ALIM-UD-DIN A STRAIGHT BAT

Alim-ud-din was a right-hand determined opening batsman, among the first generation of Pakistan cricketers. It is fair to suggest that Alim s more celebrated colleagues, namely skipper Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Imtiaz Ahmed, Fazal Mahmood, Khan Mohammad, Maqsood Ahmed & Hanif Mohammad, got more attention and publicity, nevertheless Alim s workmanlike contribution had its value in Pakistan s cricket s first decade in international arena. As an opening batsman, he successfully held off challenge posed by both pace and spin, at home and away on matting and turf. Alim was one of the key components of Pakistan s encouraging start, in the international cricket arena. Having missed out in A.H.Kardar s initial years in charge against both MCC (1951-52) at home and the tour of India (1952-53), Alim won selection for Pakistan s four successive overseas tours: England (1954), West Indies (1957-58), India (1960-61) and England (1962). His 25-Test career stretching to eight years, included appearance in ten consecutive Test series for Pakistan, a testimony to his cricketing pedigree. The layout of the book, is a touch different, from the standard practice for it has a senior editor and two additional contributors. It is a scenario of multiple authors, each doing his bit, in peeling off the layers of the subject matter. Dr. Khadim Baloch looks more at Alim-ud-din s family roots and the impact of Vinoo Mankad, skipper A.H.Kardar and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, on his life, both on and off the cricket field. Mohammed Salim Parvez is UK based freelance cricket writer, historian, statistician and an archivist. The third contributor, Najum Latif, a Punjab University player, Research Scholar, Cricket historian and founding curator of Pakistan s first Cricket Museum in the pavilion of Bagh-i-Jinnah, Lahore, has provided the readers with, invaluable insight of the key matches at the ground, in the series of 1950s and indeed his friendship with Alim-ud-din that blossomed in the later years of the opening batsman. I took upon the task of narrating Alim-ud-din s entire cricket career on season-to-season basis, to form a biography of Alim-ud-din.
ISBN: 9789699739965
Publisher: JUMHOORI PUBLICATIONS
Subtitle: CRICKETING TIMES OF PAKISTAN OPENER FROM THOSE HALCYON DAYS
Author: DR. KHADIM HUSSAIN BALOCH MOHAMMED SALIM PARVEZ NAJUM LATIF