Imran Khan by Christopher Sandford

In the late 1980's, when Sportsworld and Sportstar ruled the roost, it was not uncommon to see a person's starposter appear at least once in two months and that person answered to the name- Imran Khan. One of the fabulous four all rounders that took part in the eighties, he was a superb bowler, measured batsman and an amazing captain. In 2009, a biography authored by Christopher Sandford made news as some excerpts had described his relationship with Benazir Bhutto

I had my hands on this book a month ago and it was not surprising that I scanned for Benazir Bhutto in the index page and immediately belted to the pages containing her reference. Well considering the furore it created when the book released, there was nothing to satisfy temporal pleasures

The book starts off on a propitious note and keeps the tempo for some time into the book. What makes the book interesting are the little anectodes that convey a lot about the person. First chapter dedicates itself to delving into the lineage of Imran. It talks about the Burki and Niazi families and his cousins who have represented Pakistan in cricket

One interesting anectode from this chapter is how Imran was scolded by his mother about running away from a cop, without owning up to his fault (He was driving a vehicle without being of the legal age to do so). She was of the opinion that one should not escape from situations and it certainly was not in the blood of a Pathan to do so. It also draws a parallel from Freudian theory that a pampered son can go on to rule on the world

The next few chapters dedicate themselves to Imran's career at Oxford, inauspicious debut, life in England. He had a harrowing time with Worcestershire and wanted to shift out of the county as soon as possible. It was attributed to non-attacking nature of the cricket at the county and also it's distance from London. Sussex was the next team he represented and he was quite satisfied in the initial years given it's proximity to London

He earned a reputation for himself as playboy partly because of his constant brushes with debutante's and his routine of partying everyday after the games. Affairs of his with Emma Sergeant, Susan Constantine and other ladies gets a lot of coverage in the book. In fact, at some point you start to feel as if Imran is a celebrity because of his debonair image

The point where the books veers of from his trysts with fairer sex is when he assumes the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team and the immediate sacking of his cousin Majid Khan from the team. It's here that the drawback of the book lies, as it does not delve into the depth of the matter at hand. Sandford leaves it by saying that it created a lot of rift between the cousins and they are not on talking terms to date. A viewpoint of Majid Khan on the incident would have taken the book to the next level

It also talks about the Lahore-Karachi conflict by talking about the Miandad-Imran relation and the issues they had in the selection of Abdul Qadir and Iqbal Qasim in a few tests. Few quotes from the former players are mention worthy here

"Javed Miandad had all the talents, that money could buy but Imran had that special something that no amount of money could afford"

"He suggested Abdul Qadir to grow a french beard so that he looked menacing and also because it gains you a following with the fairer sex"

 "Once a young county bowler asked him how to bowl the inswingers he specialised in, he simply said "Bowl like a tiger" " 

The good fact about the book is that nowhere does it seem disconnected but if you have been through the wikipedia profile of the man, you would realise that a lot of research consisted of trawling through the newspapers

It does also mention about his retirement and his return to cricket on a selfish motive and the winning of the World Cup

The interest wanes towards the end when he discusses the marriage, separation and entrance into politics. Although Imran remains dedicated to the cause, you fail to connect with the local politics but it does amaze you that there have been 26 prime ministers till date in Pakistan

Finally the book is a worthy read till it delves about his political life. It tends to drag on from there but the anectodes and the larger than life projection of Imran Khan more than make up for it