ISLAMABAD The Indian cricket team for the 1932 tour of England was picked on a quota basis and Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji and Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan of Pataudi could have played for India, but did not, according to Majid Khan, the graceful and attacking top order batsman of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s who also captained Pakistan.
He was speaking on the basis of what his father, Dr Jahangir Khan, told him, he having been a member of the squad. The tour marked India’s maiden appearance in official international cricket.
“The 1932 Indian cricket team for England was not picked on merit, but on a quota basis to give representation to the various communities. It was a ‘divide-and-rule’ system of selection,” he said.
The one and only test match that summer was played at the home of cricket, the Lord’s Cricket Ground, in June 1932. Majid, now 78 and quite a walking historian, elaborated that the tourists were considered in accordance with Britain’s colonial policy in India of identifying Indians on the basis of their religion and caste and fanning division between them; and not on pure cricketing prowess as it ought to have been. Consequently, places in the touring party was distributed between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs reflecting their populations’ strength. Not restricting recognition to their abilities, but also taking into account their faiths.
Among the examples Khan cited of cricketers included in the side, who were perhaps not deserving of inclusion, was Lall Singh, because he was a Sikh and according to the powers-that-were, there had to be at least one person from the community in the mix. To be fair, Singh didn’t fare too badly, considering the general failure of the Indian batting in a contest they lost by 158 runs.
Singh was an outstanding fielder and brilliantly ran out Frank Woolley, a formidable left-handed all-rounder; in the first innings records, “he glided over the ground like a snake”. He scored 15 and 29 in the test, batting in the lower order and was involved in an eighth wicket partnership of 74 runs in the second innings with Amar Singh. His first-class career, though, was short-lived, before he migrated to Malaysia.
Majid showed a photo of players who participated in a game in Delhi on 12-14 February 1932 or roughly four months before India’s test debut. It was between the Viceroy’s XI and the Roshanara Club and was designated as one of the trial matches to determine the composition of the unit for England.
Jahangir played in it. Still a student, he is seen standing on the back row. Duleepsinhji and Pataudi are seen seated on the front row of the picture with Lord Freeman-Thomas Willingdon, the British viceroy, a turbaned Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, who emblazoned test cricket with his esoteric batsmanship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was Duleep’s uncle, and patrons of cricket in India, the maharajas of Patiala and Porbandar. The latter was to be the sponsor and self-appointed captain, though he was wise not to expose himself in the test and instead invited Colonel CK Nayudu to lead the side in the historic fixture.
Narrating from his father’s impressions, Majid said, “Both Duleep and Pataudi could have represented India, but chose not to. Duleep was advised by Ranji to stay away. Pataudi declined the opportunity as well.”
Duleep had in fact made his test debut for England in 1929 and was in exhilarating form for the county of Sussex in 1932; but did not make himself available for India. Duleep’s career ended soon after, with his health becoming impaired by tuberculosis.
Pataudi, too, impressed in July 1932 with a scintillating innings of 165 in the Gentlemen versus Players match at Lord’s. This annual meeting was one of the highlights of the cricketing calendar in that era. The Gentlemen were the upper classes who played as amateurs and did not accept any remuneration; while the Players were of a working-class background who treated cricket as a profession and so accepted fees. The performance was adequate to earn Pataudi a berth on the boat to Australia for England’s tour the following winter.
Pataudi, father of Tiger Pataudi, who captained India in the 1960s and ’70s, and grandfather of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, made the cut for the XI for the first test at Sydney and in fact produced a hundred on debut. However, he was dropped thereafter – branded a ‘conscientious dissenter’ – since he objected to his captain Douglas Jardine’s controversial ‘bodyline’ tactics. He played only once more for England in 1934.
The Nawab, who was scoring heavily for Worcestershire, was offered the captaincy for India’s tour of England in 1936, but he declined saying he wasn’t fully fit. He finally appeared for and led India in 1946, when at the age of 36 he was considered to be past his prime.
The Khans lived in Jalandar. Majid was, in fact, born in Ludhiana. His father Jahangir, who stayed back in England after the 1932 tour to read at Cambridge and complete a PhD, and his son Bazid constitute one of just two examples in cricket history of three consecutive generations in a family scaling the heights of test cricket. The other instance being of the Headleys. George Headley, nicknamed ‘The Black Bradman’, was a prolific run-getter for the West Indies in the 1930s, ‘40s and early ‘50s. His son Ron featured in a couple of tests for the West Indies in 1973. Finally, George’s grandson Dean turned out for England, including winning an Ashes test with his fast-medium bowling at Melbourne in 1998-99.
Yahya Ghaznavi, who lived and worked in England for decades, returned to Pakistan to passionately curate an impressive cricket museum near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board. In a gleaming glass cabinet in a room one would call the sanctum sanctorum of the exhibition are caps and blazers of the three Khans, portraits of George and Ron Headley and Dean’s England cap and blazer. Also on display is Jahangir’s India pullover.
The Khans are more than a cricketing family; they are a fraternity. The flannelled sport extends beyond Jahangir and his immediate descendants. Majid’s elder cousin Javed Burki batted for Pakistan with distinction in the 1960s. His younger cousin Imran Khan attained even greater fame as a fast bowling all-rounder and captain, spearheading his country to a famous World Cup victory in 1992.
Majid showed his class in the semifinal versus the West Indies in the 1979 World Cup. It was at The Oval and Pakistan were replying to a total of 293 for six in their designated 60 overs. Majid and Zaheer Abbas set about their task in flashing fashion to advance their side to 176 for the loss of only one wicket. Then Zaheer fell for 93. 11 runs later Majid exited for 81. It was curtains!
When Imran became Pakistan’s skipper, he proceeded to weed out senior players. Majid was sidelined and took umbrage at his exclusion. For three decades the cousins were not on speaking terms, until a reconciliation occurred in 2010 or 2011.
Bazid, now a TV commentator, told media half a dozen years ago, “The frostiness between my father and uncle ended … after his (Imran’s) sons, Suleiman and Qasim, came over to our ancestral residence in Lahore and spoke about cricket with my father and I.”
Majid now lives in a residential district near downtown Islamabad. Like his father he was a Cambridge Blue, not to mention his glittering career at Glamorgan, where he became captain. Like most of his contemporaries, he was a professional or a “player”, but batted spiritedly like a “gentleman”.