15 Interesting facts about Moin Khan - A fighter

15 Interesting facts about Moin Khan – A fighter: Renowned for his combative skills, Moin Khan spent most of his career fighting it out with Rashid Latif for the keeper’s gloves. An effective rather than stylish batsman, Moin relished a crisis situation and held together Pakistan’s lower order time and again. He was particularly at ease playing ODI cricket where his improvisation skills brought just rewards. Behind the stumps, he was the chirpiest of keepers and the stump mike was always buzzing with his famous one liners. Not only was he a decent players but also went on to serve the nation in the role of chief selector after retirement. On his 44^th birthday we peep into 15 facts you need to know about the Pakistani veteran:

15 Interesting facts about Moin Khan – A fighter:

1. The Test arrival

After an inconsistent start, Moin’s first major Test knock came against Australia at Lahore in 1994. Moin guided Pakistan to a competitive total and he scored his first Test ton as the match ended in a draw.

2. The attributes

A very good middle order batsman who usually adjusted the game depending on the situation, Moin held the innings together when Pakistan lost early wickets and hit the big shots when he came into bat towards the end of the innings.

3. Captaincy Record

Moin won an impressive 20 of his 34 games as ODI captain but won only four of the 13 Tests, suffering only two losses. During his tenure he struggled to motivate the team enough and failed to convert performances into results. He was accused of being too defensive in his approach.

4. The lone warrior

During the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at Sialkot inn1995, Pakistan needed 357 runs to achieve victory. Moin was the only batsmen who stood amidst the ruins with an unbeaten 117 as the rest of the batsmen failed to provide support and Pakistan lost the match by 144 runs.

5. The golden period

The period from 1997 to 2000 in ODIs was a golden one for Moin, with both gloves and the bat. His keeping was flawless and he was touted as an able finisher towards the end of the ODI innings.

6. Dropped

His glove work was never to convincing and he was dropped from the team in favor of Kamran Akmal after the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad in 2004.

7. First class retirement

Towards the end of the 2005 season, he retired from cricket in style by smashing an unbeaten 200 for Karachi against Hyderabad which was his highest first class score.

8. Cheerful

He was the most vocal of keepers behind the stumps. “Well bowled” and “shabash” were his most familiar soundbites.  He is credited for having given the term ‘doosra’ to Saqlain Mushtaq’s off-spinning delivery that goes the other way.

9. Captain’s knock

During the Asia Cup final in 2000 against Sri Lanka, in a blistering assault towards the end, he belted 56 runs off just 31 balls as Pakistan won by 39 runs and clinched the title.

10. Competition

Throughout his career he had to compete with Rashid Latif for a place in the side. Though Moin was a better batsman, Latif was significantly better with the gloves.

11. A worthy career

In his successful career he had more than 100 Test catches and over 200 ODI catches to add to the 3000-plus ODI runs to his credit.

12. Commendable

After his retirement in 2005 he continued to play domestic cricket and became the first Pakistan player to score a century in a domestic T20 game.

13. Post retirement ventures

After retiring he took up the coaching job for the Hyderabad Heroes in the Indian Cricket League in 2007.

14. The national coaching job

Moin was appointed manager of the Pakistan team in August 2013 and was later promoted as interim head coach of the national team in February 2014, for the Asia Cup and World T20, after Dav Whatmore completed his contract with Pakistan.

15. The national selector

The PCB named Moin Khan as the chief selector of the National side in April 2014.  But in 2015, during the Cricket World Cup 2015 he was removed from the position.