# Pakistani cricket team in India in 1960–61

The Pakistan national cricket team toured India in the winter of 1960–61. They played five Test matches against the India national cricket team, and also played against several local Indian squads.

## Background

Writing for The Indian Express cricketer Abdul 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 that Hanif Mohammad, "the most matured opener of the game", would the main "hurdle" for India.

## Squads

| India | Pakistan |
| Nari Contractor (c) Pankaj Roy Abbas Ali Baig Polly Umrigar Bapu Nadkarni Vijay Manjrekar Chandu Borde Subhash Gupte Nana Joshi (wk) Rusi Surti Ramakant Desai M. L. Jaisimha A. G. Milkha Singh Indrajitsinhji Ajit Wadekar Naren Tamhane (wk) V. M. Muddiah Salim Durani Surendranath Datta Gaekwad Baloo Gupte Budhi Kunderan Vijay Mehra Prakash Poddar Vaman Kumar | Fazal Mahmood (c) Imtiaz Ahmed (wk) Hanif Mohammad Wallis Mathias Saeed Ahmed Javed Burki Mushtaq Mohammad Mahmood Hussain Mohammad Farooq Nasim-ul-Ghani Haseeb Ahsan Zafar Altaf Ijaz Butt Shujauddin Butt Mohammad Munaf Intikhab Alam Alimuddin |
The Indian squad for the series was announced on 30 November 1960. Rajasthan's all-rounder Rusi Surti was the only new inclusion in the squad. Vijay Manjrekar and Subhash 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. To their squad announced before the First test, Ijaz Butt, Shujauddin Butt, Mohammad Munaf and Intikhab Alam were added for the first-class game against Central Zone.

## Test series
### 1st Test

* 2–7 December Scorecard
* Match drawn Brabourne Stadium, Bombay Umpires: Santosh Ganguli (Ind) and Bapu Joshi (Ind)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rusi Surti (Ind), and Javed Burki and Mohammad Farooq (Pak) made their Test debuts.
* Hanif Mohammad (Pak) passed 2,000 runs in Tests. His partnership of 246 runs for the second wicket with Saeed Ahmed was a record for Pakistan in Tests.
* Mahmood Hussain (Pak) claimed his 50th wicket in Tests.
* 5 December was a rest day.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on what was described as a pitch without the "usual grass" on it while staying "firm" and with "little dew".

### 2nd Test

* 16–21 December Scorecard
* Match drawn Modi Stadium, Kanpur Umpires: Santosh Ganguli and Bapu Joshi
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* 19 December was a rest day.
The Indian team selectors made changes to the squad following the First Test; wicket-keeper Naren Tamhane, V. M. Muddiah, Salim Durani were included in place of Pankaj Roy, Nana Joshi and Ajit Wadekar. The Pakistani side included Alimuddin.

### 3rd Test

* 30 December–4 January Scorecard
* Match drawn Eden Gardens, Calcutta Umpires: Santosh Ganguli and Badami Satyaji Rao
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* 2 January was a rest day.
* Naren Tamhane (Ind) played his final Test.
Leading up to the Third Test, pacer Surendranath was included in the Indian squad while Pankaj Roy was dropped. Pakistan made one change in the team that played the Second Test; Intikhab Alam replaced Alimuddin. A "grassy wicket" aiding bowlers, both seamers and spinners, was expected before the game.

### 4th Test

* 13–18 January Scorecard
* Match drawn Corporation Stadium, Madras Umpires: Sambhu Pan and S. K. Raghunatha Rao
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* Baloo Gupte (Ind) made his Test debut.
* Pakistan's first innings total of 448 was their highest against India. India's total of 539 was their highest and the highest for an India-Pakistan Test.
* Polly Umrigar and Chandu Borde (Ind) broke the record for highest fifth partnership for India (177), surpassing Umrigar and Dattu Phadkar's 131-run stand in 1952–53.
* Chandu Borde (Ind) set a record for the highest individual score for a player in any India-Pakistan Test.
* Play was abandoned 20 minutes before scheduled time on day 4 after a section of the stands caught fire.
The Indian selectors included Datta Gaekwad and Baloo Gupte in place of Abbas Ali Baig, Bapu Nadkarni and Subhash Gupte after the Third Test. Further, following the first-class game between Pakistan and Indian Board President's XI, wicket-keeper Budhi Kunderan and Vijay Mehra were added to the squad. Showers were predicted on the day one of the Test following intermittent rains on the day preceding the game.

### 5th Test

* 8–13 February Scorecard
* Match drawn Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: I. Gopalakrishnan and S. K. Raghunatha Rao
* India won the toss and elected to bat.
* Vaman Kumar (Ind) made his Test debut.
* 10 February was a rest day.
In the Indian side that played the Fourth Test and the squad, Datta Gaekwad, Surendranath, Baloo Gupte and Naren Tamhane were replaced with Indrajitsinhji, Prakash Poddar, Bapu Nadkarni and Vaman Kumar for the Fifth.

## Broadcast

The series was aired on All India Radio for Indian listeners. For the Second Test the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, Devraj Puri and V. K. Chakrapani served as commentators, while for the Fourth Test, the Maharaja was accompanied by Pearson Surita and P. Ananda Rau, and Pakistan's Omar Kureishi as the guest commentator.