Fazal Mahmood writes about the 1954 tour of Pakistan’s cricket team to England:
All the members of Pakistan Cricket team were introduced to Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace. When my turn came, the Queen, while shaking hands with me, looked into my eyes and went on to meet the other players. After shaking hands with the last player, the Queen came back to me and said: “You are a Pakistani. How do you have blue eyes while others do not?’ ‘Your Majesty’, the people coming from the northern areas of Pakistan do have blue eyes,’ I told her. The Queen was amused.
Following is one of the memorable portraits of Fazal Mahmood
Cricket is one of the most popular games in Pakistan and the blue eyed Fazal Mahmood (1927-2005) was definitly one of the finest cricketers of Pakistan. He made a vital contribution to Pakistan cricket in its formative years.Fazal Mahmood played 34 test matches for Pakistan and took 139 wickets for 24.7 runs a piece. His most famous performance was against England at the Oval where he took 12 wickets for 99 runs as Pakistan won their match against England. Scorecard of this match can be seen here. He also took 13 wickets for 114 runs at Karachi when Pakistan won their maiden Test against Australia in October 1956. The scorecard of this match can be seen here. In First Class Cricket, Fazal Mahmood took 466 wickets at an average of 18.96.
Fazal Mahmood played an instrumental role in getting the newly independed Pakistan the Test status. His 6 wickets for 40 runs in an unofficial Test against the 1951-52 MCC tourists helped convince Lord’s of Pakistan’s suitability as a recognized trest match status country.
Following photo was taken on December 2, 1951 at the Karachi Gymkhana Ground. After Pakistan beat MCC, Pakistan’s Governer General Khwaja Nazimuddin (with raised hand in the photo) called Fazal Mahmood (Right in the photo) and Abdul Hafeez Kardar (2nd from the Left in the photo) next to him. He held their hands and said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (long live Pakistan). The jubilant 20000 strong Karachi crowd also joined in and soon the whole ground was shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ . The detailed scorecard of this match can be seen here.
Alex Bannister once said about Fazal Mahmood:
“On matting Fazal was often unplayable; on the grass he could be equally devastating. To the casual he might have appeared harmless and just another bowler putting his arm over. But what a guile and consumable skill went into every ball.”
Other than Cricket:
Fazal Mahmood left college with a Master’s degree in Economics and joined the Pakistan Police Service as an Inspector in September 1947. In 1976, he was promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police. He also authored a well-documented manual entitles ‘Speed with Safety’ to streamline and update the road traffic system in Pakistan. He also wrote two books on religion entitled ‘Urge to Faith’ and ‘talash-i-haq’. He also wrote a book on cricket called ‘Fazal Mahmood and Cricket’ (1955).
References:
(1) Fazal Mahmood’s record at PCB database
(2) Cricinfo database on Fazal Mahmood
(3) From Dawn to Dusk by Fazal Mahmood
‘Blue Eyed’ is used in a literal sense only in the 1st paragraph, which is a book excerpt from Fazal’s own autobiography. Even there it is not used as a sign of beauty but as a sign of standing out different. I’ve used it in title as a double-edged sentence which is true both in literal sense as well as a English metaphor because Fazal was indeed a darling cricketer of Pakistan.
I agree with Ed and Faraz, that physical beauty is not restricted to one attribute only. beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
I agree with Ed. Our society is obsessed by racialism. Somehow fair color is criteria of beauty in Pakistan. Every ethinic group has its own concept of beauty. Like in USA they always give some representation to black peoples.
Tell me is Will Smith or Helly Berry are less beautiful then their white counterpart.
How many models of pakistan are from makrani ethinic group?
I do not disagree he is worth praise, but to introduce him as The “Blue Eyed Pakistani” caters to the large segment of our society which is obsessed with light skin, silky hair, and blue eyes. That is wrong.
Thank you for honoring the memory of one of Pakistan’s greatest fast bowlers. He is also the reason why Pakistan was able to beat every test playing country in the first few years of being granted the test status. Beating England, India and West Indies on their turf were no ordinary feats. Most other test playing nations took 30+ years while Pakistan did it within 5 years of becoming a test playing nation. His guile and stamina were unmatched, and along with Hanif and Imtiaz, he played a pivotal role in popularizing cricket among Pakistanis. Hats off to Fazal Mahmood. May Allah bless his soul.
u sure he was a cricketer? looks like a model and at the end a role model…:)
its hard for me to imagine an MA Economics in police who authors several books on worthy topics…..
thanks for the post.