The domestic cricket season in Pakistan usually runs through the late autumn and winter months when the scorching summer heat has passed and the weather is more conducive for open air sports. 1970 was a tumultuous year in Pakistan’s history and the 1970/71 cricket season was played against the backdrop of epochal events that would alter the course of the nation’s destiny.

In early and mid December 1970 national and provincial elections based on universal adult franchise and a parliamentary system of governance were held for the first time since the country’s independence. The turbulent winds that blew in its wake would have far reaching consequences.

With the changing political climate cricket also began to witness some adjustments. With a new government in Islamabad the Ayub Trophy was re-named as the BCCP Trophy and the tournament was scheduled to begin in January 1971. Even prior to this a new, non first class competition, called the National Under-19 Championship got under way. Teams were divided into two zones, the West Zone and the East Zone, each representing one wing of the country.

In East Pakistan, the East Zone had four teams and two semi-finals were played with the winning team progressing to the zonal final. Dhaka was the venue for all the East Zone matches. In the first semifinal the Dhaka Education Board Under-19’s comprehensively beat the Dhaka Under-19’s by 192 runs, while in the second semifinal the East Pakistan Sports Federation Under-19’s won by virtue of a walk over against the Rajshahi Education Board Under-19’s.

In the zonal final the East Pakistan Sports Federation Under-19 side triumphed over the Dhaka Education Board Under-19’s courtesy of a magnificent all round performance by Tanvir Mazhar Tanna who scored 107 runs and then proceeded to take 8 wickets for 53 with his penetrating leg spin in the Dhaka Education Board’s second innings. The winning side was led by a teenage opening batsman Raqibul Hasan, who would, many years later, go on to play for Bangladesh in the ICC trophy and also represent them in two ODIs.

The final of the National Under-19 tournament between the winners of the two zones, was also staged in Dhaka. The East Pakistan Sports Federation team met the formidable Lahore Under-19 side, which had emerged victorious from the West Zone. The Lahore Under-19’s were led by Wasim Raja and included Agha Zahid, the precociously talented Afzal Masood and a young Imran Khan. They put up a big total of 419 with centuries from Afzal Masood and Imran. Tanvir Mazhar Tanna was again amongst the wickets with 5 dismissals for 158. In reply, the East Pakistan Sports Federation could only muster 226, with Wasim Raja taking a fifer. Lahore declared their second innings at 123 for 4 and then attempted to force an outright win but the East Pakistan side held out and were on 104 for 7 at the close of play. Lahore were declared winners of the tournament on the basis of their substantial first innings lead. This was the first time that the final of a national cricketing contest had been held in East Pakistan. In retrospect, perhaps it was too little, too late.

In the BCCP Trophy East Pakistan was represented by two teams, East Pakistan Whites and East Pakistan Greens, with the Whites being the province’s senior string. The East Pakistan Whites side was led by the experienced MA Latif and played Dhaka University in mid January. In their first innings, which was restricted to 100 overs according to the tournament’s new playing rules, the EP Whites scored 301 for 5 with Rauf Ansari, an 18 year old right handed opening batsman, emerging as the top scorer with 74. In reply, Dacca University made 206 with Ali Zahid, a middle order batsman, making 65 in what would be the only first class match of his career. In their second innings EP Whites made 343 for 7, with Rauf Ansari again leading the way, this time with an unbeaten 150. Technically the match was drawn, but as per the tournament’s rules, EP Whites were declared the winners on the basis of their first innings lead.

The other East Pakistan representatives EP Greens came up against the formidable PIA side in their initial match and were beaten comprehensively by an innings and 194 runs. The PIA team boasted of ten Test players in their playing eleven, while for many members of the EP Greens side this match would be their solitary appearance in a first class encounter. In response to PIA’s 422 for 5 declared, which included centuries from Mohammad Ilyas and Zaheer Abbas, the EP Greens could only muster totals of 115 and 113 respectively in their two innings, with the lanky off spinner Mohammad Afaq taking 5 wickets in each innings for match figures of 10 wickets for 81 runs.

In the next stage of group matches PIA now played EP Whites and ran up a mammoth score of 513/4 in just 93 overs, with Zaheer Abbas making 196, Mohammad Ilyas 107 and Azmat Rana 94. They then proceeded to dismiss the EP Whites for a paltry score of 34. Asif Iqbal took 5 wickets for 21 and Parvez Sajjad 4 wickets for just 8 runs. In their second innings of this weather affected match, EP Whites had lost 2 wickets with just 9 runs on the board when play was called off. The last two days of this 3 day game had been heavily affected by rain with only 55 minutes of play possible on the 2nd day and just 75 minutes on the 3rd day. PIA were declared the winners by dint of their first innings lead.

An International team led by Mickey Stewart was touring Pakistan in February-March 1971. It was scheduled to play 3 four day “Test” matches against a Pakistan side which had been named as the BCCP Eleven for this series. The second of these three matches was to be staged in Dhaka.

Pakistan had comfortably won the first “Test” at Karachi and as the team travelled to Dhaka for the second “Test”, the country was abuzz with anticipation for the forthcoming national parliamentary session which had been called for 3rd March and was to be held in Dhaka.

The second four day “Test” started on 26th February. For the first time a Pakistani national side had two East Pakistan/Bengal born cricketers in its lineup. One of them was Raqibul Hasan, who had turned 18 just a month ago. Raqib had been selected to represent Pakistan a year before as well when he was picked in the twelve man squad for the Dhaka Test against the visiting New Zealand team in the 1969-70 season. On that occasion, however, he did not make it to the final playing eleven and was confined to carrying out the 12th man’s duties. Raqib was a gifted all round sportsman who had also made an impression in other games like athletics and table tennis. There was also a second Bengali cricketer in the Pakistan dressing room in the match against the International XI. This was Tanveer Mazhar Tanna who was the BCCP Eleven’s 12th man for this match.

A large crowd had turned up to watch the popular Raqib who was the poster boy of East Pakistan cricket at the time. The BCCP Eleven won the toss and elected to bat and Raqib opened the batting with Azmat Rana. Raqib recalled that the team members had been given Gray-Nicolls bats before the match. Unknown to his fellow team colleagues Raqib put a ‘Joy Bangla’ sticker on his bat. When he went out to open the innings his arrival at the crease was greeted with a thunderous, ear piercing chant of Joy Bangla from the crowd. Unfortunately for him, Raqib’s stay at the wicket lasted for just a few balls as he was trapped lbw by the Aussie paceman Neil Hawke for just 1 run. Azmat Rana went on to make a fifty and there was a late flourish by the captain Intikhab Alam who contributed 46. The BCCP XI was all out for 200 in 53.3 overs.

The International Eleven responded with 75 for 1 by close of play on the opening day. The next day they made slow progress, adding another 232 runs in 5 hours of play. Roy Virgin, the Somerset opener scored 152 and the diminutive Harry Pilling made 71. The International Eleven was finally dismissed for 378 on the third day, with Intikhab taking 6 for 104 in 42 overs of leg spin.

Raqib was again dismissed cheaply in he BCCP Eleven’s second innings, caught behind by Murray off the English paceman Bob Cottam. A fine innings from Azmat Rana rallied the Pakistan team. He scored an entertaining 118 in under three hours with 16 hits to the fence. He was ably supported by Mushtaq Mohammad who made 58 and a stylish 40 from Zaheer Abbas.

On the final day, 1st March 1971, the BCCP XI had reached a score of 306 for 8 in their second knock, 128 runs ahead, with over two and a half hours of play still left. Wasim Bari and Sarfaraz Nawaz were at the crease. The match was delicately poised when pandemonium broke out in the crowd. An announcement had just been made on the radio that the President of Pakistan General Yahya Khan had indefinitely postponed the inaugural session of the National Assembly that was scheduled to be held in Dhaka just two days later. Angry spectators and students invaded the ground, setting on fire the temporary marquees or ‘shamianas’ that had been specially installed for this “Test”. Mickey Stewart, not realizing the seriousness of the situation, and confident that his team had a good chance of victory, pleaded with the protesters to allow the match to be concluded but was told that this would not be possible .

Widespread rioting and protests soon broke out on the streets of the entire city. The match was abandoned but the players who had taken refuge in the pavilion could not be evacuated for another two hours because of the chaos that had enveloped Dhaka. The visiting team players were driven to the Intercontinental Hotel where they were staying. They left the city later that evening catching the last flight out to Lahore.

The BCCP team was housed at Hotel Purbani which was located in the Motijheel area and was not immediately accessible because of the large number of protesters around it. The home team was, therefore, taken in a military vehicle to a guest house in the cantonment area from where it was eventually escorted to their hotel after midnight. They were subsequently stuck at the hotel for a few days and Intikhab recalled that it was only after considerable efforts from him and fortuitous, timely intervention from a military officer, Brigadier Haider who had managed the Pakistan team on it’s 1962 tour of England, that the team was finally able to board a flight out of Dhaka a few days later. Intikhab further recalled that the journey from the Purbani Hotel to the airport which normally took 15-20 minutes now took almost three hours because of burnt trees lying on the road. An armed Intikhab undertook the journey to the airport in a military jeep, which stopped frequently to clear fallen trees from the road. The team, flying via Sri Lanka since Indian airspace access was denied to Pakistani aircraft, reached Lahore just in time for the start of the final “Test” on 4th March.

Shortly before the team finally left the hotel Zaheer Abbas while bidding farewell to his teammate Raqib said “I’ll see you in Karachi”. Raqib’s poignant and prophetic reply was “Zaheer, the next time I visit Karachi or Lahore I might have to come with a new passport”. It was a sad parting of ways. The curtain had well and truly descended on cricket in East Pakistan.

– 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