Throughout his cricketing career, Moin Khan was involved in a tight competition with Rashid Latif for the wicket-keeper's position in Pakistan. Few things worked for both of them. Latif was excellent with the gloves but was inconsistent with the bat. Moin was wonderful with the bat but his keeping was inconsistent. However, it was Moin who managed to establish himself as a regular member in the Pakistan team.

After an inconsistent start, Moin's first major Test knock came against Australia at Lahore in 1994. Moin guided Pakistan to a competitive total and he scored his first Test ton as the match ended in a draw. Moin also showed an aptitude to fight it out under pressure. During the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at Sialkot, Pakistan needed 357 runs to achieve victory. Moin was the only batsmen who stood amidst the ruins with an unbeaten 117 as the rest of the batsmen failed to provide support and Pakistan lost the match by 144 runs.

He achieved great success in the ODI format as well. Coming lower down the order, Moin played some aggressive knocks and he finished off the innings in style. The period from 1997 to 2000 in ODIs was a golden period for Moin, with both gloves and the bat. His keeping was flawless and he was touted as a finisher towards the end of the ODI innings for Pakistan.

This aspect came to the fore during the Asia Cup in 2000 that was held in Bangladesh. Moin's captaincy had guided Pakistan to the final where they took on Sri Lanka. In a blistering assault towards the end, he belted 56 runs off just 31 balls as Pakistan finished up on 277/4. Sri Lanka were rattled as they folded up for 238 to give Pakistan victory by 39 runs and also the Asia Cup title.

However, as time passed by, Moin's captaincy was termed too defensive. He was not helped by the constant friction within the Pakistani team. His glove work also suffered in the coming seasons and he was dropped from the team in favor of Kamran Akmal after the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad in 2004.

Moin piled on the runs in the domestic circuit though. In 2005, he scored an unbeaten 112 off just 59 balls while playing for Karachi Dolphins against Lahore Lions in a T20 match. Towards the end of the season, he retired from cricket in style by smashing an unbeaten 200 for Karachi against Hyderabad which was his highest first class score. He coached the Hyderabad Heroes in the ICL in 2007 and also coached the Lahore Badshah's in the 2008 edition. He was also named the manager for the National team in August 2013. After Dav Whatmore's contract ended, Moin was made the head coach of the Pakistan side in February 2014. His first assignment was the Asia Cup and T20 WC, in both he could not live up to the expectations as Pakistan lost the final of the Asia Cup and failed to qualify for semi-finals in the T20 WC. The PCB named Moin Khan as the chief selector of the National side in April 2014.


Fun Facts: Moin Khan is known to be a chirpy character behind the stumps. He is credited for having given the term 'doosra' to Saqlain Mushtaq's off-spinning delivery that goes the other way.


By Siddharth Vishwanathan
As of April 2014