Mushtaq Mohammad

Mushtaq was not the most talented of the five Mohammad brothers who emigrated from Western India to Karachi, but he scored the most first-class hundreds, more even than Hanif, thanks partly to the greater opportunities he had in county cricket with Northamptonshire. He was also one of the first reverse-sweepers (a stroke he learned from Hanif), and one of the first bat-twirlers at the crease. As a bowler of the legbreak, googly and flipper, he also took more first-class wickets than any of his brothers. Northants were impressed enough to pay him to spend two years in qualifying for them, before instant registration began in 1968. But his age, and his claim to be the youngest Test centurymaker, should be treated with caution. A couple of years may have got lost in emigration.
Scyld Berry October 2004