He is an unassuming sort of a chap - I met him a few years ago as he was visiting Bahrain for some coaching - As a bemused Mushtaq shook hands with me, memories from 20 years ago came rushing back - tears barely held back as I recalled when I first saw Mushtaq on a playing field in Pakistani colours...

He is an unassuming sort of a chap - I met him a few years ago as he was visiting Bahrain for some coaching - As a bemused Mushtaq shook hands with me, memories from 20 years ago came rushing back - tears barely held back as I recalled when I first saw Mushtaq on a playing field in Pakistani colours...

It was November 1978 - the third match of a 3 match test series against India. The 2 nations had resumed thier rivalry after years and years of war and suspicion. As a young school boy, this was the greatest thing happening in our lives!

Pakistan were leading the series after a win in Lahore and India would do their utmost to not to lose against their bitter rivals in the final test at Karachi. There was air of expectancy in the city in those days – whoever you met, whether at school or on the street had their strategy to beat India. It was as if the city of Karachi would not sleep until we beat India!

The stage was set.

India boasted a formidable batting lineup of Amarnath Brothers, Surinder and Mohinder and the likes of Vishwanath, Vengsarkar the batting maestro - Sunil Gavaskar.

In bowling, Indias spinners led by their captain Bishen Singh Bedi and the wily Chandrashekar. They were supported by Carson Ghavri and a newish face - Kapil Dev!

By this time in our cricketing history, Imran and Miandad were household names. However, the man we looked upto as a nation were the stalwarts of our team – Majid, Asif, Zaheer, Sarfraz, Bari and of course, our captain Mushtaq Mohammad.

The test began and to my extreme displeasure, my mother (May ALLAH grant her Janna, Ameen) would not allow me to miss school to watch this game at the NSK! No worries – the good old portable radio had been invented and on it came during school hours. You have to remember, this was India we were playing – even the teachers would turn around while teaching and ask us for score updates !

The first 4 days of this match yielded a tightly fought game - India scored a formidable 344 with Gavaskar hitting a 100 - Pakistan replied with 481 ( Miandad scored a hundred).

India went into the 5th day 131/2 looking to see out this day and put some pressure on Pakistan. For Pakistan, all that was required was to draw this match but the days when a Pakistan team would work for a tame draw were long gone – we were in the age of the new Goliaths of Cricket - I suppose we all felt that which is why the air was electric on that Sunday morning. I did not sleep all night and as I arrived at NSK in the morning to take my seat with my Father, I knew that something very special was about to happen - we were not disappointed!

The much vaunted Indian batting line up collapsed in front of some hostile bowling my Imran and Sarfraz ( 5fer by the great man) and some astute captaincy by Mushtaq – a target of 164 was set. Gavaskar scored a 100 in both innings but it was to no avail.

Pakistan sent in Majid and Asif Iqbal as openers and the fun began. Majid was sublime and Asif was faster than lightning between wickets. Together they put on an opening stand of 21 before Majid was out. The Indian bowlers tried their best to slow things down – Kapil consistently bowling a way outside off or leg stump. This prompted Majid Khan to pull out of one of the stumps and place it a good meter on the side to point out the negativity !! In the meantime, a man next to me threw an orange at Kapil Dec - the fruit splattered on his trousers and he turned towards us in the crowd - we all looked sheepishly at each other

The real fireworks came when Imran and Miandad got together and hammered their way to a glorious Pakistani victory. Fours and Sixes (lusty hitting as Ifti described it in the commentary box) mixed with cheeky singles saw us to that target - we all cheered wildly at every run – the dream of every Pakistani fan had come true and Karachi, the city of lights was lit up with glory and stood proudly by its cricketers – we were truly the kings of cricket.