1953–54 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

The 1953–54 season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy was the first edition of the tournament, and the inaugural first-class cricket competition played in Pakistan following its independence in 1947. One of the tournament's purposes was to help determine the Pakistan national side's squad for its tour of England in 1954.[1]

1953–54 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
Dates20 November 1953 (1953-11-20) – 25 January 1954 (1954-01-25)
Administrator(s)Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan
Cricket formatFirst-class (three-day)
Tournament format(s)Knockout
ChampionsBahawalpur (1st title)
Participants7
Matches6
Most runsHanif Mohammad (339)
Most wicketsZulfiqar Ahmed (16)

The tournament was played as a knockout competition between seven teams representing both regions and government departments. Punjab received a bye through to the semi-finals to compensate for the odd number of teams. The final, played in Karachi, was contested between Punjab and Bahawalpur, with Bahawalpur winning by eight wickets. Two Bahawalpur players, Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood (both future Pakistan captains), led the competition in runs and wickets, respectively.

Teams edit

Five teams (Bahawalpur,[2] Combined Services,[3] Karachi,[4] North-West Frontier Province,[5] and Railways[6]) made their first-class debuts in the tournament.

Team Captain(s) Most runs Most wickets
Bahawalpur Khan Mohammad Hanif Mohammad (339) Zulfiqar Ahmed (16)
Combined Services Abdul Kardar Ebbu Ghazali (257) Ebbu Ghazali (7)
Karachi Asghar Ali Behram Irani (56) Badaruddin Malik (6)
North-West Frontier Province Jaseem Khan Aminuddin (60) Jaseem Khan (5)
Punjab Mohammad Saeed Shakoor Ahmed (190) Fazal Mahmood (14)
Railways Masood Salahuddin (1 match)
Mohammad Nissar (1 match)
Aslam Khokhar (138) Mohammad Amin (13)
Sind Pir Pagaro Ikram Elahi (76) Anwar Elahi (4)

Results edit

 
Preliminary RoundSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
4–6 December 1953;
Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi
 
 
Karachi191 & 71/5
 
11–13 December 1953;
Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi
 
Combined Services407 & 249/3d
 
Combined Services405
 
20–22 November 1953;
Bahawal Stadium, Bahawalpur
 
Bahawalpur424/7
 
Bahawalpur252 & 69/1
 
23–25 January 1954;
Karachi Goan Association Ground, Karachi
 
Sind144 & 176
 
Bahawalpur244 & 156/2
 
 
Punjab249 & 147
 
 
14–16 December 1953;
Aitchison College Ground, Lahore
 
 
Punjab197 & 277
 
20–22 November 1953;
Peshawar Club Ground, Peshawar
 
Railways169 & 160
 
North-West Frontier Province90 & 271
 
 
Railways185 & 178/4
 

Source:[7]

Preliminary round edit

20–22 November 1953
v
Bahawalpur won by 9 wickets
 
 
144 all out (60.1 overs)
Mohammad Munaf 36
Zulfiqar Ahmed 5/54 (25 overs)
252 all out (86.1 overs)
Hanif Mohammad 147*
Anwar Elahi 4/64 (14 overs)
176 (56.5 overs)
Ikram Elahi 63
Zulfiqar Ahmed 4/49 (16.5 overs)
69/1 (21.1 overs)
Wazir Mohammad 31*
Ikram Elahi 1/6 (5 overs)
  • Sind won the toss and elected to bat.
20–22 November 1953
v
Railways won by 6 wickets
 
 
90 all out (46.3 overs)
Fazal Rahim 24
Masood Salahuddin 4/22 (11 overs)
185 all out (77 overs)
Mahmood Ahmed 59
Jaseem Khan 4/22 (19 overs)
271 all out (100.1 overs)
Aminuddin 49
Masood Salahuddin 4/71 (22 overs)
178/4 (64 overs)
Aslam Khokhar 40*
Sajjad Ahmed 2/62 (21 overs)
  • Railways won the toss and elected to bowl.
4–6 December 1953
v
Match drawn
 
 
407 all out (103.3 overs)
Ebbu Ghazali 160
Badaruddin Malik 6/131 (39 overs)
191 all out (81.3 overs)
Behram Irani 56
Shujauddin 4/81 (38 overs)
249/3 dec. (68 overs)
Abdur Rehman 89
Raees Mohammad 2/77 (19 overs)
71/5 (19 overs)
Abdul Wahab 42
Anwar Saeed 2/24 (4 overs)
  • Combined Services won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Combined Services advanced to the semi-finals on first innings.

Semi-finals edit

4–6 December 1953
v
Match drawn
 
 
405 all out (111.2 overs)
Imtiaz Ahmed 102
Amir Elahi 3/54 (14.2 overs)
424/7 (151 overs)
Hanif Mohammad 118
Ebbu Ghazali 4/161 (55 overs)
  • Combined Services won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Bahawalpur advanced to the final on first innings.
14–16 December 1953
v
Punjab won by 145 runs
 
 
197 all out (65.3 overs)
Mohammad Saeed 48
Mohammad Amin 5/57 (22.3 overs)
169 (59.2 overs)
Aslam Khokhar 69
Fazal Mahmood 4/67 (30 overs)
277 all out (102.4 overs)
Shakoor Ahmed 102
Asghar Ali 5/61 (29.4 overs)
160 all out (41 overs)
Gulzar Mir 52
Fazal Mahmood 3/30 (11 overs)
  • Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.

Final edit

23–25 January 1954
Scorecard
v
249 all out (76.3 overs)
Shujauddin Butt 69*
Khan Mohammad 4/64 (19 overs)
244 all out (65.3 overs)
Maqsood Ahmed 64
Fazal Mahmood 5/73 (30 overs)
147 all out (69 overs)
Shakoor Ahmed 42
Zulfiqar Ahmed 4/35 (14 overs)
156/2 (42.3 overs)
Alimuddin 65*
Fazal Mahmood 2/45 (17 overs)
Bahawalpur won by 8 wickets
Goan Association Ground, Karachi
Umpires: Naoomal Jeoomal & Qamaruddin Butt
  • Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.

Statistics edit

Most runs edit

The top five runscorers are included in this table, listed by runs scored and then by batting average.[8]

Player Team Runs Inns Avg Highest 100s 50s
Hanif Mohammad Bahawalpur 339 5 113.00 147* 2 0
Ebbu Ghazali Combined Services 257 3 85.66 160 1 1
Abdur Rehman Combined Services 213 3 71.00 89 0 2
Shakoor Ahmed Punjab 190 4 47.50 102 1 0
Maqsood Ahmed Bahawalpur 153 2 76.50 89 0 2

Most wickets edit

The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.[9]

Player Team Overs Wkts Ave 5/i 10/m BBI
Zulfiqar Ahmed Bahawalpur 94.5 16 15.56 1 0 5/54
Fazal Mahmood Punjab 88.0 14 15.35 1 0 5/73
Mohammad Amin Railways 88.4 13 18.15 1 0 5/57
Asghar Ali Railways 74.1 12 14.25 1 0 5/61
Khan Mohammad Bahawalpur 75.0 11 16.20 0 0 4/64

References edit

  1. ^ Quaid-E-Azam Trophy: A brief history – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ^ First-class matches played by Bahawalpur – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ^ First-class matches played by Pakistan Combined Services – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  4. ^ First-class matches played by Karachi – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. ^ First-class matches played by North West Frontier Province – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  6. ^ First-class matches played by Pakistan Railways – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 1953/54". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. ^ Batting and fielding in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 1953/54 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  9. ^ Bowling in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 1953/54 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2015.