Aftab Baloch () (1 April 1953 – 24 January 2022) was a Pakistani cricketer.

Career

He played in two Test matches for Pakistan. The two matches were nearly six years apart, his debut Test, against New Zealand, was in 1969 and his only other Test, against the West Indies, in 1975. A right-handed middle order batsman and capable right arm offbreak bowler, Baloch is best known for being a member of the 400 club. The feat was achieved in a game for Sind at the National Stadium in Karachi during the 1973/74 season. After bowling out their opponents,

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

, for 93, Sind responded with 951 for 7 declared. Captaining the side, Baloch made 428 of those runs. At the time it was the sixth-highest score by a batsman in first-class cricket history and he was the seventh player to pass the 400-run milestone. The final margin, of an innings and 575 runs, made it one of the most one-sided games of all time. Baloch was rewarded with a tour of England but he didn't play a Test. His record-breaking innings, however, kept following him around; he was by coincidence given room 428 in their team hotel. A year later, in February 1975, Baloch was recalled again to the side. He had made his debut back in November 1969, at the age of just 16 and 221 days. That made him the second-youngest Test player in history. Playing against New Zealand at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, Baloch made 25 runs in the first innings before being bowled by Vic Pollard. Needing just 184 runs for victory in the fourth innings, Baloch was not required to bat. Recalled to the side, Baloch lined up at number seven in the Pakistani batting line-up for a Test against the West Indies at Lahore. He made 12 in his first innings, and was one of Keith Boyce's three victims. When Baloch came into bat in his final Test innings, his side led the West Indies by 199 runs and had five wickets in hand. Baloch made an unbeaten 60 and helped put his side 358 runs clear, but the West Indies managed to hang on for a draw.

Personal life and death

Baloch came from a mixed Baloch and Gujarati-origin family. After retiring from playing, Baloch took up coaching. He served as coach of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

at the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada. Baloch died in Karachi on 24 January 2022, at the age of 68, from COVID-19, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baloch, Aftab 1953 births 2022 deaths Baloch sportspeople Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Cricketers from Karachi Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistani cricketers Sindh cricketers Karachi cricketers Muhajir people Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Public Works Department cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Pakistan International Airlines A cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Coaches of the Nepal national cricket team Pakistani cricket coaches Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sindh