Aslam Khan (cricketer)

{{Short description|Pakistani cricketer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{Use Pakistani English|date=September 2022}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Aslam Khan

| image = File:Prince Aslam Khan.jpg

| caption =

| country = Pakistan

| fullname = Mohammad Aslam Khan

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|3|15|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Manavadar, Princely state of Junagadh, British India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|4|29|1935|3|15|df=yes}}

| death_place = Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

| family = Ghulam Moinuddin Khanji (father)

| batting = Left-handed

| bowling = Slow left-arm orthodox

| club1 = Karachi

| year1 = {{nowrap|1955/56–1970/71}}

| club2 = Pakistan Security Printing Corporation

| year2 = 1977/78

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 28

| runs1 = 398

| bat avg1 = 19.90

| 100s/50s1 = 1/0

| top score1 = 112*

| deliveries1 = 5,170

| wickets1 = 84

| bowl avg1 = 22.63

| fivefor1 = 5

| tenfor1 = 1

| best bowling1 = 6/45

| catches/stumpings1= 27/–

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/39727.html ESPNcricinfo

| date = 29 August

| year = 2015

}}

Aslam Khan ({{langx|ur|اسلم خان}}), sometimes known as Prince Aslam Khan ({{langx|ur|شہزادہ اسلم خان}}, romanized as: Shehzada Aslam Khaan; 15 March 1935 – 29 April 1980) was a Pakistani cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1955 and 1978. Some people consider him the inventor of the doosra.{{Cite web|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/113331/the-prince-of-pakistans-cricket/|title=The prince of Pakistans cricket|date=9 October 2017}}

A son of Ghulam Moinuddin Khanji, he was a member of the royal family of Manavadar, a princely state which is now part of the Indian state of Gujarat.

Aslam Khan was a left-arm spinner. In the final of the Ayub Trophy in 1964-65 he took 6 for 45 and 5 for 92 (match figures of 81.5–43–137–11) to help Karachi to an innings victory over Lahore Education Board.{{cite web|title= Lahore Education Board v Karachi 1964-65 |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/27/27232.html|website=CricketArchive|access-date=29 August 2015}} In a semi-final of the Ayub Trophy in 1965–66, playing for Karachi Blues against Public Works Department, he took 3 for 35 and 5 for 41 in another victory.{{cite web|title= Karachi Blues v Public Works Department 1965-66|url= https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/28/28468.html |website=CricketArchive|access-date=29 August 2015}}

Khan played his last first-class match in February 1978 for the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation team in the Patron's Trophy. A month short of his 43rd birthday, he took 6 for 154 off 47 eight-ball overs against Sargodha, who won by an innings and 143 runs.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/37/37834.html| title = Sargodha v Pakistan Security Printing Corporation 1977-78| publisher=CricketArchive| access-date = 29 August 2015}}

He batted at number 10 or 11 and only once reached 40 in first-class cricket. On that occasion he scored 112 not out as Karachi Whites scored 762 and beat Karachi Blues by an innings in a semi-final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 1956–57. He also took three catches and three wickets in the match.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22340.html| title = Karachi Blues v Karachi Whites 1956-57| publisher=CricketArchive| access-date = 29 August 2015}}

Khan was a flamboyant character, "playing practical jokes, dating a series of movie stars, driving to matches (often late) in a Cadillac, firing revolver shots in the air in protest at an umpire's decision". Mushtaq Mohammad credited him with the invention of the doosra.Peter Oborne, Wounded Tiger: The History of Cricket in Pakistan, Simon & Schuster, London, 2014, p. 139.

His father, the last Nawab of Manavadar, also played first-class cricket and represented India at hockey.