Abdul Qadir-great Pakistan spinner 60 not out

by A.C. de Silva

Great bowler of Pakistan... One of Pakistan's great spinners of the past - Abdul Qadir celebrated his 60th birthday recently and during his younger days, he bowled tightly for Pakistan. He was a right-arm leg-spin bowler and a right-hand batsmen.

Abdul Qadir made his Test debut for Pakistan against England in January, 1978 and only in his second test he captured 6 English wickets for 44. His superb bowling enabled Pakistan to register many memorable wins in Test cricket. He captured 6 for 16 against West Indies at Faisalabad in November 1986, to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 53.

In December 1986, Abdul Qadir took 9 for 56 in the Test match against England at Lahore. On that day it was the 4th best bowling performance in Test history and the best bowling performance for Pakistan in Tests.

In 1982-83 he to-ok 103 first-class wickets in domestic cricket in Pakistan becoming the first bowler outside England to take 100 wickets in a season. He has been very successful in one-day cricket too. He captured 4 wickets for 9 runs against New Zealand at Sharjah in the Australasia Cup in 1986.

Then in the three-Test series against England, Qadir captured 30 wickets which was the fourth best performance in Test history then for a three-Test Series. He also scored a career-best 161 then in the Third Test against England at Karachi.

Then came the tour of England in 1987 and Abdul Qadir ripped through the English batting line-up in the final Test at the Oval by capturing 10 wickets for 211 in the match.

In 51 Tests for Pakistan, Qadir has scored 861 runs at an overage of 15.81 with a highest score of 61 against England at Karachi in 1987. He has captured 191 wickets at an average of 31.12 with best figures of 9 for 56 against England in 1987.

In 62 One-Day Internationals matches he has scored 430 runs with a highest score of 41 not out against New Zealand at Birmingham in 1983. He had taken 97 wickets then at an average of 21.55 with best figures of 5 for 44 against Sri Lanka at Leeds in 1983.