 11 6
matches drawn 45 9692 4227 138 6/46 9/130 30.63 2.61 70.2 6 0
matches lost 17 3825 1783 69 7/52 9/136 25.84 2.79 55.4 6 0

Figures show he was agraet match winner as a a bowler but a better batsman in drawn games.

My 10 top performances of Imran Khan
1.Leeds test in 1982 when he took 5-49 and 3-66 and scored 75.n.o and 46 which almost won the test.


2.6-63 and 6-102 at Sydney in 1976-77
One of the most memorable and exhilarating spell of pace bolwing ever seen which enabled Pakistan to register a historic win a draw their 1st series in Australia..Imran was simply atiger in full fury.


3.11 wickets and 117 at Faisalbad v.India in 1982-83
His efforts enabled Pakistan to outplay India and gain a 2-0 lead in the series.


4..8-60 , 3-19 and 45 runs at Karachi in 1982
One of the best spells of bowling ever seen in cricket history.when Imran captured 5 wickets for 3 runs ripping his opponents like a tiger piercing flesh.



5.123 n.o.v.Westindies in 1980

Imran proved his prowess as abatsman ,that too when the chips were down defying the great West Indian pace attack.


6.7-80 and 4-39 at Georgetown in 1988
Imran bowled with te haet of a lion to make Pakistan the 1st team to beat West Indies on their home soil in a test match for 10 years.


7.7-52 and 65 runs at Edgbaston in 1982
Imran bowled and batted heroically with his charasterictic flair,inspite of his team losing.


8.14 wickets versus Sri Lanka in the 2nd test in 1982 at Lahore.

Imran bowled like a bomber raiding an airbase.


9.136 at Brisbane in 1989-90
With Wasim Akram Imran almost turned a lost cause into a possible win .

10.6-90 at Kingston in 1977
Imran bowled with the heart of a lion against the likes of Greenidge,Richards and Lloyd.


Imran’s best series efforts

1/1982 in England-21 wkts at 18.53 and 318 runs at 53
I have rated this the best as he had to perform in a crisis with hardly any support from the batsman

2.1982-83 in Pakistan v.India 40 wkts at 13,95 anand averaged 61 runs
Statistically,the best but rtaed 2nd as he received great support from his batsman like Zaheer Abbas,Jsaved Miandada and Mudassar Nazar.

3.West Indies in 1988-took 23 wickets at 17 runs apiece.
Arguaby the best pace bowling performance by an overseas bolwer in West Indies.

4.In England in 1987 took 21 wickets at 20 runs and scored over 200 runs averaging around 50.



Stats analysis from cricinfo


During his peak years in Test cricket, Imran was easily the best allrounder among his peers. In the nine years between 1980 and 1988, his bowling average of 17.77 was almost 22 lesser than his batting average - the difference was clearly the best among those with 1500 runs and 100 wickets during this period. Hadlee's bowling performances were exceptional during this period, but he couldn't quite match up to Imran with the bat, while both Botham and Kapil had far lesser success with the ball.
Top allrounders between 1980 and 1988 (Qual: 1500 runs, 100 wickets)
Player Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM Diff in ave
Imran Khan 48 2028 39.76 4/ 10 236 17.77 18/ 5 21.99
Richard Hadlee 51 1987 31.04 2/ 10 284 19.03 28/ 7 12.01
Ian Botham 72 3989 34.38 10/ 19 255 31.83 15/ 2 2.55
Kapil Dev 72 3103 31.98 5/ 16 242 30.05 14/ 2 1.93
Ravi Shastri 61 2702 34.64 7/ 10 132 38.24 2/ 0 -3.60
In fact, extending this analysis to all Test cricket, only Sobers had a higher difference between batting and bowling averages (among those with at least 3000 runs and 200 wickets, and two wickets per Test). Jacques Kallis is the other allrounder who has more than 3000 runs and 200 wickets - and a huge difference between batting and bowling averages - but for much of his career Kallis has been a batsman who bowls a bit: his 266 wickets have come from 140 Tests, an average of less than two wickets per match.
Best allrounders in Tests (Qual: 3000 runs and 200 wkts; at least two wkts per Test)
Player Tests Runs Average 100s Wickets Average 5WI Diff in ave
Garry Sobers 93 8032 57.78 26 235 34.03 6 23.75
Imran Khan 88 3807 37.69 6 362 22.81 23 14.88
Shaun Pollock 108 3781 32.31 2 421 23.11 16 9.20
Ian Botham 102 5200 33.54 14 383 28.40 27 5.14
Richard Hadlee 86 3124 27.16 2 431 22.29 36 4.87
Chris Cairns 62 3320 33.53 5 218 29.40 13 4.13
Kapil Dev 131 5248 31.05 8 434 29.64 23 1.41
In his pomp, not only was Imran the best allrounder, he was also the best bowler in the world. At a time when a connoisseur of fast bowling would have been spoilt for choice, for there were so many great ones going around, Imran was still the best of the lot with an average of 17.77 and a strike rate of less than 44 balls per wicket. Hadlee was next in line, with three West Indians following in their wake. The top six all averaged less than 25, which is also a telling commentary on the balance of power between bat and ball during that period.
Top bowlers in the world between 1980 and 1988 (Qual: 150 wickets)
Bowler Tests Wickets Average Strike rate 5WI/ 10WM
Imran Khan 48 236 17.77 43.6 18/ 5
Richard Hadlee 51 284 19.03 47.0 28/ 7
Malcolm Marshall 58 297 20.20 44.7 18/ 3
Joel Garner 49 210 20.62 51.8 7/ 0
Michael Holding 45 184 23.38 50.3 9/ 1
Dennis Lillee 35 171 24.07 52.3 11/ 3
What's more surprising, though, is the sort of numbers Imran racked up as a batsman when his glory days as a bowler were over. He was technically sound and could play with the straightest of bats, and when he worked on his patience and temperament, the result was a batsman who could play long innings and adapt his game according to the needs of the hour. In the last five years of his career, Imran averaged 59.69 in 28 Tests, and four of his six Test hundreds came during this period. Among those who scored at least 1500 runs during this period, only New Zealand's Martin Crowe had a better average.
Admittedly, the average was boosted by the number of not-outs he notched up - 11 in 37 innings - but that further illustrates how difficult he was to dismiss during the last years of his Test career. Even Javed Miandad had a lower average, though he scored almost 1000 more runs than Imran.
Highest batting averages between Jan 1, 1987 and Jan 6, 1992 (Qual: 1500 runs)
Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Martin Crowe 24 2186 60.72 8/ 8
Imran Khan 28 1552 59.69 4/ 9
Graham Gooch 32 3282 55.62 8/ 18
Andrew Jones 20 1703 54.93 5/ 6
Javed Miandad 35 2512 54.60 8/ 10
Mark Taylor 28 2565 53.43 7/ 17
Robin Smith 28 2118 52.95 6/ 15
Shoaib Mohammad 32 2175 50.58 7/ 8
One of the highlights of Imran's career was his battles against the best team of his times, West Indies. As a batsman he wasn't as effective against them, but as a bowler he was superb, taking 80 wickets at 21.18. Comparing the stats of the four superstar allrounders of that era against West Indies, it's clear that three of them raised their games against them - Hadlee and Kapil too had terrific numbers against them - but the disappointment was Botham, who struggled with both bat and ball.
The four allrounders against West Indies
Player Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM
Imran Khan 18 775 27.67 1/ 3 80 21.18 6/ 1
Richard Hadlee 10 389 32.41 1/ 1 51 22.03 4/ 1
Kapil Dev 25 1079 30.82 3/ 4 89 24.89 4/ 1
Ian Botham 20 792 21.40 0/ 4 61 35.18 3/
 
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Happy Birthday to Imran Khan:).
 
Happy 60th Birthday to Imran Khan Niazi. I hope Great Khan celebrate 61th Birthday next year as Prime Minister of Pakistan. #Pakistan
 
Happy bday champ! May Allah SWT give you a healthy and long life and that you become the leader of Pakistan as well :)
 
Happy bday champ! May Allah SWT give you a healthy and long life and that you become the leader of Pakistan as well :)

Ameen , he is already a Leader of Pakistan. Hope he becomes our prime minister.
 
Happy Birthday Imran Khan!!!

On this day in 1952, Imran Khan, the legendary cricketer was born in Lahore.

Imran played 88 Test matches in his career, scoring 3807 runs and taking 362 wickets, at an average of 37.69 and 22.81 respectively.

He also played 175 ODIs, scoring 3709 runs and taking 182 wickets, at an average of 33.41 and 26.61 respectively.

Imran Khan is undisputedly one of best cricketer, if not the best cricketer that Pakistan has ever produced and Pakistan is still searching for another Imran Khan!

Thanks for all the memories Imran Khan, Happy Birthday and may you have many more! :)
 
wow how time flies, can't believe he's 60. Happy Birthday Sir!
 
We were at one of his charity dinners last weekend and he doesn't look anywhere near 60 and was in good form. Happy birthday to one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
 
Happy birthday great khan :imran

My favorite living personality and one of the finest Pakistan has ever produced.

If only Pakistan had a couple more half the calibre of this man
 
wow-he is a old man . May he live upto 90 & also become pm .i like him as a cricketer & people rate him as a captain so he would be good as pm .
 
Erm is his age legit? :afridi
My father was his junior in Aitchison college, 1 year.
He turned 60 last August.

He might be a bit more than 60 because he's an ex cricketer and now a politician. Beneficial to reverse your age in both fields :yk
 
On This Day November 25, 1952: Imran Khan was born

Pakistan's ODI World Cup winning captain and perhaps the greatest cricketer Pakistan have produced was born 61 years ago today in Lahore.

Here's wishing him a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.

Following is a short documentary (one of many that can be found) on Imran Khan from the 'Pioneers of Cricket' series:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VaP7jv1YLcQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
As a fan - what was your favorite spell or innings played by Imran Khan?
 
You know what's more interesting? Another great all rounder of same era Botham was born on 24th November.

Imran Khan:
November 25, 1952

Ian Botham:
November 24, 1955
 
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Wish we had him, what a player! What a kaptaan! One of the greatest of all time. Destroyed India like Hadlee destroyed Aussies.
 
The best we ever produced by far. this guy was the true "blessed in all facets of the game" . I would happily give the entire lineup 11 for just one player like him.

Happy birthday legend.
 
25th Nov 1952 : Imran Khan, one of the greatest cricketers of all time was born in Lahore

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On this day 1952. Imran Khan, one of the greatest cricketers of all time was born in Lahore <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/8cDUt0nbuU">pic.twitter.com/8cDUt0nbuU</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/802161579106177024">November 25, 2016</a></blockquote>
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His influence on Pakistan cricket (+ve or -ve can be discussed) is incredible.
 
IMO, the greatest of them all.

What a package - bowler, batsman, captain and the leader.
 
Happy birthday to the greatest Pakistani crickter to ever play wear the green shirt.
 
Wikipedia says his birthday is on 5th october

Yes there is some confusion about it. His official birthday i.e. the one on his ID appears to be 25th November but people say the actual one is 5th October.

Best to stick with the official one. :D
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> 1952. The legendary Imran Khan, one of the greatest cricketers of all time was born in Lahore <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/yVwkpEjupE">pic.twitter.com/yVwkpEjupE</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/934342739927404544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Second greatest all rounder after Sobers, top 5 fast bowlers of all time.... Happy Birthday to the legend...
 
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