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]
| Dates | 20 November 1953 – 25 January 1954 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan |
| Cricket format | First-class (three-day) |
| Tournament format(s) | Knockout |
| Champions | Bahawalpur (1st title) |
| Participants | 7 |
| Matches | 6 |
| Most runs | Hanif Mohammad (339) |
| Most wickets | Zulfiqar 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
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
| Preliminary Round | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 4–6 December 1953; Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi | ||||||||||
| Karachi | 191 & 71/5 | |||||||||
| 11–13 December 1953; Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi | ||||||||||
| Combined Services | 407 & 249/3d | |||||||||
| Combined Services | 405 | |||||||||
| 20–22 November 1953; Bahawal Stadium, Bahawalpur | ||||||||||
| Bahawalpur | 424/7 | |||||||||
| Bahawalpur | 252 & 69/1 | |||||||||
| 23–25 January 1954; Karachi Goan Association Ground, Karachi | ||||||||||
| Sind | 144 & 176 | |||||||||
| Bahawalpur | 244 & 156/2 | |||||||||
| Punjab | 249 & 147 | |||||||||
| 14–16 December 1953; Aitchison College Ground, Lahore | ||||||||||
| Punjab | 197 & 277 | |||||||||
| 20–22 November 1953; Peshawar Club Ground, Peshawar | ||||||||||
| Railways | 169 & 160 | |||||||||
| North-West Frontier Province | 90 & 271 | |||||||||
| Railways | 185 & 178/4 | |||||||||
Source:[7]
Preliminary round
20–22 November 1953 | v | Bahawalpur won by 9 wickets | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
20–22 November 1953 | v | Railways won by 6 wickets | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
185 all out (77 overs) Mahmood Ahmed 59 Jaseem Khan 4/22 (19 overs) | |||||
| |||||
4–6 December 1953 | v | Match drawn | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
71/5 (19 overs) Abdul Wahab 42 Anwar Saeed 2/24 (4 overs) | |||||
| |||||
Semi-finals
4–6 December 1953 | v | Match drawn | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
14–16 December 1953 | v | Punjab won by 145 runs | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
Final
Statistics
Most runs
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
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 |