Cricket in Pakistan-The Highs and the Lows (Part I) : The Early Days
Just a week ago, almost everybody in the world of cricket was talking about young Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Aamer
. Barely out of his teens, he had already taken fifty wickets at the highest level of the game. His brilliant bowling on the 2nd morning at Lords saw England, at one stage tottering at 102/7. Many of the pundits were already comparing him with Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest left arm bowler ever.
Yet, within just couple of days Aamer again made the headlines, but this time for entirely the wrong reasons. Amer , along with his fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif and the Pak skipper Salman Butt were accused in their involvement in a betting scandal. The investigation is still going on, but at the moment the trio remains suspended.
The spectacular rise and fall of Aamer, though sensational, is by no means unprecedented in Pak cricket. In fact, it is often said that, the only thing certain about the Pakistan cricket is that nothing in certain about Pakistan cricket. The history of cricket in the country, now spanning for more than 6 decades, is full of dramas (both comic and tragic), dizzy heights, abysmal lows, internal conflicts, controversies (involving drugs, women, and of course match fixing).
In this article I would try focus on both the highs and lows of Pak cricket over the years. For convenience, I have divided the article in a number of different parts. I would start in the early fifties, as Pakistan, new to the world map, first entered the test cricket arena.
Immediately after playing their first ever test match against India in Oct. 1952, the Paks made their mark in the international arena. Within the next 6 years they achieved away victories against India (at Lucknow), against England (at Oval) and against the WI (in Port of Spain). The wins against England and WI are especially impressive given that both these teams were gradually gaining strength and were in a position to challenge the Aussie domination of world cricket in the post Bradman days. The Paks themselves thrashed the Aussies in a one-off test match during the autumn of 1956. They won the low scoring match at Karachi by 9 wickets. One reason why the Paks were so successful in their early days was the fact that in Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmud they had two world class players.
The old proverb The bowlers win matches; the batsmen save matches' was very appropriate for test match cricket. In the right arm medium pacer Fazal Mahmud Pakistan found a bowler who could turn test matches in any kind of pitches or conditions. He figured prominently in all those wins. At Luknow, he took 5/52 and 7/42; at the Oval his figures were 6/53 followed by 6/46; at Karachi, the Aussies had no idea how to play him as he took 6/34 and 7/80. Finally, at Port of Spain he took 6/83 and 2/35. But, the cricket lovers of Dhaka remembered Fazal most for his match winning effort against the touring WI side in March, 1959. The match scheduled for 5 days only lasted for 3 days, as the batsmen from both sides struggle in difficult batting conditions. Batting first the home side could only manage 145, thanks mainly to the determined effort of Wallis Mathias who top scored with a gritty 64. In reply, the mighty Windies were bundled out for a mere 76, with Fazal taking 6/34. The Windies batting did lot better in the 2nd innings; chasing 214 for victory, Sobers and Collie smith briefly threatened to take the match away from Pakistan with a 5 th wicket stand of 65. At the end though, the tourists fell short by 41 runs; Fazal( 6/66) and his new ball partner Mahmood Hussain (4/48) taking their side to a memorable win.
Back to the victory at Port of Spain, after Fazal did the damage in the 1st innings, it was the young left arm spinner Nasim ul-Ghani who stole the show in the 2nd innings with figures of 6/67. Barely out of his, he was the youngest test player at the time. The Delhi born all-rounder was a familiar figure to the Dhaka crowd as he regularly represented the East Pakistan side in the domestic 1st Class arena. He never fulfilled his early promise, but he did come to the limelight one more time; at Lords in 1962, coming on to bat as a night-watchman, he shared a 5th wicket stand of 197 with the skipper Javed Burki, as both batsmen scored centuries. Ghani's 101 was his highest test score.
As for Hanif Mohammad, the original Little master', his most memorable effort came at Bridgetown, WI, during the 1957/58 season. In the first test of the series, on perfect batting conditions, the strong WI batting hammered the hapless Pak bowling all over the park to reach 579/9 (Decl.); Everton Weekes, one of the 3 W's top scored with 197, opener Sir Conrad Hunte contributed 142. In reply, the Paks were bundled out for only 106 in their first innings. With half the match still remaining the result seemed a foregone conclusion. Yet, inspired by Hanif Pakistan did the impossible. Hanif's 337 helped Pakistan reach 657/8 (Decl.). Hanif's knock included 24 hits to the fence, and he batted for 16 hours and 10 minutes, the longest individual effort in test history. A year later, Hanif added one more world record to his credit, scoring 499 playing for the Karachi side against Bhawalpur in the Semi Final of the Quaid-E-Azam trophy. Astonishingly, he was run out going for his 500th run. Hanif broke the 30 year old record held by Sir Don Bradman for the highest first class score. Hanif's own record lasted for almost 4 decades before another legend, Brain Lara crossed the 500 mark barrier.
After this effort for Karachi, Don Bradman kept a great interest in Hanif's progress. So, when Hanif led the Pak side in the one-off test match against Aaustralia in Melbourne, in Dec. 1964, Bradman was there to watch the Little Master'. And Hanif didn't disappoint him, scoring 104 and 93.
Hanf kept playing for Pakistan until the 1969-70 season. In his last match, against NZ at Karachi, he shared the opening duties with his brother Sadiq, 10 years his junior. A young Bengali, by the name of Raqibul Hassan seemed all set to take the role of Hanif in the Pak team before the political identity of Pakistan changed completely.
Before I finish this section on the initial days of Pak cricket, a word or two should be said about Pakistan's first captain, Abdul Hafiz Kardar. He captained Pakistan in 23 tests, in during this period Pakistan achieved victories over all the test playing nations except South Africa, against whom they were not allowed to play. After retiring as a player he served Pak cricket for almost two decades as an administrator. Often called The Father of Pakistan Cricket'; Kardar was brilliant, but unpredictable; a great team man, yet often prone to arrogance; a visionary, but extremely sensitive to slightest criticism. As many critics have noted, The Father of Pakistan' first showed the characteristics which would become extremely common among the top Pak players over the years.
Cricket in Pakistan-The Highs and the Lows (Part I) : The Early Days
By: Rafiqul Ameer
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