inaugural test match - Pakistan

The inaugural test match posts will feature match reports of inaugural test matches of the test playing nations..

First up - Pakistan

year - 1952

Till the year 1947, India and Pakistan were a single big nation under the British rule.. On August 15th, 1947 the British rule came to an end and the nation was split into two - India and Pakistan..

Post Independence, India became a republic in the year 1950.. India were already playing cricket.. Now, Pakistan was a new nation and had to start playing cricket.. A few players who had earlier played for India shifted to Pakistan..

In the year 1952, the team from across the border came to India to play their inaugural test series..

Date and Time

Match

Oct 16 - 18

1st Test - India v Pakistan Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Oct 23 - 26

2nd Test - India v Pakistan University Ground, Lucknow

Nov 13 -  16

3rd Test - India v Pakistan Brabourne Stadium, Bombay

Nov 28 -Dec 1

4th Test - India v Pakistan Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk, Madras

Dec 12 -  15

5th Test - India v Pakistan Eden Gardens, Calcutta

A.H.Kardar and Amir Elahi had earlier played for India, the other 9 made their debut at the Kotla, Delhi.. AH.Kardar was Pakistan captain and Lala Amarnath was India's..

1st test : KOTLA, Delhi India won the toss and batted first.
Vijay Hazare scored 74.. India were, however, reduced to 5-110 and then 8-229 , but Hemu Adhikari and the no.11 Ghulam Ahmed in a record last-wicket stand of 109 put the score past 300 -- 372 all out.. Pakistan were bowled out twice after following on in their 2nd innings .. 150 and 152 were the scores, thanks largely to an impressive left arm spin by Vinoo Mankad- 13/131 was his match figures.

2nd test : Lucknow
Pakistan bounces back to win their first ever test match.. Vijay Hazare, Hemu Adhikari and Mankad missed out on the match..Fazal Mohammed's medium pace fetched him 12 wickets in the match and Pakistan won by an innings and 43 runs.. Nazar Mohammad batted 515minutes  for his 124..

3rd test : Brabourne, Bombay
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first.. Batting first has always been tricky especially when it is an early start and the overnight dew is still there.. Pakistan lost the plot there, only a late resistance from Waqar Hassan enabled a 3 figure score for the team.. On the back of fine centuries from Poly Umrigar and Hazare, India posted a lead of 200.. Pakistan were shot out for 242 and India won by 10 wickets

4th test : Chepauk, Madras
AH. Kardar and yet another lower order performance enabled Pakistan to notch up 344.. India were trailing at 175-6 when rain interrupted the play.. No further play was possible in the entire match..

5th test : Eden Gardens, Calcutta
Phadkar's 5 wicket haul and Shodan's 100 coming at no.8 paved way for a 140 lead for India .. Waqar Hassan's 97 from 315 mins enabled a draw..


Great series for Pakistan.. In their inaugural series itself they won a match.. Never would they have known at that time that this bilateral series would be the most fiercely contested and most anticipated tournaments in the future.. The crowd following and the passion with which the 2 sides play against each other have been the same for more than 5 decades now..