Nawabzada Shaharyar Muhammad Khan was born on 29th March, 1934 in Bhopal State of India during British era. He was the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of former princely state of Kurwai and Princess Begum Abida Sultan, herself the Crown Princess and the eldest daughter of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidullah Khan, who reigned over the state of Bhopal after a prolonged era of the Begums regime (the queens), and his wife Begum Maimoona Sultan. Khan is descended from the royal family of former princely state of Bhopal where his ancestors had emigrated during first quarter of the eighteenth century from Afghanistan.
SHAHRYAR KHAN
Born on 29 Mar 1934
Died on 23 Mar 2024
Cricket Administrator and Diplomat
He had his early education from the boarding schools of Dehra Dun and Indore and where he grown up in the carefree ambience of the princely states. Later he proceeded to Cambridge University in England and did his Law and Master’s degree in International Relations.
He was very fond of cricket since his childhood and made his school’s first XIs at a young age and at Cambridge, he scored a half century in the freshman’s final. He played regularly for Cambridge University Crusaders during a period when Cambridge had eight established county players in its first eleven. After University he played first grade club cricket for MCC, Hornsey and Wimbledon- a famous club that he captained while serving as a Pakistani Diplomat in London. He was elected a playing member of the MCC in 162. He opted out of playing first class cricket in Pakistan because of his career in the Foreign Service but managed to continue playing club cricket during his assignments to cricket-playing countries abroad and when he was posted to Islamabad, where he was an active club player. In 1950, he along with his mother migrated to Pakistan.
In 1957, after working for a year with Burmah Shell Oil, he joined the Pakistani Foreign Service. In 1960, he was posted as a Third Secretary in the Pakistani High Commission in London, and was promoted to Second Secretary in the Tunis Embassy from 1962 to 1966. In 1976, he became Pakistan’s Ambassador to Jordan (1976–1982) and the United Kingdom (1987–1990). He became Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 1990, and remained so until his retirement from service in 1994. He also stayed as Pakistan’s Ambassador to France (1999–2001) and Chairman, Committee on Foreign Service Reforms, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999).
He also taught Pakistan’s Foreign Relations at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as part of the Social Sciences faculty. He taught a course titled “Pakistan’s Foreign Relations” in the fall semester and a senior-level course titled ‘Critical Issues in Pakistan’s Foreign Relations’ in the spring semester. At LUMS, he was also the Patron of the LUMS Model
On 1st July, 1994 he was appointed United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s Special Representative to Rwanda, succeeding Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh. As UN Special Representative, he represented the United Nations during the genocide and subsequent refugee crisis.
In 2005 he was made an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
He also remained the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board from 10th December, 2003 till he resigned on 7th October, 2006. He took the charge of the board, when it was in turmoil. Despite being a cricket purist, it was under his tenure that Pakistan’s first T20 tournament was staged, the wildly successful and popular ABN-AMRO Twenty20 Cup (now known as the National T20 Cup). He wasn’t especially fond of the format, but he recognized its potential to expand the game’s commercial base. He also oversaw what was until then the most lucrative broadcast deal the PCB had signed, not only for Pakistan’s international games but also domestic tournaments.
He also introduced a Central Contracts System for the national team, for the first time ever. Most significantly for the men’s team, His first year in charge brought the late Bob Woolmer as Head Coach. It set off a brief period where Pakistan were battling for the title of the second-best Test side in the world behind Australia, having beaten England, India and Sri Lanka in three consecutive Test series across 2005-06. However, his tenure ended on a sour note, with the ball-tampering fiasco and subsequent Oval Test forfeit.
He was again appointed the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board on 18th August 2014. His second stint was, in some ways, a course of correction to what had gone wrong since he had left. It had, initially, similarly soothing effects. His arrival ended a paralyzing period where the board leadership, mired in court cases, switched back and forth between Zaka Ashraf and Najam Sethi. The effects were immediate. The following year, in May 2015, Zimbabwe became the first country to tour Pakistan since the 2009 attacks, the first step in the gradual return of the international game to the country. The following year, a franchise T20 league (PSL), finally took off, after years and years of prevarication and failed attempts stretching back to 2008. By then, however, Sethi, who had stayed on as a de facto CEO, was the driving administrative force and Khan a quieter, more paternalistic Manager of affairs. However, he served as one of the founders of the Pakistan Super League.
In March 2016, Pakistan was eliminated from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches against India, New Zealand and Australia and only winning against Bangladesh. This caused great controversy over whose ‘fault’ it was. He was amongst those blamed and there were talks about him retiring from the PCB after this. However, he later spoke out and said he would not resign. He also said it would be better to bring in a foreign coach, implying that Waqar Younis coaching contract, which ended in June, 2016 and would not be renewed. Furthermore, he did not release any statements on which he thought was responsible for the loss, but instead, he said before the match that he would not change Shahid Afridi’s position because he had been serving Pakistan for the last 20 years. He added that changes would happen after the tournament but also noted that the poor performance was from the whole team, except certain individuals. In June, 2017, Pakistan cricket team won the ICC Champions Trophy and also grabbed the top spot in Test rankings under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy. He retired from the position on 4th August, 2017 after completing his term.
After his retirement, he wrote a number of books. Among his notable publications are The ‘Shallow Graves of Rwanda’ (a book about the Rwandan genocide), ‘The Begums of Bhopal’ (a history of the princely state of Bhopal and Cricket), ‘A Bridge of Peace’ (about India-Pakistan relations). His most personal book was the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultan – ‘Memoirs of a Rebel Princess’. He along with his son Ali Khan, a LUMS professor, wrote ‘Cricket Cauldron’ (The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan). He also co-author a book titled ‘Shadows Across the Playing Field’ (60 Years of India-Pakistan Cricket) with renowned Indian writer and politician Shashi Tharoor.
He also served as Manager of the Pakistan cricket team tour of India in 1998-99 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2002-03 in South Africa.
Indian Test cricketers, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi were his Uncle and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was his cousin while Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was his nephew.
He passed away on 23rd March, 2024 in Lahore at the age 89.