Indore: Syed Mushtaq Ali remains a legendary figure in Indian cricket, but little has been done to preserve his legacy in his hometown.

In fact, the family’s plan to build a museum here has been abandoned after the house allotted by the state government ran into litigation.

His ancestral home in Ushaganj, where he spent nearly 80 years of his life before passing away in June 2005, has been demolished because the family wants to build a modern building. They now live in a makeshift property and construction on their old house has begun only last month.

“That house was built by my grandfather… It was in a dilapidated state and would have collapsed any day. So we decided to build it afresh,” the legend’s son, Gulrez Ali, who played first-class cricket for Madhya Pradesh, told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

The flamboyant star, who played 11 Tests between 1934 and 1952, was the first Indian to score a Test century overseas — 112 at Old Trafford in 1936, when he beat Vijay Merchant to the mark during an opening stand of 203. Quite aptly, his autobiography was named, ‘Cricket Delightful’.

But what has brought insurmountable pain to the family has been their inability to build a museum in Mushatq Ali’s name despite “government clearance.”

The then Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Digvijay Singh, had allotted Mushtaq Ali a bungalow on the C.R.P. Lines. But it came with a rider: it was meant for use during Mushtaq Ali’s lifetime only.

“We had planned the museum there… At the time of allotment in 1995, a judge and his family were living in the bungalow. When we approached them, they said they would hand it over at a later date after shifting their belongings to another place,” Gulrez said.

“But in the meantime a lawyer filed a public interest litigation, stalling the bungalow from being transferred to my father. It came as a big shock.”

Mushtaq Ali’s wish of approaching Digvijay Singh to allot the bungalow in his family’s name, however, suffered a jolt because of a change of guard at the state government.

“With my father’s death, there was little hope of gaining hold of the bungalow… We also abandoned our plans of a museum because we didn’t want to get into the litigation… It would have taken years… As far as I know, the dispute is still on,” Gulrez rued.

“The government sadly has done nothing to preserve his legacy. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, though, has been of great help… We plan to donate my father’s blazer, bats and other cricket gear to their museum once its set up,” he added.

Most of the memorabilia has already been donated to National Institute of Sports in Patiala.