This is the first part of a series of articles narrating the on- and off-court tales of how the India-Pakistan Davis Cup ties have unfolded over the years.

1885, Lahore, undivided India

A non-indigenous sport takes roots in undivided India. The Punjab Lawn Tennis Championships held at the Lahore Gymkhana Club instantly becomes the most sought-after tournament of the country. Till 1915, this grass-court competition would be dominated by British players. Later, non-European and native players from undivided India began to make their mark in this event.

15 years after the Punjab Lawn Tennis Championships began, the Davis Cup was held as a bilateral event between USA and Great Britain for the first time. The sport’s global repute saw more teams feature in the Davis Cup as the years went by. After the introduction of the Europe Zone in early 1920s, and the Eastern Zone in the 1950s, it was fitting to dub the Davis Cup champions as the World Champions of lawn tennis.

The British Raj leaving India in 1947 was a catalyst to independence, a by-product of which was Pakistan. India and Pakistan entered the Davis Cup as free nations immediately after. Pakistan’s first four entries in the Davis Cup were as forgettable as their political stability. After a first round loss in 1948 to Switzerland, they were whitewashed in the first round in both the 1950 and 1956 editions by the Philippines and Czechoslovakia respectively. In between, 1955 saw them hand a walkover to the Caribbean side in the first round. The reasons for this remain obscure till date.

India on the other hand saw a progressive growth throughout the 1950s. They made the quarter-finals of the Europe Zone thrice, the semis of the Inter-Zonal competition twice, and the finals of the Inter-Zonal stage twice. They carried this form to the first two editions of the 1960s, wherein they established themselves as the best performing Asian side. The testament to do this included comprehensive wins over Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan.

1962, Lahore, Pakistan

In Pakistan, a Sports Board becomes a part of the Ministry of Education for the first time. The Davis Cup of 1962 saw the first ever instance of India and Pakistan be drawn together in the Eastern Zone group. This was an era when political unrest between the two nations heightened to its peak. Ayub Khan had turned down Jawaharlal Nehru’s invitation to New Delhi for talks on the Kashmir issue. Tennis-wise, fluorescent balls weren’t introduced for the next ten years, racquets were made of laminated wood, and television sets were a thing of wonder.

On 31^st March 1962, Lahore was yet again party to a historical event in the tennis history of both nations. A 22-year-old Premjit Lall, who was seeded twelfth at the Australian Open that season, faced Pakistan’s four-time defending National Champion, Munir Pirzada (spelled Peerzada alternatively) in the first match of the India-Pakistan tie. A 1956 Wimbledon lucky loser who lost to an Australian politician in the second round, Pirzada’s debut at the Davis Cup was one to forget as an in-form Lall defeated him 6-3 6-1 6-2.

In the second match, India sent in Ramanathan Krishnan. For the generation who is unaware of Krishnan’s impact on Indian tennis, know this – he was our Brahmos. The greatest tennis player ever produced by the country. A player who had established himself within the world’s top five singles tennis players, Krishnan had been a regular feature of India’s Davis Cup side since 1953.

A two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, a Roland Garros quarterfinalist, and wins over Rod Laver and Roy Emerson was a nerve-wrecking resume for Khwaja Saeed-Hai, Krishnan’s first Pakistani Davis Cup opponent. Saeed-Hai at the age of 18 had become the first Pakistani to enter the main draw of Wimbledon as a qualifier in 1955. When he faced Krishnan, the Pakistani completed a hattrick – of singles losses in the Davis Cup.

Khwaja Iftikhar-Ahmed was the number one tennis player in undivided India. From 1940 to 1946, he held on to the numero uno spot of the national rankings. After an impressive third round outing at Wimbledon, the partition took place in 1947, and weeks later Ahmed became a citizen of Pakistan. It makes him the only player till date who has represented both India and Pakistan. Read more on his story here.

He featured in Pakistan’s 1950 and 1956 participations at the Davis Cup. Ahmed did his part by winning his singles matches in a lost cause. However, against India in 1962, he walked out with debutant Mohammed Naeem for the doubles rubber. Ahmed was carrying a miserable 0-3 record in doubles at the Davis Cup. It became 0-4 when young Akhtar Ali partnering Premjit Lall took down the Pakistani duo in straight sets.

The dead rubbers followed. Lall defeated Hai in the first reverse singles. Hai would never return to the Davis Cup again. He had played four singles and one doubles match in his Davis Cup career; losing each of them. He would go on to be Pakistan’s non-playing Davis Captain in the future. The tie ended on 2^nd April 1962, when Akhtar Ali defeated Pirzada 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-4. After whitewashing Pakistan, India further defeated Iran and the Philippines without losing a match. India’s run in this edition of the Davis Cup ended on 5^th December 1962, when they lost to a strong Mexican side in the Inter-zonal final.

1963, Poona, India

The calendar changes. Yet again the date is 31^st March. India and Pakistan are set to face each other again in the Eastern Zone fixture. This time around, India was the host. Yet, six months before the Pakistan tie, India did not have that one element which most of its finest players enjoyed – grass courts. Enter Dr Gangadhar Achyut Ranade, future secretary of the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association. After a meeting by the All India Tennis Association, Ranade took up the challenge of constructing the needed grass courts.

When he realized that Maharashtra didn’t have the soil that could sustain a tennis grass court, and that importing materials from Kolkata and New Delhi would be a hassle, he turned to Poona’s Deccan Gymkhana. Within the Gymkhana was a cricket ground. Ranade kept the main pitch intact, and constructed six grass courts (some accounts suggest eight) on the cricket ground. It earned him the nickname ‘Human Bulldozer’.

When Pakistan arrived, India did not waste much time. Krishnan walked in for the first tie. He was now a Padma Shri, a recipient of the Arjuna Award, and a fourth seed at Wimbledon. Up against him was Sheikh Qutubuddin who was playing in a Davis Cup tie for the first time in his life; and soon his last. Krishnan steamrolled his opponent 6-0 6-3 6-0.

Up next was what can be considered as a clash of veterans from both sides of the border. Jaidip Mukerjea’s Davis Cup career spanned from 1960 to 1972. He is hailed as India’s finest proponent of the serve-and-volley tactic. In 1962, Mukerjea made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and had even made it to the second week of the US Open in singles. Before his first-ever match against a Pakistani opponent, Mukerjea had a mighty impressive 10-3 win-loss record in singles rubbers at the Davis Cup.

Up against Mukerjea was Pirzada. Munir was instrumental in defeating Ceylon in the first round, winning both his singles and the doubles match; which led to Pakistan draw India. Mukerjea would hand Pirzada his third consecutive singles match defeat against India, winning the match in straight sets. In the doubles clash, both players would take to the court again. Akhtar Ali returned as the doubles specialist, whereas Pirzada teamed up with Khwaja Iftikhar-Ahmed. This match saw as signs of life in Pakistan tennis, as Ahmed and Pirzada won the first two sets. But the ammunition malfunctioned and the Mukerjea-Ali duo guerrilla-ed their way to victory (3-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2).

For the second consecutive year, Pakistan ensured that the reverse singles stay dead rubbers. Mukerjea, a clear favorite against Qutubuddin won his match dropping only nine games. Qutubuddin would never play a Davis Cup tie again. In the final match, Akhtar Ali took on Pakistan National No.2, Zulfiqar Rahim. What was supposed to be a dead rubber turned out to be one of the most memorable Indo-Pak Davis Cup fixtures.

Ali took the opening set 8-6. Rahim took the second, Ali took the third, and Rahim forced a decider. During the course of the match, the audience began to boo Rahim. The decibels of booing gradually rose. To silence the crowd, in the middle of a rally, Rahim changed the angle of his racquet and struck the ball into the audience; hitting a spectator.

Eventually, Rahim won the match and became the first Pakistani to register a Davis Cup win against India. About the incident, Rahim recollects that the police needed to escort him and that the team was provided heavy security at the hotel. Pakistan lost the tie, but Rahim’s win in his maiden Davis Cup match was a desperate cry of hope to keep the racquet-sport alive.

After the tie, Poona University’s Vice-Chancellor Mr M.M. Datto Vaman Potdar greeted the Pakistani team by donning a Puneri Pagari, a white dhoti, and a flowing overcoat.He later offered them prasad that he himself had gotten from a mosque. The Pakistanis were humbled.

1964, Lahore, Pakistan

Nine Asian teams entered the Davis Cup competition in 1964. To ease the travelling expenses for all teams, India proposed splitting the Eastern Zone in two groups. After talks with the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1963, India’s proposal was accepted. As a result, India and Pakistan were drawn in Zone B of the Eastern Zone along side Ceylon, South Vietnam, Malaya, and Iran.

After defeating Ceylon, the Indian side travelled to Pakistan for their away tie. They picked up from where they left. Akhtar Ali faced Zulfiqar Rahim in the first rubber. But a day before the scheduled fixture, Premjit Lall had received a call from an Indian official. I was told about this incident in my telephonic conversation with Akhtar Ali that took place in February 2019.

Ali recollects, “The official thought I’d get nervous. His thinking was, ‘Oh, he’s a Muslim, so there’ll be pressure on him playing in Pakistan.’ But I had won a tournament in Jaipur a week earlier, beating everyone. So Premjit told the official to go to hell. ‘I’m going to play Akhtar Ali.’”  The match was far from competitive. Ali dominated it and avenged his previous year’s loss to Rahim by winning the match in straight sets.

The second rubber was played between Lall and Pirzada. While Lall was yet to lose a match against Pakistan, Pirzada was yet to win one against India. Pirzada was in the tail-end of his career and displayed a performance worthy of a dwindling career. Lall won 6-0 6-2 7-5. Another year, and another debutant for Pakistan, as Azim Inayat paired up with Pirzada with the hope of saving the tie. But they were no match for the veterans Lall and Ali, who ensured India registered three consecutive Davis Cup wins against Pakistan.

Shiv Kumar Misra is now a Davis Cup legend. But back in 1964 when he made his debut for India against Ceylon, nobody knew he would go on to win 13 of the 14 singles matches he would play at the Davis Cup till 1969. In a marathon match against Zulfiqar Rahim, Misra won 6-4 3-6 9-7 13-11. It was the only match Misra played against Pakistan, and also the last appearance of Rahim at the Davis Cup. The final rubber saw debutant Munawar Iqbal escape the jaws of defeat. Ali led the match 6-3 7-5 3-3 before it had to be abandoned.

Pakistan’s Davis Cup campaign in 1965 saw them lose to Vietnam in the first round. The Pakistanis stayed out of the Davis Cup for the next five years. India on the other hand consistently won the Eastern Zone, and had made at least the Inter-Zonal semis till the end of the decade. The most memorable of these runs was in 1969, when India were runners-up to Australia in the Challenge round of the World Group.

Outside tennis, India and Pakistan faced their most tumultuous times in the years to come. 1965 saw an all-out armed conflicts war between the two nations, terminating sporting ties between the two nations.