Mohammad Baqa Khan Jilani (born on July 20, 1911, Jalandhar

Jalandhar

Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...

, Punjab

Punjab (British India)

Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...

 - died on July 2, 1941, Jalandhar, Punjab) was a bowler who represented India

Indian cricket team

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....

 in Test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

.

Jilani was related by marriage to the family that also produced Majid Khan

Majid Khan (cricket player)

Majid Jahangir Khan is a former cricketer, specialist batsman and former captain of the Pakistan cricket team and perhaps the most fearless opening Batsman produced by Pakistan. Khan's first-class career spanned from 1961 to 1985...

, Javed Burki

Javed Burki

Javed Burki is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests from 1960 to 1969 to eventually become an ICC match referee. Burki received his early education from St. Mary's Academy, Rawalpindi and Aitchison College, Lahore...

 and Imran Khan

Imran Khan

Imran Khan Niazi is a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics...

. As a right-arm medium-paced bowler and a decent lower-order batsman, he kicked off his career with twelve wickets on first-class debut. He also took the first hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 in Ranji Trophy

Ranji Trophy

The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia...

, for Northern India against Southern Punjab in the semifinal of the first tournament in 1934-35. Southern Punjab was dismissed for 22 which was the lowest total in the competition for 76 years.

Jilani played his only Test match in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1936 during a tour wrecked by infighting between two factions supportive of the captain Vizzy

Maharajkumar of Vizianagram

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju , better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or Vizzy, was an Indian cricketer, cricket administrator and politician.- Childhood :...

 and the former captain C. K. Nayudu

C. K. Nayudu

Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu , also known as CK, was an Indian cricketer who served as India's first Test captain. He was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra and died in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He played first-class cricket regularly till 1958, and returned for one last time in 1963 at the age of 68...

. Jilani belonged to the former group. A few days before the Test Match at the Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

, Jilani publicly insulted Nayudu while coming down to breakfast. It has been alleged that he owed to this incident his subsequent Test debut, a forgettable affair to which he contributed sixteen runs and fifteen wicketless overs.

An Extra Assistant Commissioner in Jalandhar, Jilani died a few days after his thirtieth birthday, thus becoming the second-ever Indian Test cricketer, after Amar Singh

Amar Singh (cricketer)

Ladhabhai Nakum Amar Singh Lodha was an Indian Test cricketer.A right-arm fast-medium bowler and effective lower-order batsman, Amar Singh Lodha played in seven Tests for India before World War II. He took 28 wickets in these matches. He was the first Indian Fast bowler and All-rounder, and the...

, to die. He suffered an epileptic fit, fell down from the balcony of his house in Jullundur, and died instantly. It is occasionally incorrectly reported that he committed suicide by hanging himself.