In the annals of Test cricket, few victories have been as charged with symbolism as Pakistan’s win in Lucknow in October 1952. Until then, no team had won a Test match in its inaugural series since the game’s inception in 1877, when England and Australia traded one win apiece in cricket’s first encounters. For seventy-five years, that record had stood like a silent fortress—until an inexperienced Pakistan side, humbled in Delhi, stormed the gates at the University Ground.
Prelude to a Storm
The tour had begun with discord and disappointment. In the first Test at Delhi, Pakistan had been crushed by an innings and 70 runs. Selection controversies swirled even before the second match: captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar’s request for the middle-order solidity of Asghar Ali was denied by the Board, replaced instead with 17-year-old Khalid Ibadullah—raw, untested, and ill-prepared for the demands of Test cricket. A petition from fans, with 5,000 signatures in support of Asghar, was ignored. Kardar, frustrated, quipped that he had “too many babies in the team” to nurse another.
As the team arrived in Lucknow—a city hosting its maiden Test on a jute-matting wicket beside the Gomti River—Kardar reframed their prospects with a captain’s mix of resolve and wordplay: “We will be playing at Lucknow, which means ‘luck – now.’ Our luck is going to change now.”
The First Act: India’s Collapse
India, led by Lala Amarnath, chose to bat. Pakistan’s attack—Maqsood Ahmed, debutant Mahmood Hussain, and the master craftsman Fazal Mahmood—struck early. Maqsood’s precision removed DK Gaekwad and Gul Mohammad cheaply, before Fazal, deprived of swing, adapted brilliantly. His leg-cutters cut a swathe through the Indian middle order, uprooting stumps and trapping batsmen on the crease.
By lunch, India were 46 for 4; by mid-afternoon, they were in ruins. Fazal’s 5 for 52, aided by Mahmood Hussain’s 3 for 35, dismissed India for 106—a total that looked even smaller against Pakistan’s steady opening reply.
Nazar Mohammad’s Vigil
If Fazal broke India, Nazar Mohammad broke their spirit. The opener’s innings was an act of stoic defiance and endurance: 520 deliveries, 8 hours 37 minutes, and an unbroken vigil from first ball to last. Partners came and went—Hanif’s neat 34, Waqar’s controlled strokeplay, Maqsood’s aggressive 41—but Nazar remained.
Zulfiqar Ahmed, another debutant, proved unexpectedly stubborn, adding 63 in a brisk stand that pushed Pakistan past 300. Nazar’s eventual 124 not out was more than a century; it was an anchor to the match itself, ensuring Pakistan’s lead swelled to 225 runs.
Fazal’s Masterclass
India’s second innings offered no real hint of reprieve. Mahmood Hussain struck first; Fazal then dismantled India’s core. Only Amarnath, with an unbeaten 61, resisted. A dropped catch at square leg had briefly delayed the inevitable, but Fazal was relentless. His figures—7 for 42 in the second innings, 12 for 94 in the match—were not merely decisive; they were the cornerstone of Pakistan’s first Test victory.
The Aftermath and Legacy
Pakistan’s innings-and-43-run triumph made them the first side in three-quarters of a century to win a Test in their debut series. Over the next six years, they would repeat the feat against every other Test nation they faced.
For Nazar Mohammad, this match etched his name in cricketing lore as the first player to occupy the field for an entire Test match. For Fazal Mahmood, it was the first of four career hauls of 12 wickets in a match—a performance that fused guile with endurance.
And for those in the stands, the match was embroidered with the cultural wit of Lucknow itself. Even their barbs carried a kind of lyrical respect: when Waqar Hasan lingered too long with his back to the crowd, a group of students called out in ornate Urdu, chiding him to turn his “beautiful face” their way—or else they would “insult the honour of [his] father.
In the final reckoning, Lucknow 1952 was more than a cricket match. It was a statement of arrival, a lesson in adaptability, and a reminder that history bends to those who refuse to accept its boundaries. Fazal’s seamers, Nazar’s vigil, and Kardar’s will combined to script the moment Pakistan stepped not just onto the Test stage—but into cricket’s living history.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
