Bazid Khan stands in the corner. A fan approaches him for a picture. Bazid looks at him almost in shock. In his typical sarcastic tone he says: “Are you sure you want to take a picture with me?” The fan replies, “Yes.” Bazid, still with a look of surprise on his face, poses for the picture.
Here is a man who doesn’t want stardom. A man who is genuinely surprised when people tell him they are fans, who will take up any challenge but never ask for recognition, acceptance or credit. One who is not afraid to ask questions and is as down to earth as one can be. He’s someone who believes in reading, studying, research and hard work. He is the most un-Pakistani of all Pakistani cricketers.
Bazid Khan is someone who doesn’t point out flaws unless he has solutions for them. Maybe it has to do with the family he belongs to.
Bazid Khan is the grandson of Jahangir Khan and the son of Majid Khan – all have represented Pakistan at the Test level. His father, Majid Khan has a place in Pakistan cricket’s folklore. His career was the stuff of legends.
Bazid’s grandfather, Jahangir Khan is perhaps the cleanest and one of the most respected figures in Pakistan cricket, who resigned from the PCB as soon as his son started playing cricket. He thought it was a conflict of interest and would give Majid an unfair advantage if he stays on. The streak of being selfless and fair runs in the blood.
Bazid’s international cricket career never quite took off. He averaged 26.20 in 5 ODIs and only scored 32 runs in 2 innings in his solitary Test match. Yet he is someone who perhaps wasn’t given enough opportunities as Shahryar Khan mentioned in his book after his first stint as the Chairman of PCB. Shahryar Khan mentions Misbahul Haq and Bazid Khan as the two players who were treated unfairly and not given enough opportunities.
Misbah waited and waited and eventually went on to do wonders on the field while Bazid’s career took a different path. Bazid became a commentator, a cricket analyst and with the help of his father came up with a system to revive the domestic cricket system in Pakistan – again not asking for credit, just asking for it to be implemented.
Many in the PCB have tried to take credit for the new domestic system. However it still hasn’t been implemented.
The picture of Bazid Khan celebrating Pakistan A’s win against England in the early 2000s is something very uncharacteristic of the man. He’s not one to show his emotions. Pakistan A required 10 runs of the last over with a wicket remaining and Bazid Khan finished off the match with 3 balls remaining. James Anderson was the bowler and the victim of Bazid’s nonconforming release of emotions.
Today Bazid Khan is one of the few internationally acclaimed English commentators from Pakistan. He takes his work very seriously and unlike most he watches every single ball of every Pakistan match.
He’s modest to the core; works hard, takes courses and always tries to improve. He is someone who believes in the Richie Benuad school of thought which is that there is no need to create unnecessary hype during commentary, one should only talk about cricket and crack a joke here or there.
Without realizing it himself, Bazid Khan has become a cult legend amongst the cricket hipsters in Pakistan. His sense of humor and relatability to the people aged between 25 and 40 is something that sets him apart from his contemporary analysts and commentators. He lives, breathes and talks cricket. And it’s not just cricket, Bazid Khan is a huge football fan as well.
Bazid Khan doesn’t believe in “what” and “where”. He believes in “why” and “how”. Perhaps it has to do with his upbringing or perhaps his early education that he looks at things to only find solutions rather than just pointing out errors.
He is the exact opposite of the generation of cricketers that he played and grew up with. He doesn’t believe in pulling legs and in fact is genuinely happy if someone around him does well. He is someone who might never truly get appreciated in his time, but his passion for Pakistan cricket, understanding of limitations of the domestic structure and his vision for the country and the team is unparalleled.
Bazid Khan will never have the mainstream rock-star status in Pakistan but he will always have a cult following. John Buchanan, the Australian World Cup winning coach never played international cricket but was a true cricket genius. Bazid’s understanding of the game is similar.