Seven years after the partition of the subcontinent, the historic event when Pakistan entered the world of international cricket took place. The first Test match was played in Lord’s against England and the batsman who faced the first ball from Pakistan was Alimuddin.
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Pakistan’s historic squad who represented the nation in England tour. Alimuddin is standing second from left (Photo: Getty Images)[/caption]Born today (December 15) in 1930 in Ajmer, Rajasthan, Alimuddin started his international career on June 10, 1954 from the Lord’s Test, and then represented Pakistan in 25 Test matches.
An aggressive right-handed batsman and a skilled fielder, Alimuddin played an undefeatable innings of 103 runs against India in the 1955 Karachi Test. That was the first century made by any batsman in the National Stadium.
At the age of only 32, he played his last Test against England in July, 1962. He made a total of 1091 runs with an average of 25.37.
After the retirement from international cricket, Alimuddin settled in England where he worked for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at London Heathrow Airport.
Before the partition of India, Alimuddin represented Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy as the history’s youngest cricketer ever. He was only 12 years and 73 days old when he played his debut First-class Test.
He shifted to Karachi with his family after the partition. Alimuddin was also a part of the team when, in 1954, Pakistan won their first and the most memorable Test against England in The Oval.
After battling kidney, heart and lung problems, Alimuddin passed away on July 12 this year.
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