ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Syed Mushtaq Ali (1914-2005) is one of India’s most famous cricketers. An interview with him by Sharad Verma was published in Hindustan Times (15 May 1987). He wrote that very few people in Indian cricket history have achieved the extraordinary place Mushtaq Ali did. For nearly twenty years, he was a cricketing hero. Sir Neville Cardus said that Mushtaq was like an acrobat who could make the impossible possible. Keith Miller said he was an unbelievably fine player of their time.

His fame began in 1930 when he was only 16. He did not play often, but whenever he did, his performance stood out. In 1945–46, during a match in Calcutta between Australia and India, Mushtaq Ali was dropped from the Indian team. This sparked major protests in Calcutta, with the slogan echoing everywhere:

“No Mushtaq, No Test.”

Eventually, the organizers reinstated him. Now, at 72, recalling his past to Sharad Verma, he said: once in England, during a match between India and England, the English captain was Wally Hammond. Mushtaq Ali began scoring runs and reached the nineties. Though Hammond was the opposing captain, he could not suppress his admiration. He came quickly, patted Mushtaq on the shoulder, and said:

“Steady, my boy, steady, get your hundred first.”

The defining trait of a spiritually dead person is denial, while that of a spiritually alive person is acknowledgment. When a spiritually alive person encounters a truth or observes a virtue, he cannot help but acknowledge it—even if doing so means admitting his own defeat.