LAHORE, 8 April 2004 — The “Dil Jeeto Man” of the 1950s is all for a continued “Dil Jeeto Series” between India and Pakistan. A hero and heartthrob in Pakistan, the former cricket captain and fast bowler, Fazal Mahmood, welcomed the restart of the cricketing series between the two nations.
“I hope such a series between the two countries continues. It is good for the game and for the countries,” Mahmood said, adding that matches could help heal the rift.
At 77, can still clearly remember the atmosphere of the tour matches during his time. “The atmosphere was electrifying and people came to watch us in numbers. Indian players like Lala Amarnath, Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar were competitive yet friendly,” he said.
“Most of the Pakistani players had played cricket in undivided India but we were new at Test level compared to India, yet we gave them a fight,” he added.
Called the “Alec Bedser of Pakistan”, Mahmood was a veritable terror in his days. His nagging length and clever use of the swing mixed with leg cutters and breakbacks saw him end up with 139 wickets in 34 Tests. Reminiscing about his greatest moments, Mahmood cited there were two. “The first was getting my first Ranji wicket, and that was Lala Amarnath, and the second was my 12 wickets at The Oval that gave Pakistan its first win over England in 1954,” he said.
“After that I got into the habit of taking 12 wickets in every match,” he smilingly quipped. “It was not only the 12 wickets and the win that made that moment memorable,” Mahmood, who retired with the rank of deputy inspector general from the police force, said. “After the match I got a very important phone call from a great friend of mine — Indian thespian Dilip Kumar. And the message was simple, ‘You have beaten me’,” he added.
“You see we were good friends, and our friendship was not affected by the partition. Both of us had a bet going in our early days — when I was beginning my career in cricket and he in the film world — to see who will excel the other.
“On hearing about my Oval performance, Dilip Saab just rang me up and relayed this message,” Mahmood said.
His advice to emerging fast bowlers is simple: Concentration and dedication. “You concentrate on developing a fine line and this will take you to your pinnacle. That’s what I had and that’s what helped me into becoming a fine fast bowler,” he said.
“There is no dearth of fast bowlers in the region, and both India and Pakistan have produced some great bowlers. Pakistan has been the better in this regard, but India has in the present team three good bowlers — Irfan, Zaheer and Balaji,” he added.
Meanwhile, three hospitals in India have responded to the appeal by the Indian team to treat 10-year-old Lahore girl, Huba Shahid, for Rabdomy Sarcoma (cancer of the face), Indian manager Ratnakar Shetty said. While Manipal Hospital (Bangalore) and Tata Memorial Hospital (Bombay) have offered to treat Huba for free, the Christian Medical College (Vellore) said it would try to see how it could help Huba. The team has forwarded the offers by the hospitals to Huba’s father Shahid Siddique Chhina, a local journalist.
