In contrast to the fifties, the next decade provided few high points for Pak cricket. They were badly beaten 4-0 by England in a 5 match series during the summer of 1962. And most of the decade was spent trying to rebuild the side. A very high proportion of the matches during this period ended in draws.
The 70's however started on a bright note for Pak cricket with the emergence of a world class batsman in the form of Zaheer Abbas. Throughout the decade, the Pak batting would revolve around this tall man from Sialkot. Playing only his 2nd test, at Edgbaston, in June 1971,he smashed the England bowling all over the park on his way to a score of 274. He stayed at the wicket for more than 9 hours, during which he hit no less than 38 boundaries. With Mushtaq Mohammad and Asif Iqbal also scoring centuries the Paks reached 608/7. The Paks were desperately unlucky not to win this match. The England side was forced to follow on, but the weather intervened on the final day to deny Pakistan the glory they so richly deserved. England eventually won the series 1-0, after prevailing in a close finish in the 3rd test at Headingly. Pakistan again impressed in the next England tour, 3 years later. This time the 3 test series ended 0-0. Zaheer was again on the limelight, this time smashing 240 in the 3rd test at the Oval. The Pak batting had become quite formidable by this time. Apart from Zaheer, there were Majed khan and Asif Iqbal. Ironically, both these players started their test careers as new ball bowlers. Majed had a reliable opening partner in left handed Sadiq Mohammad. (In Oct. 1976, Majed joined the elite band of cricketers to score a century before lunch on the 1st day of a test match. Yet, his 112 against NZ at Karachi, was over shadowed by a brilliant 206 by the teen prodigy Javed Miandad). Skipper Mushtaq Mohammad and Wasim Raja were quality all rounders and Wasim Bari was extremely reliable behind the stumps. The only missing ingredient was the venom in the Pak bowling. Asif Masood, Sarfraz Nawaz and intikhab Alam were all steady performers with the ball; but they all lacked the killer instinct of Fazal. That instinct finally came to Pak cricket with the arrival of Imran Khan. Although he made his test debut in 1971, it was only during the 1976-77 series against the Aussies that the world first learned about the enormous potential of this young man. His pace and his ability to swing the ball late, surprised the strong Aussie batting line up. In fact, the whole Pak team surprised the pundits with their overall strength.
Before the series started, no one gave the Pakistanis any chance. Just 12 months before, the Aussie team, under the able leadership of Greg Chappell, had destroyed the mighty Windies 5-1. Yet, Pakistan fought for every inch against their strong opponents in the 3 test series. They were initially in the defensive at the 1st test match at Adelaide. They were bowled out for just 272, despite a classy 85 from Zaheer. Zaheer had a disappointing tour down under 4 years earlier, and here he was desperate to make amends. The Aussies batted well to take a huge first innings lead of 182; but then Pakistan hit back in their 2nd with centuries from Asif Iqbal (152*) and Zaheer Abbas (who else?) (101). The game had an exciting finish. Chasing 285 for victory, the Aussies at one stage were 228/6 in their 2nd innings. All three results looked possible at that moment. The Aussies, however decided not to take any risk after that, and Cojier and Marsh took the score up to 261/6 at the end.
The Aussies dominated the 2nd test match at Melbourne, and at the end were the deserved winners by 348 runs. But, the Paks hit back at Sydney. Batting first, on perfect batting conditions, the Aussies were bundled out for just 211, with Imran Khan bowling with blistering pace to take 6/102. In reply, the Paks ran into early trouble at 111/4 (for once even Zaheer failed). But the lower order stood firm; Asif Iqbal (120), Javed Miandad (64), and Harun Ur Rashid (57) took the score up to 360 The Aussies were bowled out for 180 in the 2nd innings (Imran 6/63), and the Paks won by 8 wickets. Imran finished with match-figures of 12/165; figures which would look even more impressive if we consider the fact that the Sydney wicket is traditionally among the slowest in Australia; the slow bowlers rather the quickies generally enjoy success there.
25 years after their test debut, Pakistan cricket had reached its peak. Although the Paks lost a hard fought series in the Windies 2-1 during the springtime, they were still regarded, along with Australia, as the best cricket team in the world. Mushtaq Mohammad was a highly competent captain, and there was a nice balance of youth and experience in the squad. Imran and Javed were among the two best young talents at the time (and both in time duly fulfilled their early promise). The Pakistan cricket seemed destined for some great achievements. Yet, as so often is the case with Pak cricket, there was a sudden twist in the events. In this case though, almost the whole cricketing world would be affected. An Australian, by the name of Kerry Packer, was about to change the game of cricket forever.
The Packer Affair: On March, 1977, test cricket celebrated its 100th anniversary with the old rivals Australia and England facing each other at MCG. Within months of this historical event test cricket faced its biggest challenge until that point. ‘The Packer affair' was controversial, complicated and full of incidents. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the affair in details. So, I will briefly discuss the main event, and instead focus more on its effect on Pak cricket.
Kerry Packer was amongst the first people to fully understand the value of cricket as a TV sports. In 1976, he offered the Australian cricket board a lucrative offer for TV rights of the test matches played by Australia. ACB, for some inexplicable reasons rejected his offer. Disappointed, Packer, with the help of his aides decided to arrange his own cricket matches. Obviously he needed to attract the big stars of World cricket. With the help of ex Aussie captain Ian Chappell, he managed to get almost all the Australian players of the national team under his umbrella. Similarly, almost the entire WI Indies team joined the ‘Packer's circus', as it was frequently called then. His third team was the Rest of the World XI. And for this side, he contacted five Pak players, in fact, the best five Pak players available in Mushtaq, Asif, Zaheer, Majed and Imran. The Pak authorities initially banned these players, but when the 2nd string side (under the leadership of Wasim Bari) failed miserably in England during the summer of 1978, the authorities decided not to take any risk for the important series at home against India, and welcomed back the ‘rebels' as they were called. As for Mr. Packer, within couple of years he managed to reach an agreement with ACB, and normal service began from 1979-80 onwards. But, many of the changes (Day Night matches, White balls, colored clothing, just to name a few) introduced by him has remained integral part of international cricket.
The 3 match series during the autumn of 1978 was a big event, for both politics and sports. This was the first series between the neighbors for more than a decade and a half. Politically, it was a step towards normalizing the relationship between the two nations. The tour went on happily except for odd incidents here and there. On the field, Pakistan reigned supreme winning the series 2-0.
Zaheer and Javed dominated the Pak batting. Zaheer started the series with 176 at Faisalabad, and followed this with 235* at Lahore. Javed made 154* at Faisalabad and 100 at Karachi. Javed, Asif and Imran all featured prominently as Pakistan chased 164 runs in less than 25 overs to win the Karachi test. The 97 run 2nd wicket stand between Asif and Javed was based on brilliant running between the wickets by the two fastest runners between the wickets in word cricket. After that, Imran produced the late flourish, lofting Indian captain Bedi for two huge sixes. The bowling was dominated by the fast bowlers, Sarfraz and Imran. In contrast, the famous Indian spinners (Bedi, Chandra and Prasanna) all struggled on the lifeless tracks. The only bright spots from the Indian perspectives were the batting of opener Sunil Gavaskar whose 111 & 137 at Karachi was not enough to save the match for India plus the arrival of a young all rounder, named Kapil Dev.
Thus the 70/s was a highly successful time for Pak cricket. Sadly, the decade ended in a disappointing note, as the Asif Iqbal's men lost the 6 match series 2-0 at India during the 1979-80 season. Zaheer and Majed were completely out of touch, Asif himself struggled against the Indian spinners. Imran struggled with injuries, and conspicuously missing from the squads in all six matches was Sarfraz Nawaz. After the series, Sarfraz complained about the time that Asif spent with an Indian gambler. No one took his accusations very seriously, and the rather controversial personality of the accuser himself made it look more like ‘sour grapes' than anything else. From hindsight, it now seems that, we could (and perhaps should) have taken the accusations more seriously.
Fully aware of what awaits for him back home in Pakistan, Asif declared his retirement from international cricket towards the end of the India tour. And, the Pak selectors surprised everybody by naming Javed Miandad as his successor, overlooking the claims of the more senior pros like Zaheer and Majed. Javed was a great reader of the game, and a shrewd tactician. His captaincy was praised by the legendary Aussie captain Richie Benaud. But, Javed's volatile temper meant that he was frequently at odds with both the opposition as well as with his teammates. In fact, the most memorable incident in Javed's first stint as captain was his attempting to hit the Aussie fast bowler Lillie with his bat, after Lillie had kicked him from behind. The incident took place at Perth, in Nov. 1981. Pakistan was badly beaten at Perth and Brisbane, but bounced back to win the final test at Melbourne, by the huge margin of an innings and 92 runs.
The Pak selectors seemed satisfied with Javed's efforts as captain, and declared him as captain for the home series in March, 1982, against the new boyz SL. The senior players, however, decided that they have had enough, and Pakistan took the field in the first match at Karachi, with a depleted side with almost all the senior players absent. There were no less than 4 debutants in the Pak team (including one Saleem Malik who would achieve both glory and infamy in later years); still the Pak side was too good for SL. However, it was an embarrassing situation for Javed. For his credit, Javed helped in reaching a dignified solution by agreeing to step down after the series. The full strength Pak team was back for the 3rd test at Lahore. Imran Khan was named the captain for the England tour in the summer.
Thus, the most popular cricketer in the Pak history took over the charge in slightly acrimonious circumstances. Yet, appointing him as captain was possibly the best decision the Pak selectors have ever taken. Under the able leadership of Imran, the Pak side would become in the 80's (and early 90's) one of most fearsome unit in the international cricket arena. Even the mighty West Indies, who would regularly demolish the other oppositions, would find the Pak side difficult to beat.
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