This piece is not about the recent troubles in and around Zaman Park of Lahore and our incarcerated cricket hero but is more about the famous ‘gentlemen’ known the world over, let alone Pakistan.

As I scanned Pakistani, Indian and British newspapers on the internet searching for ‘handshake’ details, a comment by a Glamorgan cricket fan struck me. He said: “Sad about the winning Indian team’s refusal to shake hands. Gone are the days of the great Majid Khan. He was the best. A true gentleman. Happy Birthday Majid.”

So cricketing fans in England remember that it was Majid Khan’s 80th birthday. The local media have no time for him now. His fans in Glamorgan, a huge 681 till when I last saw my computer, still remember every stroke, every shot and every smile of the truly great man. But the common factor in each and every comment was the line: “Majid Khan was a true gentleman.” A lot of fans remembered his cover drives and his relaxed stance. As I have seen him in Lahore Gymkhana’s cricket ground one can vouch for all those comments.

But then the best part was when one Cambridge University cricket fan remembered: “He was the Cambridge captain and played against a visiting Pakistani Test side. Gosh, did he wallop them.” But as I searched the Wisden description about Majid it was superb: “Majid’s father, Dr Jahangir Khan was a fast bowler for India and Cambridge University, and as legend has it on less successful occasions, he would recite Persian verses.”

A household name in the 1970s, he was admired just as his cousin is today, though his cousin is admired in England for his cricket … and other pastimes … and in Pakistan for his politics, irrespective of whether he is behind bars, or out of them. But Majid Khan was a different species. He seldom talked or gave his opinion. His bat and fielding and bowling spoke for him.

His father Dr Muhammad Jahangir Khan of Basti Ghuzan in Jullundur, India, played for a United India and toured England in 1932, his two sons Majid Khan and Asad Jahangir Khan played Test cricket, and Majid’s son Bazid Khan also played Test cricket. This was a three-generation family set of cricketers of Zaman Park of Lahore, with the West Indian family of Headleys being the only other example.

But then Dr Jahnagir’s two nephews – Javed Burki and Imran Khan – both captained Pakistan. As one scans the Zaman Park cricketing family it seems all of them are quality cricketers. Majid Khan’s elder brother Asad was an Oxford ‘Blue’ and took 7/84 Australian wickets with his off-breaks in a combined Oxford-Cambridge match. Majid’s cousin Javed Burki, another Zaman Park cricketer, captained Pakistan and Oxford. Majid’s father advised his son: “Enjoy your cricket, stay relaxed and never for a second take your eyes off the ball”. It worked wonders.

But my mind went back to his birthday, as also the legends of Zaman Park. One great legal mind of Zaman Park is Aitzaz Ahsan, a barrister from Cambridge University and probably among the few who follow the principles of fair play. Amazingly his birthday matches that of Majid Khan. He defied ZA Bhutto, and he defied Benazir over principles of law. He spent many a year in jail in the Zia era but never bent.

On Facebook hundreds of followers have wished Aitzaz a very Happy Birthday. So, Majid Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan, both neighbours in Zaman Park, share birthdays … both are 80 years. It was delightful to see that the lawyers of Lahore, including former Chief Justice Bandial, yet another Cambridge University Tripos, praised Aitzaz over his clean and clear mindset. “Honesty and simplicity are what Aitzaz Ahsan is all about.”

But then lest we forget, one of the greatest Zaman Park cricketers is Imran Khan, who like Aitzaz Ahsan has stuck to the truth, with consequences that are before all of us. Imran started off his cricket in the Zaman Park ground with his cousins. He is like Aitzaz, a person who ‘never bends’. Both are neighbours and follow the ancient rules of neighbourly support.

Except for Aitzaz Ahsan, the other residents of Zaman Park are all Partition victims from Jullander. They are all Niazi tribals who migrated from Waziristan in the days of Sher Shah Suri. So, in a way they are all warriors of old, yet all followers of the Sufi saint Pir Roshan of the Roshaniya Movement. In lighter moods they describe themselves as ‘saintly warriors.’

Another cousin also of Zaman Park was famed writer and journalist, the late Khalid Ahmed, himself a maternal uncle of Imran Khan. He played in the Zaman Park cricket team. But then he preferred journalism and worked for several newspapers after resigning from the Foreign Service. Like his family he mastered several European languages like Russian and German.

My first acquaintanceship with Khalid Ahmed was in the Government College Lahore, where he was a professor of English. He invariably turned up in ‘rather casual’ clothes, or a combination of casuals, but he knew his subject. His students called him ‘Saain’, not knowing that he was of ‘Pir Roshan’ tradition. All the books he wrote are worth reading.

Khalid Ahmed worked for ‘The Pakistan Times’ and left it over censorship by the military and joined ‘The Nation’ and went on to ‘The Frontier Post’ and ‘The Friday Times’. He wrote for ‘Newsweek’ in his last days.

But back to the great gentleman Majid Khan. As I write these lines one notices on the internet that another 55 persons – all English cricket fans of old - have praised Majid Khan the ‘gentleman of Glamorgan’. All of them seem like genuine cricket admirers. They recall the cover drives (Oh, worth seeing) and the casual no hurried strokes that he played. In Lahore, especially students and old city folk, when they learnt of him batting or even playing, they would turn up to watch the ‘master’.

So, from Zaman Park we have Dr Jahangir Khan, Majid Khan, Asad Jahangir Khan, Bazid Khan, Javed Burki, all Test cricketers. Then there is a line of First-Class cricketers from Zaman Park, including Ijaz Hussain Khan, popularly known as Jahaz Khan, a well-known Railway cricketer. On the intellectual side, there is the amazing Aitzaz Ahsan and the late Khalid Ahmed. Surely, Zaman Park is a very special place.

Back to where we started … The Indian refusal to shake Pakistani hands. This is not cricket, this is not what gentlemen do. My late father would tell us of the ‘gentlemanly’ Lala Amarnath who played in Lahore’s Minto Park. That is what cricket is all about … being ‘gentlemanly’.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2025