Baqa Jilani

Mohammad Baqa Khan Jilani pronunciationⓘ (20 July 1911 – 2 July 1941) was a bowler who represented India in Test cricket.

Baqa Jilani
Personal information
Full name
Mohammad Baqa Khan Jilani
Born(1911-07-20)20 July 1911
Jalandhar, Punjab, British India
Died2 July 1941(1941-07-02) (aged 29)
Jalandhar, Punjab, British India
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
International information
National side
Only Test (cap 26)15 August 1936 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 1 31
Runs scored 16 928
Batting average 8.00 18.56
100s/50s 0/0 1/5
Top score 12 113
Balls bowled 90 3,603
Wickets 0 83
Bowling average – 19.93
5 wickets in innings – 3
10 wickets in match – 1
Best bowling – 7/37
Catches/stumpings 0/– 12/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 September 2022

Early life and family

Jilani was born in Jalandhar, Punjab on 20 July 1911. He was related by marriage to the family that also produced Majid Khan, Javed Burki and Imran Khan, who is the former Prime Minister of Pakistan).[1]

Career

As a right-arm medium-paced bowler and a decent lower-order batsman, he kicked off his career with twelve wickets on first-class debut. He also took the first hat-trick in Ranji Trophy, for Northern India against Southern Punjab in the semifinal of the first tournament in 1934–35.[2] Southern Punjab was dismissed for 22 which was the lowest total in the competition for 76 years.[3][4]

Jilani played his only Test match in England in 1936 during a tour wrecked by infighting between two factions supportive of the captain Vizzy and the former captain C. K. Nayudu. Jilani belonged to the former group. A few days before the Test Match at the Oval, Jilani publicly insulted Nayudu while coming down to breakfast. It has been alleged that he owed to this incident his subsequent Test debut, a forgettable affair to which he contributed sixteen runs and fifteen wicketless overs. During the tour, according to Cota Ramaswami, Jilani had high blood pressure, insomnia, sleep-walking and violent outbursts of temper. "Nobody could say when he was normal and when he got into uncontrollable temper. He was constantly undergoing treatment during the tour".[5]

An Extra Assistant Commissioner in Jalandhar, Jilani died a few days before his thirtieth birthday, thus becoming the second-ever Indian Test cricketer, after Amar Singh, to die. He had an epileptic seizure, fell from the balcony of his house in Jullundur, and died instantly.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Cricketing Dynasties: The twenty two families of Pakistan Test cricket – Part 1". The News International. Pakistan.
  2. "Hat-Tricks in Ranji Trophy". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. "The Home of CricketArchive". CricketArchive.
  4. "Lowest teams totals in first class cricket". Archived from the original on 19 November 2011.
  5. C. Ramaswami, Personalities of the 1936 tour of England (My reminiscences – IV), Indian Express, 9 August 1964 (accessed 9 September 2013)
  6. Indian Express, 5 July 1941

Notes
  • Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket
  • Richard Cashman, Patrons, Players and the Crowd
  • Baqa Jilani at ESPNcricinfo
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