| Pakistani cricket team in India in 1960-61 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2 December 1960 – 13 February 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location |  India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | 5-Test series drawn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ThePakistan national cricket team touredIndia in the winter of 1960–61. They played fiveTest matches against theIndia national cricket team, and also played against several local Indian squads.
Writing forThe Indian Express cricketerAbdul Hafeez Kardar who played for both India and Pakistan maintained that if Pakistan "does well in the first two test matches", they would go on to win the series. He felt that the visiting side had the "strongest batting power house ever to be sent out" by Pakistan and thatHanif Mohammad, "the most matured opener of the game", would the main "hurdle" for India.[1]
The Indian squad for the series was announced on 30 November 1960.Rajasthan's all-rounderRusi Surti was the only new inclusion in the squad.[2]Vijay Manjrekar andSubhash Gupte made their comeback to the squad after a year. It was reported that the Pakistan squad would be announced only an hour before commencement of the First Test.[4] To their squad announced before the First test,Ijaz Butt,Shujauddin Butt,Mohammad Munaf andIntikhab Alam were added for the first-class game againstCentral Zone.[5]
18–20 November 1960 Scorecard |
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2–7 December Scorecard |
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Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on what was described as apitch without the "usual grass" on it[4] while staying "firm" and with "little dew".[3]
TheIndian team selectors made changes to the squad following the First Test;wicket-keeperNaren Tamhane,V. M. Muddiah,Salim Durani were included in place ofPankaj Roy,Nana Joshi andAjit Wadekar.[9] The Pakistani side includedAlimuddin.
30 December–4 January Scorecard |
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Leading up to the Third Test, pacerSurendranath was included in the Indian squad whilePankaj Roy was dropped.[11] Pakistan made one change in the team that played the Second Test;Intikhab Alam replacedAlimuddin.[12] A "grassy wicket" aiding bowlers, both seamers and spinners, was expected before the game.[13]
13–18 January Scorecard |
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The Indian selectors includedDatta Gaekwad andBaloo Gupte in place ofAbbas Ali Baig,Bapu Nadkarni andSubhash Gupte after the Third Test.[17] Further, following the first-class game between Pakistan andIndian Board President's XI, wicket-keeperBudhi Kunderan andVijay Mehra were added to the squad.[18] Showers were predicted on the day one of the Test following intermittent rains on the day preceding the game.[19]
8–13 February Scorecard |
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In the Indian side that played the Fourth Test and the squad,Datta Gaekwad,Surendranath,Baloo Gupte andNaren Tamhane were replaced withIndrajitsinhji,Prakash Poddar,Bapu Nadkarni andVaman Kumar for the Fifth.[20]
The series was aired onAll India Radio for Indian listeners. For the Second Test theMaharajkumar of Vizianagram, Devraj Puri and V. K. Chakrapani served ascommentators,[21] while for the Fourth Test, the Maharaja was accompanied by Pearson Surita and P. Ananda Rau, and Pakistan'sOmar Kureishi as the guest commentator.[22]
