Islahuddin was one of those outstanding right-wingers who could demolish a defence with sheer speed. To cap it he was a good scorer too.
Putting opposition defences in disarray with lightning pace was Islah's main strength but not the only one. He made a vital contribution in defence too, as he used to rush at great speed to thwart the famed penalty strikers from Holland, Germany and Australia from taking a clean hit at the Pakistan goal. That required a fair amount of courage as strikers from those top hockey-playing nations have traditionally packed a mean punch.
Due to this dual role, he was an invaluable asset for the team adna n architect of many its wins.
Islah has never been a the kind of a man to let go, and that was not the last we heard of him. He had to come back, to have a say on the hockey destiny of the nation as an administrator. Having done a stint as manager in the early 80's he was called up to do duty again in an emergency prior to the 88 Olympics at Seoul, when Khalid Mehmood quit to on the eve of the Games.