Mushtaq Mohammed is one of the five Mohammed brothers; four of whom have etched a prominent place for themselves in the history of cricket. Born in 1943, Mushtaq Mohammed started playing first class cricket at the age of 13 years. Mushtaq Mohammad was associated with the English county Northampton shire from 1966-1977.
Mushtaq Mohammad showed his potential as an all-rounder by scoring 87 runs and taking 5 wickets for just 28 runs on his debut.
Altogether Mushtaq Mohammad has scored 31,091 runs most of them when playing for Northampton shire. Mushtaq also captained the county which won its first ever trophy the Gillette Cup in 1976 and also bagged second position in county championship.
Mushtaq Mohammed made his test debut against West Indies in 1959 at Lahore. Although Mushtaq is said to be the youngest test player, there are doubts about the authenticity of this claim. Mushtaq scored his first test century against India in India.
Mushtaq was also an accomplished wrist- spinner who got wickets at crucial moments with his googly, flipper and legbreak. Mushtaq Mohammed was also a part of the Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. Due to ample opportunity he got when playing for Northampton shire, Mushtaq became the first Pakistani to score 25,000 runs. Mushtaq is also a master of reverse sweep; a stroke he learnt from his elder brother the legendary Hanif Mohammed.
The year 1973 was particularly good for Mushtaq; he scored a century (121) against Australia and a month later a double century (201) against New Zealand. He scored 777 runs that year.
Mushtaq also led Pakistani team in 19 matches. Under his captaincy, the Pakistani team defeated West Indies in West Indies with Mushtaq contributing 121 and 56 with the bat and claiming 8 victims with the ball. Pakistan also won the home series against India in 1978-79.
Mushtaq also coached the Pakistan team which reached the finals of the 1999 World Cup.
