Full Name

Gul Mohammad

Born

October 15, 1921, Lahore, Punjab

Died

May 08, 1992, Lahore, Punjab, (aged 70y 206d)

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Left arm Medium

Gul Mahomed was one of the small band of cricketers who have represented two countries in Tests. He played eight times for India and once for Pakistan. He was born in Lahore and died there on May 8, 1992, aged 70, after a long illness. Gul Mahomed was a diminutive, dashing left-handed batsman who could bowl steady left-arm seamers at medium pace. Above all, he was an outstandingly brilliant fielder in the cover area; he could gather left-handed and return at great speed at a time when Indian fielding was often very unathletic. It was once said that a fish could not slither out of his hands. As a youth, he played for Islamia College, the nursery of many Test cricketers from Punjab, and made his début in the Ranji Trophy in 1938-39 for Northern India when he was 17. He soon announced his class by hitting 95 for Muslims against Hindus in the Northern India Triangular Tournament. He made real progress in 1942 and scored a forceful hundred for the Rest of India against Western India, facing an attack of Test standard. Meanwhile, the Bombay Pentangular Tournament had provided him with the chance of making two more hundreds and he and Hazare - batsmen of contrasting styles - shared a stand of 302 for a Bengal Cyclone XI against a Bijapur Famine XI in the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. This was a foretaste of what came later.

Gul Mahomed did well enough in trials to secure a place on the trip to England in 1946 but, in an interview many years later, he was sharply critical of the Nawab of Pataudi's captaincy, maintaining that no one apart from Merchant was given a proper chance to run into consistent form. He played without success at Lord's in the First Test. Back in India, however, he and Hazare shared what remains the largest stand for any wicket in first-class cricket. It was in the final of the Ranji Trophy between Baroda and Holkar. Gul Mahomed came in with the score at 91 for three. When he was out for 319, eight hours 53 minutes later, they had put on 577 for the fourth wicket, part of a total of 784.

Gul was a member of the post-Independence team which toured Australia as pioneers in 1947-48, captained by Lala Amarnath. The team failed dismally and he made only 130 runs in five Tests but fielded brilliantly throughout. He represented India against the newcomers Pakistan in their first two Tests in 1952-53. But he then migrated to Pakistan and in 1956-57 he was chosen for his new country against Ian Johnson's Australians at Karachi, and made the winning hit. Earlier, he had been a great success as a professional in the Lancashire League with Ramsbottom.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Gul Mohammad Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50s6sCtSt
Tests91712053412.8100030
FC11818721561431933.811221-600

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests94772422/212/2112.001.8738.5000
FC118-729529111076/60-27.202.3968.1-30
Gul Mohammad

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Debut/Last Matches of Gul Mohammad

FC Matches

Span
1938/39 - 1958/59

Recent Matches of Gul Mohammad

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Punjab (Pak) vs Pak Comb Srv1--07-Feb-1957LahoreFC
Pakistan vs Australia12 & 27*--11-Oct-1956KarachiTest # 430
India vs Pakistan0 & 22/2123-Oct-1952LucknowTest # 356
India vs Pakistan240/016-Oct-1952DelhiTest # 355
West Zone vs C'wealth XI13*1/1810-Dec-1949PuneFC

Photos of Gul Mohammad

Gul Mohammad(left) and Col Rafi Nasim supervising construction of pitches
Gul Mohammad
The 1946 Indian touring squad
Gul Mohammad - Portrait