Lahore has often been called the cultural heart of Pakistan. Endowed with a rich history and renowned for its vibrant character Lahore has two Test cricket grounds that between them have staged 44 Tests, the fifth highest number of any city in Asia behind Colombo, Karachi, Mumbai and Dhaka.
Bagh e Jinnah
The Bagh e Jinnah is a locale that is steeped in history. Construction started in 1862 and was completed in 1869. It was originally called the Lawrence Gardens after John Lawrence, the Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.
The site was initially occupied by the Agri-Horticultural Society of the Punjab and was designed as a botanical garden along the pattern of the Kew Gardens in England. In 1880, the land was acquired by the Lahore Gymkhana.
The cricket ground was established in 1880 making it the second major cricketing venue in India after the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was designed by Punjab’s famous architects of that time Bhai Ram Singh and G. Stone and its majestic pavilion was built from oak wood imported from Britain. In 1882 a turf wicket was laid with soil specially brought over from Worcestershire. The ground is now maintained with clay from Nandipur in the Gujranwala district of Punjab.
The Bagh e Jinnah currently sprawls over 141 acres of land. Once it stretched across 176 acres, but a portion of the land was given to the Lahore zoo and some was ceded for the development of the surrounding area.
Apart from the Lahore Gymkhana Cricket Ground, the Bagh e Jinnah also has a large botanical garden with 150 different varieties of trees, including 30 types of palms, 140 types of shrubs, and 50 varieties of creepers. It also houses the Quaid e Azam and Darussalam libraries, the Darul Islam mosque, an open air theatre, a restaurant, tennis courts and the tomb of Pir Sakhi Abdul Faizul Hassan, also known as Baba Turat Murad Shah.
Official cricket at the Bagh e Jinnah commenced in 1908, with the Punjab Commission Cup. First class cricket at the ground began with the Lahore Tournament in 1923 and a match between the Muslims and the Sikhs.
The first international match on this ground was played between the MCC and the Army in 1926. The famous Ranji Trophy championship also made its beginning at this venue when Northern India played against the Indian Army in December 1934.
At this ground, India also played two unofficial Tests, against John Ryder’s Australian team in 1936 and Lord Tennyson’s XI in 1937.
After the creation of Pakistan, the Bagh e Jinnah hosted the first first-class match in the new country when West Punjab lined up against Sindh in December 1947 to raise money for the Quaid e Azam Relief Fund. The following year, the ground was the venue for Pakistan’s first unofficial Test against a strong West Indian side that made a short detour to Pakistan during their five-Test tour of India.
Pakistan’s opening pair of Nazar Mohammad and Imtiaz put on 148 for the first wicket but then Pakistan slid from 194 for 1 to 241 all out. When West Indies came out to bat, Munnawar Ali Khan, the fastest in the land at the time, clean bowled George Carew with his very first delivery. The next ball accounted for the West Indian captain John Goddard and broke his stump into two. Clyde Walcott came in next and edged the first ball that he faced to Nazar in the gully area who dropped the catch, thus depriving Munnawar of a hat-trick. Famous West Indian batsman George Headley (whose son Ronald also played for the West Indies and grandson Dean played for England) was in their line-up. Because of a painful back he batted at number 10 and scored a brisk fifty to give his side a first innings lead. In Pakistan’s second knock Imtiaz Ahmed and captain Mian Mohammad Saeed both hit centuries and put together a second-wicket partnership of 205, but the match petered out into a draw. In the following two years, Pakistan hosted matches at the Bagh Jinnah against a Commonwealth team and the national side of Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon).
The ground also became the first headquarters of the BCCP (Board of Cricket Contol of Pakistan), which was established in 1948. It also served as the headquarters of the Pakistan Eaglets Society, which was a brainchild of Justice A.R. Cornelius. This society was formed in 1951 for the development of talented young cricketers and would regularly send teams to England to provide coaching and playing experience to promising youngsters, many of whom went on to represent the national senior team in later years.
In 1954-55, India toured Pakistan for a five-Test series. The third Test was held at the Bagh e Jinnah, making it cricket’s 35th Test venue. The match attracted a huge crowd, including thousands from across the border, with a special train service established to facilitate this movement. The cricket itself was dreary and the match ended in a tame draw. Maqsood Ahmed, nicknamed “Merry Max” crafted a fine innings but when he got out on 99, a fan listening to commentary on the radio suffered a heart attack and died.
Pakistan hosted New Zealand later in the year and beat them in an interesting match the highlight of which was a 308-run partnership for the 7th wicket between Waqar Hasan, who made 189, and Imtiaz Ahmed, who became Pakistan’s first Test double centurion with a knock of 209.
The Bagh e Jinnah hosted only one more Test and that was against the West Indies in March 1959. It resulted in Pakistan’s first Test defeat on home soil as they were beaten by an innings and 156 runs. A 15-year-old Mushtaq Mohammad made his Test debut in this match.
In the three Tests staged on this ground the highest team total is Pakistan’s 561 against New Zealand and the lowest is the home side’s dismissal for 104 versus the West Indies. Wesley Hall’s 5 for 87 is the best Test bowling performance on this ground while Rohan Kanhai’s 217 edges out Imtiaz’s 209 as the highest individual innings.
Gaddafi Stadium
Lahore (GSL)
The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is another iconic cricketing venue of Pakistan. It was designed and built in 1959 by the eminent architect Nasreddin Murat Khan who is better known for designing the Minar e Pakistan in Lahore. The construction contract for the project was awarded to the well established local firm of Mian Abdul Khaliq & Company.
Murat designed numerous important buildings including the Nishtar Hospital in Multan, the Jamia Mosque in Mirpur, the Fortress and Gaddafi stadiums in Lahore.
The Stadium was originally designed as a multi-purpose arena and included a tunnel for the athletes to run onto the stadium but that plan was later discarded. It was called the Lahore Olympics Stadium which was subsequently shortened to just the Lahore Stadium.
In 1974, during the Islamic Summit held in Lahore, the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, addressed a large public gathering at this ground in support of Pakistan. The stadium was re-named as the Gaddafi Stadium and to mark the occasion an exhibition match was played between the Pakistan Xl and a Rest of Pakistan side.
Because of its original design as a multifunction venue the Gaddafi Stadium has a huge ground, with a distance of over 100 metres between the furthest point of the playing arena and the edge of the actual pitch. In fact, over the years, many players have complained that the spectators were too far from the actual pitch. At its inception the stadium had the capacity to accommodate almost 65,000 people.
In 1996 the stadium was renovated for the World Cup by another famous architect Nayyar Ali Dada who gave its facade a Mughal touch. As a consequence, the capacity of the stadium was reduced significantly from 65,000 to 27,000. It also became the first stadium in Pakistan to acquire modern floodlights.
A recent renovation has not only upgraded the facilities but by moving the stands 20 feet closer to the playing field it has also enhanced the stadium’s capacity to almost 35,000.
The first Test played at this stadium was against Australia in November 1959. Incidentally, this was also the first first-class match to be played at this ground. Since then a total of 41 Test matches have been played at the Gaddafi Stadium, of which Pakistan has won 12, lost 7 and drawn 22.
Pakistan lost its first two Test matches at the GSL. In the inaugural Test against Australia in 1959, despite a heroic rearguard action by Saeed Ahmed who scored 166, Australia won with twelve minutes to spare before the end of the match. In the next Test that Pakistan played here against England in October 1961, they led after the first innings but a dismal batting performance in their second knock resulted in England winning by five wickets.
Only four Test matches were played at the GSL in the 1960s and each one of them drew a massive crowd. Interestingly the two Tests staged in 1969 against England and New Zealand, were both reduced to four-day events, as the cricket board had problems with guaranteeing the security of the players in that politically turbulent year.
The highest innings score by a team in a Test at the GSL is 699 for 5 wickets by Pakistan against India in December 1989. The lowest innings score is a paltry 73 all out by New Zealand in 2002, in reply to Pakistan’s total of 643. Shoaib Akhtar was unplayable in this innings, taking 6 wickets for only 11 runs. Pakistan won this match by an innings and 324 runs, which is the biggest margin of victory ever recorded at this stadium.
Mohammad Yousuf has been the most successful batsman at the GSL with 1125 runs from 11 matches at an average of 93.75, including five centuries and five fifties. Three of Yousuf’s five centuries were scores of over 150, including two in his record breaking year of 2006.
Two other batsmen have scored more than 1000 runs on this ground: Javed Miandad scored 1122 runs at an average of 56.10 and Zaheer Abbas 1093 runs at a Bradmanesque average of 99.36. Zaheer made four Test hundreds at this ground, including two double centuries against India.
A total of 79 centuries have been recorded at the GSL, including one triple century and nine double centuries. The highest individual score is 329 runs scored by Inzamam-ul-Haq versus New Zealand in 2002. Inzamam’s tally exceeded the total combined score of both New Zealand innings in this match.
The highest partnership in a Test at the GSL is the opening stand of 410 runs between the Indian pair Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid in 2006. Interestingly, this partnership started on the second day of the match and was finally broken on the fifth and final day. The highest partnership by a Pakistani pair is a 319 run stand for the fourth wicket between Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, which was also compiled in the same match.
Imran Khan holds the record for the highest number of Test wickets at the GSL, with 56 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 17.63. The only other bowler to take 50 Test wickets here is Abdul Qadir with 51 wickets. On 41 occasions a bowler has taken 5 wickets in a Test innings, with the best performances being Qadir’s 9 wickets for 56 runs against England in 1987 and Imran’s 8 wickets for 58 against Sri Lanka in 1982. There are 5 instances of bowlers taking 10 wickets in an entire Test match, the best being Imran’s 14 wickets for 116 runs versus Sri Lanka in 1982.
Wasim Bari has been the most successful wicketkeeper at the GSL with 26 dismissals in 10 Tests. Four keepers have made five dismissals in an innings, namely Imtiaz Ahmed and Rashid Latif from Pakistan and the Australians Wally Grout and Phil Emery. Wally Grout’s eight dismissals in 1959 is the highest wicket keeping tally for a match.
Saleem Malik has been the most successful fielder with 13 catches in 13 Tests. The captaincy record for the ground is shared by Imran Khan and Javed Miandad who’ve both led the side on six occasions at the GSL.
Miandad, in fact, began his Test career here, scoring a scintillating 163 on debut against New Zealand in 1976. This was the eighth Test match to be staged at this ground and brought the first win for the home side at this venue. Miandad also played his 100th Test at the Gaddafi Stadium, against India in December 1989, and celebrated the occasion by notching up another century score, this time of 145.
The GSL was also a favourite hunting ground for Asif Iqbal who partnered Miandad in a 281 run stand for the fifth wicket in the latter’s debut Test, making a superb 166 himself.
Interestingly Asif also played his last first class match in Pakistan at the GSL in 1979 scoring a century each innings – 104 & 110 not out, for PIA against Habib Bank Ltd.
It was at GSL in 1977 that Mudassar Nazar, in his first Test appearance in Pakistan, crawled to a painstakingly slow century in over nine tedious hours. In 1983 Mudassar created a different landmark at the GSL when he carried his bat through the entire Pakistan innings emulating his father Nazar Mohammad’s similar feat against India at Lucknow in 1952.
GSL also holds the unique distinction of a father and son both scoring Test double centuries at the same ground. Even more unusually both made exactly the same score. Hanif Mohammad scored 203 not out versus New Zealand in 1965, while his son Shoaib got 203 not out against India in 1989.
GSL was the venue where Sarfaraz Nawaz learnt and honed the art of reverse swing, a skill that he passed on to Imran Khan and one that filtered down to a whole generation of Pakistani pacemen.
There have been three Test hat-tricks at this ground: Peter Petherick of New Zealand in 1976, Wasim Akram versus Sri Lanka in 1999 and Mohammad Sami against Sri Lanka in 2002.
It was during a match at the GSL in 2009 that terrorists opened fire on a coach carrying the Sri Lankan team to the stadium, an event that resulted in the suspension of Test cricket in Pakistan for a whole decade from 2009 – 2019. Largely as a result of this hiatus Pakistan have not won a Test at the GSL since they beat the West Indies in November 2006.
Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7000 books.
salmanfaridilnh@hotmail.com
