An Artist at Work; Source: Wikimedia Commons

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Born to a police inspector, Syed Mushtaq Ali spent his early childhood in the Police Quarter of Indore. His father had been a cricket enthusiast and he too went down that way. He found friends who were as passionate about the game as he was and together, they played with kerosene cans as wickets.

Their school, however, was more concerned with hockey and football. The group's desire to play cricket in school landed them at the Headmaster's office, who after two months of badgering, took them to the market and got them the equipment necessary.

The cricket team was led by Mushtaq initially, but there wasn't a lot of hype surrounding cricket at that time. Then came Maharaja Sir Tukaji Rao Holkar, a huge cricket enthusiast and brought with him the legendary C.K. Nayudu.

After months of yearning to join him at Yeswant Cricket Club, Mushtaq finally got his wish when he was selected, alongside another future star C.S. Nayudu. Nayudu Sr. was a strict taskmaster and he wasn't looking to assemble eleven superhuman cricketers but one team that worked like a well-oiled machine.

Under his guidance, Mushtaq's fielding improved several folds and this caught Maharajkumar of Vizianagram (or Vizzy), who invited him to play in his team.

> Vizzy was so impressed that he offered to pay for Mushtaq's school and cricket education.

His first game against Rest of India at Roshanara Club was a damp squib, but he wasn't all out of chances. The next game against Bengal Governor’s XI announced him in front of everyone. However on the day, it was his bowling and not his batting that took the match away from the opponents.

> He ended the match with figures of 11-54, picking up 6 wickets in the first innings and the remaining 5 in the second.

His international debut came soon enough. By now, Mushtaq had cemented himself as a handy all-rounder and his batting didn't shine just yet. Promoted to the opening spot in the second innings from number 7 in the first, his batting was a treat for the eyes.

For the era he played in, his batting style was extremely unique. Batsmen weren't bothered with moving around the crease, but Mushtaq was different. After the (frankly, useless for him) practice of marking his guard, he never bothered to stick to it; his quick feet and movement all around the crease made it very hard for the bowlers to get him out by their own brilliance. His kryptonite, of course, was his own adventurism, which made him a very hit-or-miss batsman (the former, more often than not).

More than bowlers on the pitch, it was selectors off it that troubled him. It's unclear why he was crucified by the selectors, but petty politics meant that Mushtaq played only 11 test matches for India  before he bowed out.

> When he was excluded from an unofficial test in Calcutta despite being fit, the crowd came in and rioted against the move, even going to the extent of being physically aggressive against Duleep, the chairman of selectors.

While the incident makes for a funny anecdote in hindsight, it demonstrates how loved Mushtaq was by everyone. Being left out constantly hurt his career immensely; the person who could've been one of the greatest international batsmen of all time was stifled and buried by his own. It's hard to figure out whose loss this was, Indian Cricket's or Mushtaq's.

When Mushtaq Ali took the field, people fell short of superlatives. This day marks the death anniversary of the man who was called "the poetry and prose" of Indian cricket along with Vijay Merchant.