March 15, 1955, saw the birth of one of the most good-looking cricketers, on and off the pitch, to come out of Pakistan. Jaideep Vaidya goes through the career of a thoroughly entertaining cricketer-turned-actor-turned-selector-turned-coach.



Mohsin Khan was one of those dashing cricketers. His filmstar looks and personality complimented his on-field avatar. An opening batsman, Mohsin was a joy to watch when in flow. His strokes were like a well-oiled machine. He was equally capable of playing on either foot, but loved to waltz a couple of steps down the track before slashing his blade at the delivery. Watching Mohsin slashing the cherries is reminiscent of the popular smartphone game "Fruit Ninja"; he could do it all day.

Mohsin had a decent start to his Test career in 1978. His exploits in his first six innings read: 44, 35, 38, 31, 36 and 41. This was followed by a dry patch for a couple of years, before he finally notched up his maiden Test ton in Lahore against Sri Lanka in 1982. That was the breakthrough moment for Mohsin as he went on to establish himself at the top of the order alongside Mudassar Nazar.

His next ton was a double hundred; it came at the sanctum santorum of cricket, Lord's. Mohsin became the first Pakistani to score a double century at the hallowed turf of Lord's and it was an innings where he decimated an attack boasting of the likes of Ian Botham, Robin Jackman and Derek Pringle to help Pakistan win the match by 10 wickets.