The author, now 35, is one of cricket's greatest all-rounders and the retiring captain of Pakistan's team. He tells of his life and the game he from his childhood in Lahore, to his student days at Oxford (where he led the University team), his time at Worcester and thence to Sussex, culminating in his captaincy of Pakistan. A self portrait emerges of a man who has spent fifteen years at the years which have wrought changes - political, commercial and tactical - in the way cricket is played and promoted; changes too, in the man himself, as he reconciled his Muslim upbringing with the professional and personal pressures of being an international sportsman.
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is a Pakistani Political Leader, Sports Celebrity & Philanthropist. He is the founder of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) & Namal Knowledge City. Khan was one of Pakistan's most successful Cricket Captains. Leading his team to victory at the 1992 World Cup. He holds the world record for taking most wickets, best bowling strike rate & best bowling average in Test cricket by a captain. Besides his philanthropic work, he is the Chairman of (PTI) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice), & Chancellor of the University of Bradford. In 2010, Khan was inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame.
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi was born on 25th November 1952 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He attended the Cathedral School Lahore & later Aitchison College. Playing for Pakistan's national cricket team from 1971 to 1992, and serving as its captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992. With 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, he is one of 8 world cricketers to achieve an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. He also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports, promoting healthcare & immunization in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Thailand.
Imran Khan's second autobiography,updates his career,after his first book, Imran.He came back to cricket,after two years away,because of a stress fracture of the shin.He would lose a lot of pace after that injury.
But he compensated as his batting improved,and his captaincy was outstanding.He led Pakistan to their first series wins in both England and India in 1987.
Taking on the then mighty West Indies,Pakistan held them to three epic drawn series.Infact,they should have beaten the West Indies in their own backyard in 1988,to become the unofficial World Champions,but for some shocking umpiring.
In between was the disappointment of crashing out of the 1987 World Cup at home,when they were the favourites.But an inexperienced Australian side beat them,prompting Imran to announce his retirement.
He would come out of it later,and lead Pakistan to a memorable victory in the 1992 World Cup in Australia.They seemed to have lost all hope,but surged at the right time to claim the title.It turned out to be Imran's last match,though he wanted to continue.But his players didn't want him anymore.
Imran is an opinionated man,this book is mostly about his opinions about English county cricket and Pakistan cricket.Also gives his views on the leading players of his day,from Pakistan and abroad.
His cancer hospital and political career would come later.But one can see that he fancied himself as a jack of all trades.
The campaign to build the cancer hospital,however,received a lot of impetus after the 1992 World Cup victory,as people donated generously.(Imran built it in memory of his mother,who had died of cancer).
There is a certain amount of repetition in this book from his earlier autobiography,Imran.There are two editions of this book,one published in the late 80s and another one,after the World Cup triumph in 1992.
Unlike Imran's first autobiography, which was written during one of his lows, this one came after the high of the 1988 West Indies tour.
There are some interesting periods between this book and the first one: His lows following his injury. The original book was written after the 1983 World Cup. This one covers the Australian series that followed and highlights his plight. For what Imran could have achieved during that series is best penned by Rod Marsh in his book Gloves, Sweat and Tears.
Imran becomes clearly moved when he writes about his return, first to fitness and then to competitive cricket. His take on all the stabbings, including the way he handled Zaheer Abbas's stabbings, is heartfelt and warm.
His four major achievements then follow: Two drawn series against the West Indies and Pakistan's maiden series wins in England and India.
Imran's empathy for the common man in Pakistan is evident from the chapter that is more prominent in this book than his chapter on English cricket was in the first. Very soon this empathy would express itself as his Cancer Hospital Campaign. His contempt for the Pakistani cricket structure is obvious too.
The scarce second edition of this book written after the 1992 World Cup is worth a read. It gives you an idea about what kept him going after this 1988 West Indies series and some rare insights into hitherto undocumented chapters from his life: Like reverting back to his pre-1979 bowling action in order to get things going for the 1992 World Cup and consequently injuring his shoulder.
The book is simple - no complex philosophical insights, no unnecessary technical jargon. Just straightforward and crisp takes on his life and the cricketers around him.
Michael Holding, for example, was the most talented bowler he ever saw but never cared much about his fitness or he would still have been bowling fast at test level in 1988.
Dennis Lillee was the one bowler who never flinched even in the most adverse conditions in Pakistan in 1980 and Viv Richards, by far the greatest batsman in his book, never cared for records for he got bored once the team goals were achieved (a view shared by Michael Holding in his recent Whispering Death).
Terrific book by an pretty introspective guy with a unique outlook to the happenings in world and Pakistani cricket from the late 70s to the early 90s culminating with Pakistan's World Cup Victory in 1992. To Pakistan Cricket's detriment, Imran espouses a career in politics instead of being the permanent head of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Imran Khan- All round view- by Imran Khan. The Book is Autobiography of Imran Khan written in 14 chapters illustrated by photographs. The first attracting fact mentioned in this book is that budding young cricketers from Pakistan, West Indies are invited to participate in County Cricket where they improve their capability of batting, bowling, fielding and ultimately captainship. Imran Khan went to play test cricket with Pak team and after the tour was over, he was invited to join Warwickshire County. He was admitted to school in Warwickshire and played regularly for the county. He informs that after the match was over the senior players pointed out his mistakes and how he can overcome them. Thus he improved and played regular test cricket for Pakistan. Second, three Pakistan players were enrolled for Kerry Packers Cricket series in Australia. Imran Khan was a participant. All players had learnt from 5 or 6 day test cricket and limited over matches with play at night in coloured clothes with white ball was new for all. This showbiz with TV coverage brought the spectators to the view the matches. The advertisers of daily use products, cricket accessories etc came forward and brought money via endorsements etc. to the game and to all cricket playing countries and players. Pace bowling was the main stay of the game. The best cricketers of the world were enrolled to participate in the matches. The matches were competitive and those players who could remain fit and excel in batting, bowling, wicketkeeper, fielding, all-rounder and captainship survived. Initially the ICC banned the participating players but after two years, the ban was lifted. Australia started organising limited over matches. New cricket playing nations came up. All cricket playing countries saw the boom and finances soaring. Cricketers also gained money. The Cricket Control Board also accepted the change from test to limited over matches and planned to trace young talented players from smaller towns by organising cricket matches through clubs. Third, About Pakistan tour of cricket playing nations, he has written by complaint about benefit of doubt declared by umpires, two facts have been mentioned, one, umpires of all nations commit such mistakes, two, it is better that international umpires be appointed to judge matches. About, Pakistan team touring other nations, the grievance is that the tour plan does not have proper rest days and travelling is quite a lot. Players get hurt in local fixtures. Thus, the players are not fit for test matches. Fourth, in selection of the team, the captain’s opinion should be provided priority because he has to deal with them in the field. Fifth, players getting hurt during net practice or during the game. For Imran Khan, he consulted doctors in Pakistan, England and Australia and improved his health. For other players the Board must help in future. Sixth, Fielding is an important aspect of the game and regular practice of fielding should be done by all players. English players are better fielders because they practice fielding from a young age. Seventh, Imran Khan has played in Kerry Packer and matches wall world team against Australia, so he has played as part of team with players of all countries. He has listed and praised the best batsmen, bowlers, fielders, wicketkeepers, all-rounders and Captains Eighth, Sports Journalists- should criticise the game and part played by each player and risk-taking decisions of captains but comments on their personal life should be avoided. Ninth, cricket is a game of chance and result of the game cannot be predicted. Teams play to perform under pressure- is part of the game. Ten, body of a pace bowler develops at the age of about 23 years. So bowlers must keep practising and not hope to deliver the top results at a young age. Eleven, Captaincy- all players wish to be declared captain of the team and to achieve this, players form group to destabilise the present captain. When they are ultimately declared captain, they find that the pressure of decisions is too much for them to undertake and they fail. So players should play well and laurels with come with time. Twelve- Imran Khan is not against India. People on both sides of the border are similar and want peace in their respective countries. It quite an educative and interesting book.
Although I have never watched him in action, live or otherwise, Imran Khan has a legendary tag attached to him in my mind. Fearsome bowler, technically correct and determined batsman and charismatic captain. Through cricinfo articles I learned how at a period in time he was the best bowler and best batsman in the world, averaging below 20 with the ball and over 50 with the bat and doing this consistently against the best opposition in the world in their backyards.
This book was written sometime before the 1992 World Cup where Imran led Pakistan to a storied victory. Through the book, we learn of how Imrans playing career developed - from primarily a batsman to medium pace bowler to his transition to becoming a genuinely fast bowler and then to world class all rounder.
I came to this book to find out more about the days when cricket was played without as much protective gear as it is today and fast bowlers were a genuine fatal threat. Some of these anecdotes are truly astonishing, for example the one time Imran describes how the ball touched the peak of his cap while on the way to the keeper. Those were probably the bad old days when the bowlers were meaner, the batsmen were tougher and the game was as about the ability to tough it out. Descriptions of the World Series and the all rounders tournament are also in the book although far too few compared to what I would have liked. Imran lets us know of the development of Pakistan cricket which I did not care about at all.
The last section of the book has Imran providing his opinions on the other players and captains of his era and makes for some fascinating reading. Looking through his stats at the end of the book reinforces what a titan he truly was.
I don't think that many Pakistani Cricket players have written their autobiographies. Imran has lead the life of a celebrity, but he has lived a life that has had it's up's and downs. It's a good book to read, and I read this book when I was around fifteen years old. He has given his opinion about the other great all-rounders of his era, if I remember correctly, and including Clive Rice, if I am not mistaken, in this book. Perhaps, I am mistaken. I don't know how much he appreciated his own talents towards Cricket, because he wasn't very enthusiastic when he was discussing the other great all-rounders in the game. I feel that Imran should coach the Afghanistan Cricket team, but he is a politician now. This might sound strange, but I feel he could coach the mentioned team to the World Cup semi finals. I refer to the One Day International World Cup.
I picked this book out of utter curiosity, to understand the events in life of a man who is now hailed as a potential political leader of Pakistan. The book is true to it's title, an earnest view of a thought leader whose journey to stardom is an imprint of sheer devotion to his art. The book is not inundated with statistics and figures, and timeline of changing face of cricket is described eloquently. His passion for the game often seen from his no holds barred views on improvement techniques that he wanted implemented for betterment of game and players. You can see transformation of a young man into a leader he has become today. This book threw me back to the time I enjoyed cricket the most which was atleast a decade ago.
i like to read sports autobiographies. This one of a flamboyant cricketer with an Oxford background, English speaking in a poverty stricken but cricket crazy country made for good reading. Unfortunately, his political life seems to have gone nowhere, surprising, considering his iconic status in his country.