Mushtaq Ahmed was defined as one of the finest spin bowlers of all time. In his prime time, he was considered to be one of the best three wrist-spinners in the world. He was a member of the Pakistani squad that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, and five years later, he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
During his stint with Sussex, he was the County Championship’s leading wicket-taker for five consecutive seasons, and he helped the county team win the title in 2003, 2006, and 2007. He was most successful as a domestic player for Sussex in the early 2000s. He made his international debut on 23 March 1989, playing a One Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka.
He was joint-second amongst bowlers by wickets taken, having claimed 16 during the 1992 Cricket World Cup, which led the side to win the silverware. But for several years following his debut, he struggled to make a meaningful impact in Test cricket. He could only pick ten or more wickets in a Test series on one occasion, against England in 1992.
Mushtaq Ahmed: An unsung hero of Pakistan
He played 62 first-class matches for the county, taking 289 wickets at an average of 26.32. In 1997, he was selected one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. The former wrist spinner was suspected of match-fixing. In his prolonged International career that spanned from 1990 until 2003, he picked 185 wickets in Test cricket and 161 in ODIs.
He has a long career in coaching as well, in 2008, the England and Wales Cricket Board appointed Mushtaq as spin-bowling coach to the England cricket team until 2014, he was appointed bowling consultant for the Pakistan cricket team by new coach Waqar Younis in 2014, and his contract expired in May 2016.
He was designated as the head coach of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy. Presently he was the spin bowling coach of Bangladesh men’s national cricket team till the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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