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LAHORE: Imtiaz Ahmed, a member of the country’s first Test team, died in a Lahore hospital on Saturday after a brief illness, his family said.
Imtiaz Ahmed, 88, featured in Pakistan’s first Test played in Delhi against India in October 1952 and went on to play 41 matches as a wicketkeeper-batsman of exceptional ability.
“He (Imtiaz) was suffering from chest infection and died early on Saturday,” a member of his family told local media.
He was known as an aggressive batsman who had a variety of strokes, most notably the hook and the pull shot. He scored 2,079 Test runs for Pakistan with a career best of 209 against New Zealand in Lahore in 1955.
He put on 152 for the first wicket with the legendary Hanif Mohammad in the Bridgetown Test against West Indies in 1958, scoring 91.
His death means that middle-order batsman Waqar Hasan is now the only surviving member of the country’s first Test team.
A wicket-keeper/batsman par excellence:
Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2017
