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
Fazal Mahmood’s family name is Khilji. His younger brother, who BTW also had blue eyes, is Civil Engineer and at one time was head of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore. He went by the name Dr. Masood Khilji. Pakistanis have diversified racial and ethnic backgrounds and that is what makes us all that interesting.
Fazal Mahmood was born in Lahore in 1927. His forefathers had migrated from Kahkshan (Central Asia) and got settled in Gujrat, Punjab. Fazal’s father moved the family to Lahore.
A trivia:
What was Fazal Mahmood’s family, clan or tribal name?
That might partly explain his having blue eyes? BTW. Having blue eyes simply means that the person genetically lacks certain pigmentation. The process ultimately leads to becoming albino. Although the beauty is in the eyes of beholder, it is also true that in general South Asians regard light skin and blue or green eyes as a measure of beauty. No matter how false that notion may be.
I think we are being unusually sensitive about the queen’s comment on FM’s eyes. Most likely she was genuinely curious. Don’t forget she was only 25 something in 1954 and did not have that much exposure to Pakistan. And let’s face it, we don’t come across blue eyes so often in Pakistan.
@Adnan Ahmed. About that trip to England in 54, the team travelled by sea from Karachi. Fazal Mahmood writes in his book that to keep fit he used to jog on the ship deck cricling around the cabins. The team also practised cricket on the ship deck by putting nets. They lost quite a few balls to the sea. The book is very interesting. I recommend reading it if you get chance.