The only cricketer to represent both England and India in Test cricket, Iftikhar Ali Khan was the third Indian to play for England after Ranjitsinghji and Duleepsinghji, respectively.
Iftikhar Ali Khan was born on March 16, 1910 at Pataudi in Punjab. He was educated at Aitcheson’s College, Lahore, and Balliol College, Oxford.
He made his Test debut at Sydney during the infamous ‘bodyline’ series and included his name in record book as the third Indian batsman who scored a century in the Ashes series. After that he was dropped from the team due to a disagreement with the English skipper Douglas Jardine. But, in 1934, he could score only 15 and 12, which turned out to be his last Test for England. In 1936, he returned to India and started playing cricket on the Indian soil.
In 1946, he was given the captaincy of the Indian team when the team toured England. But his poor health extremely swayed his cricket. He died on January 5, 1952 in New Delhi while playing a game of polo