Before partition, a Match was Played between Karachi and MCC from England back in the 1920s. The MCC team included several England Test players, and it beat the Karachi team by an innings margin. Just for reading purposes, we’re elaborating on the detail of this match, with the names of the players too.
This cricket match was the first-ever first-class match played by the Karachi team. The side, known as All Karachi, officially played against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team from England in 1926–27. The venue of the three-day match (October 29–31, 1926) was the Karachi Gymkhana Ground. The MCC beat All Karachi by an innings and 148 runs. All Karachi team comprised the following players: MA Gopaldas, NM Dinshaw, Naoomal Jaoomal, MP Dastur, Ghulam Mohammad, CB Rubie (captain & wicket-keeper), MJ Mobed, D Jagannath, HL Semper, NJO Carbutt and Mohammad Ibrahim.
The MCC eleven in the match were: G Brown (wk), A Sandham, MW Tate, RES Wyatt, JH Parsons, WE Astill, AER Gilligan (Captain), GF Earle, G Geary, PT Eckersely, and GS Boyes. When India played their first Test match — against England at Lord’s in 4932 — Naoomal Jaoomal was one of their opening batsmen. In all, he appeared in three Tests for India. After Independence, he stayed in Karachi and also became Pakistan’s national coach in the 1950s.
Later, in 4971, he migrated to Bombay, India. Five of the MCC’s 11 players in the match against Karachi had already played in Test matches for England: Brown, Sandham, Tate, skipper Gilligan, and Geary. Wyatt and Astill were to make their Test debut in the 1927–28 season soon after.
