Imtiaz Ahmed – Pakistan Cricket’s Icon
By Dr Salman Faridi

Imtiaz Ahmed’s contribution to Pakistan’s cricket has been under-rated. He was the country’s first regular wicket-keeper and played an instrumental role in putting Pakistan on the world’s cricketing map.

Imtiaz was born in 1928, in the Bhatti Gate area of Lahore. He shone as a gifted cricketer from an early age and began playing for the Ravi Gymkhana in Lahore before he was even 12 years old. In the nets at this club, if a batsman missed a bouncer at a reasonable height, he would lose his next batting turn. To avoid this, Imtiaz learnt to hook the rising ball, and this became a shot that he would be renowned for throughout his playing life.

His precocious talent led to his selection for Sir Arthur Griffin’s XI against The Bishop of Lahore XI in a fundraising match in December 1943. Batting at number eight, he top scored with 28. Subsequently, while studying at Islamia College, he played for Punjab University in their annual fixture against the Punjab Governor’s Eleven and also represented them in the Rohinton Baria Inter-University Trophy competition. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1944-45, playing for the Northern India side. In his second match for them, against a strong Southern Punjab bowling attack that included Lala Amarnath, he scored an unbeaten century and also collected five dismissals behind the stumps as a wicket keeper.

The following year, while representing Northern India against a visiting Australian Services side, Imtiaz, going in with the score at 106 for 6, played a superb, attacking innings of 138 not out, partnering Hafeez Kardar in a 268-run stand for the 7th wicket. In the Ranji Trophy in 1946-47 he continued this rich vein of runs by scoring 50 and 119 in a match against old rivals Southern Punjab.

Following the creation of Pakistan Imtiaz played in the inaugural first-class match on Pakistani soil between Sind and Punjab. He scored 72 in Punjab’s only innings and also excelled as a wicket keeper by making 7 dismissals in Sind’s second innings. In 1948, he was selected for Pakistan’s first international match, against the visiting West Indian team. In the first innings Imtiaz made 76 and along with Nazar put on 148 runs for the first wicket, which was Pakistan’s first century partnership in international cricket. In the second innings he partnered the captain Mian Mohammad Saeed in a 205-run stand for the second wicket. This was Pakistan’s first double century partnership in international matches and Imtiaz’s contribution, as Pakistan’s first centurion, was 131.

In 1949, while playing for Pakistan Universities against a touring Commonwealth XI, Imtiaz scored 165. When Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), visited Pakistan in 1950 for two Unofficial Tests, Imtiaz scored a century in the opening Test in Lahore and in the second Test in Karachi took 5 catches behind the stumps in the visitor’s first innings. In view of his outstanding performances he was sent for further training to Alf Gover’s coaching school in London, along with Hanif, Rusi Dinshaw and Khan Mohammad.

In March 1951, Imtiaz played as a guest star for the Indian Prime Minister’s Eleven against Leslie Ames Commonwealth side. Following on 332 runs behind in the first innings the home side was rescued by a magnificent knock of 300 not out from Imtiaz, who had opened the batting. He was particularly severe on the famous mystery spinner Sonny Ramadhin, who was playing for the Commonwealth team. This was also the first triple century by a sub-continental batsman against an international team.

By now Imtiaz had joined the Pakistan Air Force. He was an automatic selection for Pakistan’s inaugural Test series against India in 1952. He was chosen purely as a batsman, as he had given up wicket-keeping in 1951 after being hit in the eye by a ball during a club match in Sialkot. Hanif was entrusted with the wicket-keeping responsibilities, but after the third Test, Kardar requested Imtiaz to resume this function to allow Hanif to concentrate on his batting. Imtiaz complied and continued to perform this role for the rest of his cricketing career.

Pakistan’s tour of England in 1954 saw Imtiaz at his all-round best. He scored 1,105 runs on the tour and took 86 victims behind the stumps. This still stands as a record for the highest number of wicket-keeping dismissals in an English season by any visiting keeper. He was only 14 dismissals short of performing the wicket-keeping double of 1,000 runs and 100 dismissals. His performance included 7 catches off the bowling of Fazal Mehmood in Pakistan’s famous victory in the Oval Test.

Imtiaz scored 3 fifties in the 1955 home series against India, including a match-saving knock of 69 in the second innings of the 4th Test in Peshawar. Imtiaz was in pristine form when New Zealand visited Pakistan for a three Test series in 1955-56. He began by scoring 64 in Pakistan’s solitary innings in the first Test in Karachi. In the second Test in Lahore, replying to New Zealand’s score of 348, Pakistan were precariously perched at 111 for 6 when Imtiaz went to the wicket. Along with Waqar Hasan. Imtiaz completely decimated the Kiwi attack in a 7th wicket stand of 308. His own score of 209 set many new records. It was the first double century in test cricket by a wicket-keeper, the first double century and the highest Test score by a batsman at the number 8 position and the first Test double century by any Pakistani batsman. The partnership of 308 was the highest for any wicket for Pakistan at the time.

More was to come from Imtiaz when Pakistan toured West Indies in 1958. In the first Test in Barbados, Imtiaz started Pakistan’s famous rearguard action in the second innings in an opening stand of 158 with Hanif. He took on Gilchrist, the fastest bowler in world cricket at the time, hooking him imperiously and even advancing down the wicket to attack his bowling. His innings of 91 set the tone for a Pakistan revival. In the third Test in Kingston, Imtiaz stroked his way to 122 in the first innings and then gave a sterling performance as a wicket-keeper, conceding only 2 byes in a huge West Indian total of 790 for 3 wickets.

When England, under Ted Dexter, toured Pakistan in 1961-62, Imtiaz was appointed the captain of the national team. Pakistan lost the series 2-0 and Imtiaz’s own form was poor with a solitary score of above fifty. He was stripped of the captaincy for the tour of England in 1962 where Pakistan was routed 4-0 in the Test series. Imtiaz ended this series with scores of 49 and 98 respectively, in the two innings of the fifth Test at the Oval. In his final innings he missed out on a certain century when, with his usual impetuosity, he flashed at a ball well outside the off stump, gifting the slip cordon with an easy catch.

Imtiaz regained the captaincy of the Pakistan team for a high scoring drawn series against a visiting Commonwealth side in 1963. This was followed by a visit to Sri Lanka where he led a Pakistan A team to an embarrassing defeat against the local side which was not even a test playing nation at the time. This brought down the curtain on Imtiaz’s career with the national team.

 

In his later years he continued his involvement with the game as an administrator. He served as the camp commandant of Pakistan cricket teams for around ten years. He was also in charge of the PAF School for Physical Fitness at Peshawar for many years where he trained many sportsmen, including the famous squash player Jansher Khan, who came to this school at the age of ten and received coaching in physical fitness, training methods and proper nutritional habits. Imtiaz also functioned as the chief selector of the national cricket team and had a three-year stint looking after the national women’s cricket team.

Imtiaz retired from the PAF as a wing commander. He passed away in December 2016, a few days short of his 89th birthday. He was a fearless batsman, who played fast bowling with ease and relish. An excellent hooker and puller of the ball his style would have been ideally suited for the shorter versions of the game that are in vogue today. He was also a wicketkeeper par excellence whose keeping to Khan and Fazal was the key to many of Pakistan’s early Test successes. He also had a liking for Urdu poetry and had published a small collection of his verses.

Imtiaz’s statistics are 41 Tests, 2,079 runs, average 29.28, 3 centuries, highest score 209 and 93 wicketkeeping dismissals. His first-class figures are 10391 runs, average 37.37, 22 centuries, highest score 300 not out and 404 wicket-keeping dismissals.

(Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7,000 books. The News International)