To know what it is all about, lets go back to the seventeenth day of August, 1954.
At 109 for 2, England needed just 59 runs to complete a 2-0 sweep of their test series against the first-time visitors Pakistan. But one man had different ideas alltogether...
With his deceptive late movement and those famous leg-cutters, Fazal Mahmood rips through the batting as the likes of Hutton, May and Compton depart, simply bemused by such fast bowling from the continent...Pakistan won by 24 runs, thus creating history...
As he finished off with match figures of 12-99, Fazal firmly established Pakistan's presence in the cricketing arena. The hundreds who
ran onto the pitch as the great man came out on the Oval balcony symbolised that it wouldn't be just the Empire, but cricket from the
sub-continent was there to stay ....
Shahzad Mahmood is quite a reticent man. Tucked away in a corner of his study, Fazal Mahmood's son presents a carbon copy of his dad's features. Though he never played cricket at the professional level, Shahzad knows well enough about his dad's exploits on the field.
"No bowler in Pak has been of the calibre of my dad. He gave Pakistan international acclaim simply through his outstanding efforts," said Shahzad. Quite a quote from someone who's been esconced in academics all his lfe.
For the lesser fortunate who haven't seen him play, pictures of him show he was a very good-looking man, with a great crop of wavy locks grown as if for the Brylcreem ad which he went on to model, the bluest of eyes to accompany his silver-screen looks. He was Imran Khan and much more, before Imran Khan.
Before partition, Fazal saab played in the RanjiTrophy for Northern India and was selected for India's tour of Australia in 47-48. Instead, he chose to live, and play for Pakistan, thus making Pakistan a worthy Test side, just 5 years after the traumatic separation ....
And as I went around asking a lot of those who represent the current generation in Pakistan about the great man, it seemed people don't really bother about legacies. Now come on, here was this man whose prowess spawned a steady stream of terrific fast bowlers in the country. To probably add insult to injury, I must say without taking names, an individual who's quite a big hit in Pak cricket today, hasn't even heard of Fazal saab!
My next stop brought me to the picturesque Bagh-e-Jinnah ground, inside which is housed a fantastic place, where you'll surely stop by, as time stops there too: the Lahore Gymkhana Cricket Museum.
I've told you about Najum Latif in my previous article. The curator of this museum, this genial cricket lover was very close to Fazal saab. In fact, Latif saab told me a lot about the champion bowler.
But something that really stood out in his recollections was about Fazal saab visiting the Bagh-e-Jinnah in his later years. Seated at a corner of the ground, Pakistan's original Man with the Golden Arm used to express his disappointment at the state of the game. Latif saab also told me of a wonderful instance, but I'll tell you that at the end of this piece.
13 5-wkt hauls in 34 tests, 4 10-wkts-in-a-match hauls, and that fantastic economy of just over two an over,
Fazal Mahmood isn't just an ordinary bowler we are talking about...
Here was a man simply gave birth to fast bowling in Pakistan... a legacy which has since been carried forward by Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and the current crop of Akhtar, Asif and the likes.
But the manner in which English have destroyed Pakistan in the current series, seems like Pakistan does need another Fazal Mahmood. But as they say, geniuses aren't reborn. Are they?
To tell you the truth, am really unhappy with this. I know I could have told you more about the man, whom I've never met. But perhaps, he seems more real to me than any other player I've known.
P.S: Fazal Mehmood bowled his last-ever delivery on the Bagh-e-Jinnah, a couple of years ago. And the batsman? No prizes for guessing. A fearful Najum Latif, at an old cricketers re-union!
first published:August 18, 2006, 00:06 ISTlast updated:August 18, 2006, 00:06 IST
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I haven't kept my promise. As I went visiting Pakistan, I haughtily wrote in that I would certainly recount all my experiences there. Did start off well, but somehow, couldn't quite keep it going. Yet I clearly remember all that I've come across. And as I saw the date today, I remembered one particular story I had thought about filing today. Yes, as I came out of 95-B, Allama Iqbal Road in Ghari Shahu on a windy January afternoon, I had promised myself that I would do this story. On time.
To know what it is all about, lets go back to the seventeenth day of August, 1954.
At 109 for 2, England needed just 59 runs to complete a 2-0 sweep of their test series against the first-time visitors Pakistan. But one man had different ideas alltogether...
With his deceptive late movement and those famous leg-cutters, Fazal Mahmood rips through the batting as the likes of Hutton, May and Compton depart, simply bemused by such fast bowling from the continent...Pakistan won by 24 runs, thus creating history...
As he finished off with match figures of 12-99, Fazal firmly established Pakistan's presence in the cricketing arena. The hundreds who
ran onto the pitch as the great man came out on the Oval balcony symbolised that it wouldn't be just the Empire, but cricket from the
sub-continent was there to stay ....
Shahzad Mahmood is quite a reticent man. Tucked away in a corner of his study, Fazal Mahmood's son presents a carbon copy of his dad's features. Though he never played cricket at the professional level, Shahzad knows well enough about his dad's exploits on the field.
"No bowler in Pak has been of the calibre of my dad. He gave Pakistan international acclaim simply through his outstanding efforts," said Shahzad. Quite a quote from someone who's been esconced in academics all his lfe.
For the lesser fortunate who haven't seen him play, pictures of him show he was a very good-looking man, with a great crop of wavy locks grown as if for the Brylcreem ad which he went on to model, the bluest of eyes to accompany his silver-screen looks. He was Imran Khan and much more, before Imran Khan.
Before partition, Fazal saab played in the RanjiTrophy for Northern India and was selected for India's tour of Australia in 47-48. Instead, he chose to live, and play for Pakistan, thus making Pakistan a worthy Test side, just 5 years after the traumatic separation ....
And as I went around asking a lot of those who represent the current generation in Pakistan about the great man, it seemed people don't really bother about legacies. Now come on, here was this man whose prowess spawned a steady stream of terrific fast bowlers in the country. To probably add insult to injury, I must say without taking names, an individual who's quite a big hit in Pak cricket today, hasn't even heard of Fazal saab!
My next stop brought me to the picturesque Bagh-e-Jinnah ground, inside which is housed a fantastic place, where you'll surely stop by, as time stops there too: the Lahore Gymkhana Cricket Museum.
I've told you about Najum Latif in my previous article. The curator of this museum, this genial cricket lover was very close to Fazal saab. In fact, Latif saab told me a lot about the champion bowler.
But something that really stood out in his recollections was about Fazal saab visiting the Bagh-e-Jinnah in his later years. Seated at a corner of the ground, Pakistan's original Man with the Golden Arm used to express his disappointment at the state of the game. Latif saab also told me of a wonderful instance, but I'll tell you that at the end of this piece.
13 5-wkt hauls in 34 tests, 4 10-wkts-in-a-match hauls, and that fantastic economy of just over two an over,
Fazal Mahmood isn't just an ordinary bowler we are talking about...
Here was a man simply gave birth to fast bowling in Pakistan... a legacy which has since been carried forward by Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and the current crop of Akhtar, Asif and the likes.
But the manner in which English have destroyed Pakistan in the current series, seems like Pakistan does need another Fazal Mahmood. But as they say, geniuses aren't reborn. Are they?
To tell you the truth, am really unhappy with this. I know I could have told you more about the man, whom I've never met. But perhaps, he seems more real to me than any other player I've known.
P.S: Fazal Mehmood bowled his last-ever delivery on the Bagh-e-Jinnah, a couple of years ago. And the batsman? No prizes for guessing. A fearful Najum Latif, at an old cricketers re-union!
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