**Khail Khilari Presents: Tribute to Imran Khan
**
To celebrate Pakistan’s independence day with all of GupShup, Khail Khilari is proud to present a tribute video to the greatest legend of Pakistan cricket, Imran Khan.
In 1982, at the height of his career, the thirty-year old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistani cricket team from Javed Miandad. In the team’s second match under his leadership, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord’s.
Khan’s first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets by 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981-82. He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982-83, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.
In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan’s first series victory in England the same year. During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as his proudest moment in cricket. He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests. He later recalled, “I was 35 and not very fit, we had quite a weak team and then I got 11 wickets in the first Test. That was the last time I really bowled well.” As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.
Khan’s career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 world cup. Playing with a brittle batting lineup, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to provide stability in the top order together with Javed Miandad. In the final match, at the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself.
Honorable mentions: Cadet018 Bhai and DaPakiGuy Bhai for their contribution and assistance with this project.