Featuring him on their homepage hitting shots at every stage of his life, the doodle "celebrates legendary Pakistani squash player Hashim Khan, widely revered as one of the sport's all-time greatest players," according to Google itself.
Google chose to release the doodle specifically on April 4, the date that marks his British Open Squash Championships win that elevated him from obscurity to an international icon in 1951.
Born near Peshawar, young Khan practiced and perfected the spot barefoot on brick courts at a British officers' club where his father worked. He was, in fact, a ball boy at the club's squash courts.
By the age of 28, he developed an understanding of the sport, enough to win him three All-of-India titles through 1944 to 1946. After the partition of India, Khan represented Pakistan at the 1951 British Open where he hit it off the court and bagged the grand prize, returning home as a hero to a million people waiting to greet him.
Today, Khan is also known as the patriarch of the 'Khan squash dynasty', as termed by Google - for over half-a-century after his big win, the tournament was won 29 times by either Khan or his relatives, including renowned players Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.
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