One of the finest cricketers Pakistan can boast of, Fazal Mahmood was being remembered on his death anniversary on Wednesday. Fazal Mahmood was born in 1927 at Lahore. He started his first class career in 1943. Fazal Mahmood was one of the finest cricketers Pakistan had produced. He showed interest in cricket from a very early age and encouraged by his father. Fazal Mahmood grew up to become a bowling wizard.
Before the creation of Pakistan, Fazal played for North India. His outstanding performance in matches earned him a place in the Indian squad which was to tour Australia; however the partition of India was announced and Fazal Mahmood opted for Pakistan.
Fazal Mahmood helped in popularising cricket in Pakistan. His bowling spell against the visiting MCC convinced the kingmakers at Lords to grant test status to Pakistan. Fazal Mahmood thus made his test debut in 1952 against India. The highlight of his career remains the test at Oval England in 1954 when Fazal took 12 wickets for just 99 runs. Beating the kings at their own game was a big achievement for the newcomers (Pakistanis). In his career, Fazal Mahmood captured a total of 139 wickets in the 34 test matches he played averaging 24.7 runs.
Fazal was a medium fast bowler who specialised in leg cutters and break backs. He is also the only bowler to take 12 wickets in a series 4 times. Fazal Mahmood was chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1955 for his outstanding performance at the Oval making him the first Pakistani to receive the honour. He reached the 100 wicket mark in 22 tests. He also led Pakistan in 10 test matches. After retirement Fazal Mahmood served as a National Selector. On 30th May 2005, Fazl Mehmood died of heart attack.
Comments
Comments are closed.