Lateef Jafri: History of Pakistan cricket part 3:Success over West Indies, battle against Aussies (15 Sep 1997)

15 September 1997

Success over West Indies, battle against Aussies

By Lateef Jafri

THE West Indies had not found life easy on their tour of England in 1957 and when they visited the subcontinent the era of their famous three W's- Weekes, Walcott and Worrellhad come to an end. And yet young batsmen like Sobers, Kanhai, Butcher and Solomon had filled the breach to exhibit forceful and powerful strokes. Among the bowlers was Hall, a successor to Hylton and Martindale, an athletic figure, pitching his seamers with beautiful follow-through and rhythmical action. It was not easy to take liberties against him.

The West Indies had a remarkably successful experience in India. However they had a puzzling performance in Pakistan under the captaincy of Fazal Mahmud, the able deputy of Kardar, who had decided to keep away from representative cricket at the age of 34 though a few years later he led the team in a Test against New Zealand. Fazal found plenty of life on the matting wicket of Karachi's National Stadium in the first Test, and the West Indians were in trouble. They were later bothered by the left-arm spin of Nasimul Ghani. They subsided for less than a moderate 146 in the first innings. Hanif, as was expected, exuded confidence against the visitors to score a century. His 178 with Saeed Ahmed, for the second wicket, is still a record against the West Indies. Pakistan's 304 in the first knock proved a good enough total to clinch a 10-wicket victory for the Caribbeans were again routed by Fazal, Mahmud Hussain and spinner Shujauddin.

West Indies may have been defeated by an innings but a stubborn partnership between Butcher and Solomon delayed the inevitable result. Fazal became the first Pakistani to reach the landmark of 100 wickets in Test cricket when he trapped Sobers for the second time in the match. Hanif sorrowfully had knee trouble and took no further part in the rubber. This was a big blow to the national side for a dependable replacement to face the new ball was hard to be found.

Pakistan outplayed the West Indies in the second Test at Dhaka, thus achieving a hat-trick of success against the redoubtable West Indians. Hall showed his class as a penetrating medium-pacer. He exploited well the heavy atmosphere in Dhaka and took four of the five wickets to fall for just 27 runs. Wallis Mathias and Shujauddin stemmed the rot and yet the first knock ended at 146. West Indies's fate was even poorer as they crumbled for what was then their lowest total of 76.It was a low-scoring match for despite Wallis and Shuja coming to Pakistan's rescue even in the second knock they were all out for 144, leaving the visitors only 214 to try for victory. Fazal and Mahmud Hussain pierced through the West Indies second innings. Fazal's 12 for 100 remains the best analysis against the West Indies, the bowler's vigour and change of pace was astonishing.

The West Indies were not down and out in the series. In the third Test at Bagh-i-Jinnah, they made a shaky beginning. Perhaps Lahore may also see a Pakistan win, thought the fans. However, they recovered soon and with Rohan Kanhai, in splendid form, and Garry Sobers treating the bowling on its merits their batting was worthy of much credit. A fusillade of shots found the pair in a mood of belligerence. Kanhai drove handsomely to hit up 217, the highest then by a visiting player against Pakistan. His third-wicket score of 162 with Sobers (72) was a record for the series and stood as such for 34 years till Haynes and Lara crossed it at Port-of-Spain.

Rain interfered in both the Pakistan innings and their worries compounded when Ijaz Butt, the opener, retired hurt after being hit by a bumper from Hall. The West Indian medium-pacer, with remarkable bowling got a hat-trick, the stumps of Mushtaq Mohammad, Fazal and Nasim were upset in three successive deliveries. Against a West Indian score of 469 Pakistan followed on 260 runs behind. This time the visiting spinners, Ramadhin and Gibbs, exploited the sticky pitch and the Pakistani batsmen were sent to the pavilion for just 104, losing the first Test at home by a large margin of an innings and 156 runs. Pakistan, nevertheless, had the series in their bag by 2-1.

Mushtaq Mohammad at 15 years and 124 days became the youngest Test player in the Lahore match. Waqar, playing fascinating shots to the delight of the Lahore spectators, crossed 1,000 runs in Test cricket in the first knock.

The Australians paid a visit to Pakistan in the winter of 1959-60, rather a short one, considering that they had a full schedule in India. They were quite a strong outfit with Harvey, the stylist of the Bradman era still in proper physical shape to play neat and polished strokes, Norman O'Neill, a hard hitter, Peter Burge, Colin McDonald and all-rounders in Davidson and Benaud, the captain were in fine fettle. The seam bowling was in the proper and brawny hands of Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall (who retired on return home), Meckiff and Rorke. Benaud and Mackay provided contrasting styles of slow bowling. They were bristling with confidence unlike the tired and disjointed lot of the 1957 Test. The Australians, as they clinched the first Test at Dhaka by eight wickets, showed that they will be playing with judgment and enthusiasm. Apart from Hanif, swinging a skilful bat, Pakistan were initially worried against Davidson's fiery and venomous medium-pacers, bowling in the style ofBill Johnston of Victoria and latterly by Benaud's trickery. In the second innings they were tormented by the double spin attack of Benaud and Mackay. Benaud had come on the tour with proper planning and realised his opening aim at Dhaka.

Harvey, as was his reputation, made beautiful strokes to the thrill of the crowds, though unlucky to miss hundred by three runs. The Australians were unstoppable in Lahore in the second Test, though Saeed in his 166 in the second innings proved that bowling was not very difficult. Imtiaz, Saeed and Shuja tried their level best to save the match but the Australians were comfortably home with the loss of only three wickets.

O'Neill wielded a powerful bat to hit up a quick 134. He was quite brisk in the second knock also with an unbeaten 43. In Karachi's third Test Australia was not allowed to take the upper hand. Hanif's half century and an unbeaten 101 were worth seeing for its technical discipline. For even the flashing pace of Lindwall and the curving flight of Benaud could not disturb his equipoise. In the first innings Hanif hooked the first ball of Davidson to dispel the wrong notion that he had limited range of strokes.

For Australia Harvey and Mackay in the first knock and McDonald in the second one played fine enterprising knocks on matting. The match turned out to be a drawn one with Australia bagging the rubber by 2-0. Pakistan were beaten on the home soil for the first time in a series. President Eisenhower, on a State visit to the country, watched the fourth day's play in Pakistan's blazer and tie. Intikhab became the first bowler for Pakistan and the eighth in history to take a wicket with his first ball in Test when he beat McDonald neck and crop with his off-spin.

Saeed completed 1,000 runs in his 11h Test, the quickest march to a cricket landmark.

Pakistan made a second full tour of India in the wintry season of 1960-61. To the sorrow and regret of cricket enthusiasts the Tests, as also the side matches, turned out to be an exercise in futility. The batsmen refused to force the pace; it was all through an excruciatingly dull and drab series with no purpose in the minds of the teams and captains. The encounters were a repeat of the trip made by India to the neighbouring country over five years ago. Some centuries and records by the batsmen may have given the chance to the crowded galleries at the five venues in India to cheer up the players and themselves during the five-day schedules.

The first Test at the Brabourne Stadium, Bombay, was marked by Hanif's sublime and technically sound 160. The crowds tried to disturb his composure with some questionable methods yet Hanif went on in his steady and serene way. His self-confidence was always an asset for the national side in the home and away encounters. With Saeed, in the prime of form, he was associated in a second-wicket stand of 246, a record against India then. Pakistan occupied almost two days for their 350 in the first knock and when India batted, exceeding Pakistan's total, they took 12 and a half hours for their 449. The match had then almost petered out into a draw with Pakistan's second innings unfinished for the loss of only four wickets.

Joshi and Desai gave India their highest 9th wicket score of 149, a record in all Test matches.. Hanif completed 2,000 runs in the first knock of the Test, the first Pakistani to do so.

The second Test at Kanpur's Green Park was predictable as a draw since the first innings of the two countries was completed just on the stroke of lunch on the final day. It was tedious batting on show at the Madi Stadium. For Pakistan Javed Burki scored 79 and 48 with assurance and Nasim-ul-Ghani, essentially a bowler, remained unbeaten for 70, his highest in Test cricket. For India Umrigar, though subdued, showed some sweetly-driven shots for his century and Jaisimha played a marathon knock of eight hours and twenty minutes but was run out while trying a sharp single for his hundred.

Haseeb's bowling earned the appreciation of the critics for its unplayable off-breaks, some of the deliveries disallowing any positive movement by the batsmen. Regretfully his five wickets did not prove to be a match-winner as the Indians were bent on safety methods. A result in the third Test in Calcutta was not possible as rain on the third and fourth days, cut the hours of play. Both the brothers, Hanif and Mushtaq, scintillated with their batting in the first knock but the latter's stand of 88 with Intikhab Alam was one of the highlights of this drawn encounter. Hanif put on a patient 82 with Javed Burki on the last morning. For India it was beyond and above their capacity to attain the target of 267 in three hours.

High-scoring and record-setting were the features of the fourth Test at the Corporation Stadium of Madras yet the crowds saw another facet of the slow mode in the series. Sadly packed as the pavilions may be there was no room for bright cricket. Fazal won the toss for the fifth consecutive time and Pakistan knocked up a total of 448, the second highest against India. Hanif was in the right vein batting majestically. Then Imtiaz too solved the problems presented by the Indian bowlers - Desai, Umrigar and Gupte. Both the openers made a first-wicket score of 162, still a record against India. Imtiaz, in his delectable way and Saeed Ahmed hit centuries for Pakistan as later Nari Contractor set the pace for sound batting for India and Umrigar and Borde attained three figures. India's 539 for 9 declared proved their highest against Pakistan in Tests and till then was a record against all countries. Little time was left for the enforcement of a result as on the fourth day play ended 20 minutes earlier because of a fire in the eastern stand of the stadium. Haseeb, even though costly, took six wickets with off-breaks of slow flight.

The last Test match of the itinerary at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground failed to break the monotony of drawn games though India appeared in a strong position after hitting up 463 in the first innings. Umrigar was in fine form, making his ninth hundred in Test and Contractor's 92 stirred the crowds to jubilation. Perhaps India can enforce a decision in their favour. However, Mushtaq Mohammad, with certainty of strokes, came to three figures, the youngest centurion at 17 years and 78 days. Yet Pakistan could not save the follow-on. It was the last pair of Pakistan - Mahmud Husain and Mohammad Farooq - who made India's task difficult and the stalemate in the rubber stayed. This was the last series between the two nations till 1978.

England, while on tour of India in the winter of 1961, had made a commitment for a short trip to Pakistan, where in the three-Test series the visitors had the better of the home side. The first Test at Lahore's Qadhafi Stadium saw some bright cricket by Javed Burki, who chiselled out a century with charming touch, and Saeed Ahmad, swinging a trenchant and powerful bat. Mushtaq Mohammad plundered 76. All three helped Pakistan to reach a respectable 387 to the roar of the crowd expressing ecstasy. For England Barrington, a stylist to the core but a batsman with plenty of power in this shots, displayed beautifully-propelled drives, cuts and hooks towards the long leg to hit 139. Mike Smith of England was run out stealing a single at 99. England were in deficit when the first innings of the two countries ended but drama, to the surprise of the fans, was in store as Pakistan went in to bat a second time and they were all out for 200. Pakistan were 149 for nine on the fourth day and only a last-wicket stand of 52 between Haseeb Ahsan and Afaq Hussain could give England a target of 208 to chase which they comfortably did to beat Pakistan by five wickets, the last runs scored in the last 35 minutes. England, happy to earn their first victory after the Oval defeat, went to complete their itinerary in India and returned to Pakistan after about three months.

The Dhaka Test played in January was marked by Hanif achieving the rare feat of a century in each innings, a distinction limited to the elect in cricket. Hanif's classical poise in handling Lock's off-spin was seen to be believed. The master batsman that Hanif was faced the deceptive bowler with technical brilliance in the way and manner of Hassett and Hazare. The match was dull in the purists' view.

Even though England exceeded Pakistan's first innings total any setback to Pakistan was ruled out with Hanif dominating batting. The third Test at Karachi did not give any result, which meant that England had wrapped up the series with their triumph in the first Test. Hanif again shone at the National Stadium with elegant shots for his 67 but Alimuddin, sent in the middle order, hit a careful hundred. England exceeded Pakistan's score by 244 runs with Dexter, in extremely aggressive mood to make 205, the highest then in Karachi. The pitch become slower as the match progressed and Hanif, Imtiaz, Alimuddin, Burki and Nasim played well enough to force a draw. (To be continued)

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)