Saquib Salim

“Although he has only been in England for two or three years, Mr. Ahsan-ul-Hak has become very well known as a cricketer, and it seems a very great pity that just as he has begun to feel his way in first-class cricket for Middlesex, his profession as a barrister (he was called to the Bar in June) should demand his presence in India. In about a month he will leave England, and he will probably get very little cricket, as his home will be in Jullunder, where, except by the military team, cricket is not much played. His record as a cricketer since he has been in England is very good indeed… As a batsman, he has a splendid eye, and his strokes are numerous; he has a very powerful drive which he makes without any apparent effort. If he had been able to remain in England, great things might have been expected of him.”

This was noted by The Cricket, a weekly cricket journal published from London, on 7 August 1902

A largely forgotten man now, Ahsan-ul-Haq, an Afridi Pathan from Jalandhar, led the Mohammedan-Anglo Oriental College, Aligarh (now Aligarh Muslim University) team during its glorious days at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He became the first Muslim to play First Class (FC) Cricket, representing Middlesex, in the county championship. And, still holds the record of the second fastest hundred ever, in terms of time, in FC Cricket. Haq scored the century in his last match in 1924 while coming into bat number 11 (he was an opener otherwise) within 40 minutes. It is still the second-fastest century by any batter.

India did not play International Cricket at the time otherwise his place in the eleven was undoubted. Whenever there were plans, several of them couldn’t materialise, of sending an all-India team to England in each of these teams Haq featured. Between 1903 and 1911 there were several proposals of sending a cricket team to England under Ranjitsinhji and each of the squad had Haq as an integral member. In his prime, he was considered the best in the country. J. M. Framjee Patel, one of the pioneers of cricket in India, called Haq ‘a great batsman’.

Ahsan-ul-Haq

Shaukat Ali, who later became famous as a leader of the Indian Freedom Struggle and one of the famous Ali brothers, mentored Haq as a cricketer. Haq recalled in 1902 that he started serious cricket, “At Aligarh College - the chief Mohammaden college in India, although before that my brother, who had captained the Aligarh team for three or four years, had given me my first ideas of the game. At the college, I was fortunate enough to come under the notice of Mr. Shaukat Ali, who was then captain of the team, and he took a lot of trouble with me. This was in 1895. He put me into the eleven, but in the first year, I was a great failure, only making about twenty runs during the season at an average of three. But for all that, I was not turned out of the team, and in the next two years I was top of the averages.”

If Shaukat mentored Haq in India, in England other brother Muhammad Ali Jauhar helped him with cricket. After Haq moved to London in 1898 to pursue law, he recalled, “A friend of mine, a brother of captain Mr. Shaukat Ali, the captain of the Aligarh College team, brought me to the notice of Mr. Stoddart, through whose influence I joined the Hampstead club. I have had a delightful time as a member of the club."

At Hampstead, Haq carved out his own place at club-level cricket and soon made his FC debut for Middlesex against W. G. Grace’s London County. In 1902, he decided to return to India, cutting short his FC Cricket career in England. Cricket website Old Ebor writes, “Before his departure, he was presented with an engraved silver bowl by the Hampstead club to commemorate his connection with the team. It listed his playing record and had a message of “good luck”. A speech by S. S. Pawling played up the links between India and Britain, and said that he embodied the best qualities of both places: “Gentleness, kindliness, good comradeship, and sport. The present was not only in recognition of his skillful play but also of his qualities as a man and a comrade.”

Haq joined Judicial services in Punjab and served as Chief Justice of Bikaner and a minister in Punjab before 1939. Meanwhile, he kept playing cricket in India and represented the Aligarh College team as well as other teams. In 1903, he was the captain and top-scorer for the Aligarh team against the visiting Oxford Authentics team. Later, he played a role in the formation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

One of Haq’s daughters Begum Para was a popular actress from the 1940s & 50s who had married Nasir Khan, brother of Dilip Kumar. Actor Ayub Khan is the son of Begum Para. Another of Haq’s daughters, Zarina, was the mother of Rukhsana Sultana, a close aide of Sanjay Gandhi and mother of actress Amrita Singh. Haq’s son Masrurul Haq married Protima Dasgupta, a very popular Bengali actress from the 1940s.

In 1900, when Indians were looked down upon by the English cricketers not only for the colour of their skin but also because of their language,Haq overcame these obstacles. One such incident, he recalled, “In my early days, I found it very difficult to pronounce English words, and 'How's that' was beyond my powers. So instead of saying 'How's that, umpire?' as all the others did, I was obliged to confine myself to 'Umpire?"

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The captain of the opposing side knew of this peculiarity and warned the umpire that if I did not say 'How's that?' he was not to give the man out, as the law ordered that the words 'How's that, umpire?' must be used. In vain did I appeal when bowling. The umpire was obdurate. But my turn came when we went in to bat.We were playing without bails (for this incident occurred when I was very young). Presently a ball got past my bat and hit the off stump, but I did not offer to go. It was explained to me that I was out, but I replied that the laws ordered that a stump must be knocked out of the ground when there were no bails on and that this had not been done. My argument was recognized as unassailable, and although I was afterward bowled twice I did not go out until I was caught!”