When Imran Khan came to my home town Allahabad
By Justice Markandey Katju
''Aane
waali naslen mujhse rashk karengi hum aasron
Jab woh
jaanengi maine Imran Khan ko dekha hai''
Former
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is prominently in the news these days. I
have been his strong supporter on the social media for long ( though I have
never personally met him and am not connected to him in any way ), as he is
bravely leading the democratic
forces in Pakistan ( even from inside
Attock jail where he is incarcerated in bogus cases) against the
fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan Establishment.
 |
| Why is Justice Katju a big fan of Imran Khan |
There was an
Indian cricketer named William
Ghosh, who played first class ( Ranji Trophy ) cricket for the Indian
Railways from 1949 to 1968 ( though he never played in a Test match ).
William
Ghosh was a friend of Imran Khan's father, who persuaded Imran to come to
Allahabad ( my home town ) in 1984 to play a William Ghosh benefit cricket match, whose
proceeds would go to Ghosh, who was then in some financial distress.
The match
was played in the huge Madan Mohan Malviya cricket stadium in Allahabad. Though
entry was only by tickets which had to be purchased, there was a massive crowd
of spectators, all eager to see the legendary cricketer.
I was then a lawyer in Allahabad High Court,
and when I heard that the celebrity Imran Khan would be playing I decided to
take the day off from court and witness the match along with my son Vikram, who
was then 9 years old..
Imran flew
from Pakistan to Delhi, and then travelled to Allahabad by train. I was told
that on the train he ate orange after orange, and little else.
Imran
captained the Geep XI team in the match. This was in the winter of 1984, and I
still remember he wore a white woollen pullover with red lines near the neck
and waist.
His team
bowled first, and we all wanted to see his fast swing bowling. Unfortunately,
some time before this match Imran had suffered a serious leg injury, and had
been advised by his doctors in Pakistan not to run for a few months. So Imran
did bowl, but he bowled without any run up, standing at the bowler's end, near
the umpire. Even then he captured some wickets.
When his team's turn came to bat, Imran played a fantastic innings which Allahabadis who saw the match would never forget.
Since he
could not run due to his injury, he decided to hit boundaries and sixes only,
to avoid running between the wickets. His sixes dwarfed the size of the MMM
stadium, with the ball landing outside on each occasion. If I remember
correctly, he scored about 80 runs before being caught near the edge of the
field while attempting another six, and his team won the match.
All this
happened almost 40 years ago, but the recollection and flashback of that
memorable day is embedded permanently in my mind.
(Justice Katju is
a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
