We lost two cricket legends last year. In the early part of last year Hanif Mohammad had joined the great majority and on the last day 2016 Imtiaz Ahmad left us for a place from where no body returns. Both were batsmen , par excellence. Imtiaz kept wickets also and he was a very good wicket keeper. While Hanif wasn’t dashing Imtiaz Ahmad fancied hitting the ball hard right from the word go. He was Pakistan’s first batsman who had scored double century in a test match. He was very aggressive batsman and he liked scoring fast .
If one takes the Pakistani cricket team that played oval test in August 1954 which was won by us as a benchmark, barring Waqar Hasan , all members of that redoubtable cricket team are now gone. Hanif, Alimuddin, Shujauddin, Zulfiqar, Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Khan Mohammad, Mahmood Hussain left us one by one.
POSTSCRIPT: Pakistan’s cricket team has been passing through a lean patch these days but there is nothing to worry about. The new comers are quite promising . The visit to the Down Under must have given them sufficient experience to play in conditions and on pitches very much different from those of the Emirates where they have been playing for a fairly long time. The PCB should not panic. Time has certainly come when Misbah and Yunas call it a day. It would have better had they retired on a winning note.
Let us hope our boys would put up a good show in the ODIs against the Aussies.