FORMER captain Imtiaz Ahmad was the first of the greats amongst the wicket-keeper batsmen of Pakistan. Though not as spectacular or acrobatic like the legendary Wasim Bari, Moin Khan or Rashid Latif, he certainly was the safest and the most reliable as far as his keeping behind the stumps was concerned.

As an attacking batsman, Imtiaz had this unique quality of taking on the fastest bowlers of his time and reducing them to shreds when on song. Daring and dependable as an opening batsman he would not only dictate but intimidate the bowlers while taking up the challenge of facing the new ball. A belligerent hooker and executioner of cuts and pulls, he would often dance down the wicket against the spinners to entertain the crowd.

If only he had the patience and concentration of his team-mate Hanif Mohammad, he would have been an even greater batsman than he was. But his ability to dig in did bring the results for him and his team. He had displayed his stubbornness at the crease as a 16-year-old when he made his debut for Northern India in 1944-45 in the Ranji Trophy, scoring two centuries in the competition. However, he really came to limelight at Lawrence Gardens (now Bagh-e-Jinnah) at Lahore when he scored a century against the Australian Services in 1945-46.

To dominate the likes of Keith Miller, Cecil Pepper and Pettiford bowling at their best was not easy going for any batsman but Imtiaz, still a teenager, showed his class by flogging them all around the park.

What is most important, of course, is the fact that before Pakistan as a nation played in an official Test against India in 1952, Imtiaz had already established his credentials by a scoring an unbeaten 300 at the Brabourne Stadium at Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1950-51 while playing for the Indian Prime Minister XI against the Commonwealth. And that too almost in a day.

His services to the game as one of the pioneers of Pakistan cricket are written in golden words in the game’s history and his exploits remain etched in the memories of millions of his fans. No wonder then that he was deservedly honoured by the PCB with a Lifetime Achievement Award along with another great player and his opening partner, the legendary Hanif Mohammad.

From the Islamia High School Bhati Gate to Test stardom could not be achieved without sheer dedication and devotion to the game that Imtiaz loved and still follows with as much passion as when he was a school and university student.

For the legendary bowler Fazal Mahmood, he was a perfect partner behind the stumps. One simply has to glance through the scorecards of the time to know how successful a partnership Fazal and Imtiaz shared, whether on the inaugural tour to India in 1952 or when in England in 1954. During The Oval Test, which Pakistan won to draw the series, he picked up seven catches off Fazal.

And if I remember correctly, he finished up with 86 victims on that tour, still a record by any touring wicket-keeper in England.

Imtiaz rewrote the record books when he notched up a magnificent 209 in a Test against New Zealand at Bagh-e-Jinnah in 1954-55 to become the first keeper in Test history to score a double century. During the course of that knock, he shared a valuable, record-breaking 308-run stand with Waqar Hasan for the seventh wicket after Pakistan had been reduced to 111 for 6.

His batting and keeping was as much fascinating against the West Indies, India and England here at home as it was on the away tours but his performance which really fascinates me was his triple century at Bombay, when opening the second innings and in dire situations, he plundered the Commonwealth XI bowlers like Ridgway, Shackelton, Dooley, Dovey, Worrell and Ramadhin.

Following on 332 runs behind, he had opened the second innings for the Prime Minister’s XI but retired at 263 when he was hit on the face by R.R.Dovey. Imtiaz, however, returned with the score at 485 for 5 to complete his triple century, sharing stands with Rusi Modi, Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Manjrekar and S. Jayasinghe.

His tally of 2079 runs in 41 Tests at an average of 29.28 with three hundreds and his 93 victims behind the stumps of which 77 were catches and 16 stumpings may not be a true reflection of his ability as a cricketer, but it is not the statistics that tell the whole story, it is always the quality that matters in the final reckoning.

Imtiaz also had an impressive record at the first-class level, scoring 10,323 runs at 37.26 with 22 centuries besides his 393 victims (316 ct, 77 st) behind the stumps.

A gentleman to the core, Imtiaz Ahmad now in his early eighties, is still a fit man living in Lahore and unquestionably remains a role model for any cricketer.