Fazal Mahmood was born in Lahore in 1927, and could have played for India in the late 1940s, but he preferred to don Pakistan colours in 1952, and did the nation proud with several outstanding performances....
HISTORY DOZES
Tall, fair and handsome, Fazal Mahmood was the first bowling hero of Pakistan cricket. A swing bowler par excellence, Fazal was a real match-winner and easily one of the best cricketers Pakistan has produced so far. Fazal’s feats - along with Little Master Hanif Muhammad’s - established the country as a front ranking Test playing nation on the map.
Fazal Mahmood was born in Lahore in 1927, and could have played for India in the late 1940s, but he preferred to don Pakistan colours in 1952, and did the nation proud with several outstanding performances. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70. He was the first Pakistani to pass 100 wickets; he reached the landmark in his 22nd match.
He turned the tables on India in the Lucknow Test with a fantastic haul of 12 for 94 and brought Pakistan its first Test win away from home.
The high point in Fazal’s career, however, came in 1954 when he mesmerised England at The Oval to win the Test match for Kardar’s Pakistan team. Fazal captured 12 wickets in the match to stun the critics and earned unprecedented praise from the British press.
Fazal was phenomenal with the ball wherever he toured and his four ten-wicket hauls against top cricket playing nations speaks volumes for his class as a bowler of amazing control and guile. Bowling at slightly above medium pace, his leg-cutters were virtually unplayable and he often bowled with nagging accuracy.
Fazal reached the 100-wicket mark in the 1957-58 Dacca Test against the West Indies. Leading the side by example, Fazal dismissed the West Indies for 76, their lowest total until 1986-87 when Abdul Qadir bamboozled them for 53.
Fazal Mahmood also led Pakistan with flair, winning two and losing two in ten Test matches while six others were drawn.
He served the Punjab police service for a considerable period and rose to the rank of DIG before calling it a day. Later, he set up a coaching camp for young cricketers and by doing so continued the good work for Pakistan cricket.
Australian all-rounder Alan Keith Davidson recalled: ‘He was an impressive figure, magnificently built bloke. He had the air of the superintendent of police. He was an inspirational sort of fellow.’
