On this day: Pakistan win their first ever Test match
October 26, 1952, the Pakistan cricket team completed their first ever Test match triumph after beating arch-rivals India at the University Ground at Lucknow in the second match of a five-game series.
A mix of young and old, led by then 37-year-old Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the fledgling Pakistan side went to play their first series just a few months after being awarded the Test status.
Kardar’s men were to play against the country which was their own identity five years before the series.
Pakistan's fast bowling legacy began in this series when new-ball partners Fazal Mahmood and Mahmood Hussain shared eight wickets to dismantle the Indian line-up for just 106 runs in the first innings.
Fazal, who went on to become a star for Pakistan, took a five-for in that innings while Mahmood dismissed three.
Opener Nazar Mohammad responded by scoring 124 in an eight hour thirty five minutes long, painstaking effort.
Nazar’s effort helped Pakistan pile up a massive 334 runs which proved too much for India as a 25-year-old Fazal speared through the Indian line up on a jute-matting pitch, adding seven more wickets to his tally and completing the match with splendid figures of 12 for 92.
Pakistan had won their first ever Test by an innings and 43 runs as only the Indian captain Lala Amarnath offered some resistance with a patient 61 not out.
India won the Test series 2-1 but Pakistan's journey to becoming a top team had taken its first steps.
Pakistan squad:
Nazar Mohammad, Hanif Mohammad (wk), Waqar Hasan, Imtiaz Ahmed, Maqsood Ahmed, AH Kardar*, Anwar Hussain, Fazal Mahmood, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Mahmood Hussain, Amir Elahi
India squad:
P Roy, DK Gaekwad, Gul Mohammad, VL Manjrekar, G Kishenchand, PR Umrigar, L Amarnath*, PG Joshi (wk), HG Gaekwad, S Nyalchand, Ghulam Ahmed