“With his light eyes, tall stature and broad shoulders, he could have been mistaken for a leading man and that may be the reason why he became the first sports model of the newly-created nation.” This is how Omair Alavi describes the good looks (Feb 21, Images on Sunday) of the finest pace bowler of Pakistan’s early years of Test cricket — Fazal Mahmood. No doubt, a famous brand of hair cream continued to advertise their product for many years showing Fazal’s picture with his thick and shinning hair.

Fazal studied at the Islamia College, Lahore where his father Ghulam Hussain was a professor of economics and also president of the college’s cricket club. He set Fazal a stringent training routine, which involved walking and running for 10 miles daily. Another professor of physics at the same college, Abdul Hameed Baig, who was himself a mountaineer and naturopath, provided guidance to Fazal on maintaining a healthy diet. Both the professors made an athlete out of Fazal, super fit to play cricket at the international level.

After doing masters in economics, Fazal joined the police services as an inspector in 1947, rising to the position of deputy superintendent in 1952 and deputy inspector general in 1976. Unlike the present day players, Fazal and his other legendary teammates in Test cricket like Hanif Mohammad, Khan Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed and Waqar Hasan did not have much of an income from cricket and even travelled to match venues on bicycles when the Tests were played in their home towns.

A fan remembers his meeting with Fazal Mahmood

Fazal played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70. He was the first Pakistani, who took more than 100 wickets in Test cricket, a landmark which he achieved in his 22nd match. His most memorable performance came in the 1954 tour of England, when he played a leading role in Pakistan’s win at the Oval, to square the series. In this match, he took 12 wickets for 99 runs including 6/46 in the second innings as England collapsed chasing a target of 168 runs. Fazal’s match figures would have been more amazing if all the dropped catches on his bowling were taken by the fielders.

He was quite lethal on matting wickets, on which his leg cutters were almost unplayable as the bowling figures would reflect. Prior to Pakistan’s gaining Test status on July 28, 1952, a MCC side toured the subcontinent in 1951-52. On a coir matting wicket at Karachi, Fazal took six wickets for 40 runs in the MCC’s first innings. Similarly, in the 1952 tour of India, Fazal took five for 52 in the first and seven for 42 wickets in the second innings in the Lucknow Test, which was played on a jute matting pitch enabling Pakistan to win the match. In the remaining matches of the series, India did not use the matting pitch.

In 1963, Fazal was invited by his alma mater to address a gathering of students in which the main hall of the college was full to capacity. At that time I also studied at the Islamia College, Lahore. He came in his police uniform and made quite an impressive speech. Fazal advised the students to study with devotion and commitment so that in future they could serve their country better. I still remember his words as these were stated by a world renowned cricketer, who was so humble, soft spoken and patriotic. On this occasion, I also took his autograph, which to this day remains intact in my album.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 27th, 2016