10 greatest Pakistani cricketers of all-time
Pakistan weregranted Test status in 1952, five years after their independence, at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference which took place at Lords. Their first ever tour was, in thesame year, to India for a 5-match Test series which they eventually lost 2-1. Results were hard to come by, initially, with there being a lack of professionalism in the game in Pakistan. The watershed moment for their cricket probably came in the year 1954 when they managed to beat England, their colonial masters, for the very first time at The Oval in London and managed to draw the series 1-1, with fast bowler Fazal Mahmood, who took 12 wickets in the match, being the star of the show. Pakistani cricketers, over the years, have gained a reputation of being brilliant and erratic at the same time. A lack of cricketing infrastructure in the country means that a lot of their players actually do not receive a lot of coaching in their early years, and the system is such that, by and large, they are allowed to develop their skills on their own. This is perhaps the reason that they tend to find cricketers with raw but unique ability with more regularity than other countries.Here are the 10greatest Pakistani cricketers of all-time:
#10 Fazal Mahmood
Pakistan have had a plethora of outstanding fast bowlers over the years in the form of Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis….the list goes on, highlighting the strong fast bowling culture existing in Pakistan. But the first outstanding fast bowler from Pakistan and the man who started it all was, undoubtedly, Fazal Mahmood.
Born in Lahore, Punjab in 1927, Mahmood was the star of the Pakistani bowling line-up in the 1950s. He was the match-winner in both of Pakistan’s first two Test victories against India and England, in 1952 and 1954 respectively, as he took a colossal 24 wickets in the two Tests combined. He went on to play a defining role in a lot of Pakistan’s success throughout that decade before eventually retiring in 1962.
The great Hanif Mohammad, when asked about his colleague, said: "He was a great human being, always willing to help anyone who sought his advice. All our wins since we started playing Test cricket were indebted to him."