India v Pakistan: 1960-61 Test Series

Also check: 1952-53 | 1979-80 | 1983-84 | 1986-87 | 1998-99

The five match series ended in a draw as all five Tests proved dull affairs.

Captains:
India: N.J. Contractor | Pakistan: Fazal Mahmood

Summary of Results:

#	Dates	India	Pakistan	Venue	Result
1	2-7 Dec 1960	449-9d	* 350 & 166-4	Bombay	Drawn
2	16-21 Dec 1960	404	*335 & 140-3	Kanpur	Drawn
3	30 Dec-4 Jan 1960	180 & 127-4	* 301 & 146-3d	Kolkata	Drawn
4	13-18 Jan 1961	539-9d	* 448-8d & 59-0	Madras	Drawn
5	8-13 Feb 1961	*463 & 16-0	286 & 250	Delhi	Drawn

* denotes batted first and 'd' denotes innings declared.

Highlights:

Bombay:
The partnership of 246 between Hanif Mohammad and Saeed Ahmed was Pakistan second-wicket record in all Tests (since beaten). Hanif's 160 was the highest innings by a Pakistani in India until Saeed Anwar made 188* at Calcutta in 1998-99 and when he reached 63, he became the first to score 2000 runs for his country. Mohammad Farooq took the wickets of Pankaj Roy and Abbas Ali Baig in his second over in Test cricket. PG Joshi and Ramakant Desai added 149 to establish the present ninth-wicket record for India in all Tests.

Kanpur:
This match produced a daily average aggregate of 175 runs and India did not complete their first innings until just before lunch on the fifth day. ML Jaisimha batted 500 minutes for his 99 and made only five scoring strokes in the entire pre-lunch session on the third day. He was run out while attempting an impossible run which would have taken him into three figures.

Calcutta:
Surendernath and AG Milkha Singh were the Indian changes for the match (for VM Muddiah and CG Borde), but Borde was back in the side as Milkha Singh was indisposed on the morning of the match. Rain on the third day and drying operations on the fourth day reduced play by 4.1/2 hours. Pakistan set India 268 runs to win in three hours. The partnership of 88 between Mushtaq Ahmed and Intikhab Alam was Pakistan's highest for the seventh wicket against India until 1984-85.

Madras:
Both countries recorded their highest totals for the series, India's 539 being at that time their highest against all countries. Chandu Borde, whose innings was then the highest in Indo-Pak Tests, and Polly Umrigar added 177 to set India's fifth-wicket record versus Pakistan. The opening partnership of 162 between Hanif Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmed is still Pakistan's best versus India. Haseeb Ahsan was the third Pakistani bowler to concede over 200 runs in an innings. A fire gutted the eastern section of the stand and ended play 20 minutes prematurely on the penultimate day.

Delhi:
India and Pakistan achieved their twelfth successive draw in their last match for more than 17 years. Polly Umrigar was the first batsman to score five hundreds for any country against Pakistan. At 17 years and 82 days, Mushtaq Mohammad became Test cricket's youngest century maker (a record that stood for well over 40 years before it was broken by Bangladesh's Mohammad Ashraful in September 2001). Saeed Ahmed's aggregate of 460 runs is Pakistan's highest for any rubber in India. VV Kumar bowled Imtiaz Ahmed with his sixth ball in Test cricket.

Compiled by Rajneesh Gupta