A dying swagger: The evolution of Pakistan Cricket

As the legend goes; a torrid love affair ended when Pakistan's first Test centurion, Nazar Mohammad had to, in haste, jump out of a window upon being caught by his lover’s husband. He broke his arm as he hit the ground.

 

 The injury also ended his career.

Cricketers in Pakistan have perhaps always been the most desired stars in the country. Women have wanted to woo them and men have wanted to be them.

Pakistan's cricket sprung off from a school and college system, supported by clubs in the bigger cities.
Most cricketers came from educated middle and upper class urban families that had the opportunity to play the elitist sport the British had left behind.

The schools nurtured Pakistan's best cricketing talent and to be the university's cricket team captain was the most prestigious position in the fraternity.

In 1952, when the first Pakistani eleven walked out to play international cricket, they were already stars — at least in their clubs or schools.

The school boy hero Hanif Mohammad, partnered by the graceful Nazar Mohammad opened the innings for Pakistan.

In their ranks were Punjab University heroes Waqar Hassan and Khan Mohammad, the eloquent writer and journalist Maqsood Ahmed; the first editor of The News (Rawalpindi), and the fearless Lahore college wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed among others.

The team was lead by patrician Abdul Hafeez Kardar and spearheaded by Pakistan cricket’s first real ‘poster boy’ and nation’s heart throb, Fazal Mahmood.

The gentry of Pakistan cricket was already of a high breed and them adorning national colours in the country’s favourite sport made these gentlemen the most adored and admired band of men in the country.
Through the years, Pakistani cricketers remained extremely popular, not just by turning out great performances on the field but also with the style and swagger they displayed off it.

Through the 60’s and 70’s the likes of Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Javed Burki, Wasim Bari, Saeed Ahmed and many others enjoyed high social status.

Many of them becoming county captains and almost all of them with a fan following that idolised them.
They were not just heroes in their own country, but had a dedicated and sizable fan club abroad, especially in the English counties they represented.

At one time, the Pakistani squad was adorned by as many as five county captains; Asif Iqbal was captain at Kent, Zaheer Abbas at Gloucestershire, Intikhab Alam at Surrey, Majid Khan at Glamorgan and Mushtaq Mohammad at Northamptonshire.

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