Pakistan having wrapped up the three-match One-Day series in the West Indies, the focus must surely now be on the main course which is in progress with the start of the first of the two Tests at the Kensington Oval at Barbados.
This, Pakistan’s sixth visit to the Caribbean, is a golden opportunity to write history. On the previous tours, Pakistan has did managed to win three Tests, two in Trinidad and one Guyana. They came so near and remained so far, at least on two occasions at Barbados. Once in 1976-77 when led by Mushtaq Mohammad the team was deprived of victory when the last two West Indian wickets managed to hold on for an hour and 35 minutes to earn a draw. And in 1988 when Pakistan, on the verge of a series win for the first time in the West Indies were done by poor umpiring by David Archer.
Imran Khan’s tourists after being clean sweeped in the five match One-Day series on that tour, had surprised everyone by winning the first Test in Guyana within four days and having drawn the second Test at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad. In fact, Pakistan nearly won that match as well, but for the dismissal of Javed Miandad. So, they came to Barbados aiming to win.
On the final day, West Indies needing 58 to win with only two wickets in hand. They were staring in the face of defeat when Jeff Dujon was caught off Abdul Qadir at short leg by Mudassar Nazar. But umpire Archer decided in favour of Dujon and later Winston Benjamin too was given the slice of luck off the same bowler as West Indies won and drew the series.
Archer, a man from Barbados, was scared for the fact that his cafe and bar, outside the ground, was under threat in case he had raised his finger. It was an eventful day as outraged Qadir slung a punch at one of the spectators, Albert Auguste when heckled after the umpire deprived him of wicket. Qadir of course had to pay a price for that and the manager of the team Intikhab Alam had to dish out $1000 as an out-of-court settlement to get out of the island. I only hope no such unsavoury incident happens during the current series.
Apart from those near misses by Pakistan, the tours to the West Indies are also remembered for the marathon triple century by one of the greats of cricket; Hanif Mohammad who on Pakistan’s first visit to the Caribbean and in the first official Test between the two countries, hit 337 in 16 hours 39 minutes to earn a draw in a six-day Test.
Pakistan after being all out for 106 in reply to West Indies’s 578 were asked to follow-on, facing a deficit of over 400 runs. Hanif, in the heat and the glare from the grassless wicket, and without a helmet, as was the practice in those days, had come to bat on Monday in the afternoon and was out on Thursday, having not only saved the match but batted for a record number of hours, which still stands in duration as the longest innings in Test cricket.
Although twenty triple centuries have been made in Tests cricket, which includes two each by Don Bradman and Brian Lara and the latest by Chris Gayle in Jamaica against South Africa, none was played in circumstances so precarious as was Hanif’s defiant innings. At 23, that was a great exhibition of concentration, patience and resilience in face of adversity. On his way to the triple century, Hanif shared four partnerships of over a hundred with Alimuddin, his opening partner, with Imtiaz Ahmed, Saeed Ahmed and with his elder brother Wazir Mohammad who in fact was one of the most prolific batsman on that tour having made 106, 97 not-out and 189 in the final Test of 1957-58 in Trinidad which Pakistan won by an innings and one run; that being Pakistan’s first win against the West Indies ever.
The story goes that watching Hanif Mohammad’s marathon innings one spectator watching him bat from one of the branches of the tree outside fell and broke his arm. He was later invited in the ground by the Pakistan manager because the young man could not afford to buy a ticket. And the team’s masseur (malishya) use to get so tired of massaging Hanif after every session that he used to go to sleep instead of watching the ‘little man’ bat. “I do not want to watch Hanif, he will never get out”, he used to say. One hopes that the present tourists in the Caribbean know a bit of that history while playing at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Pakistan having wrapped up the three-match One-Day series in the West Indies, the focus must surely now be on the main course which is in progress with the start of the first of the two Tests at the Kensington Oval at Barbados.
