Sports have produced many talents who have proved their skills on and off the field and have been an inspiration for many young generations to come. Loss of these stalwarts seems grave and huge impact was created across borders for their sheer contributions. Abdul Qadir was such a man who gave the Pakistan Cricket a cunning spell to guide them through tough positions on the field on countless occasions.
Abdul Qadir born on 15th September, 1955, was one of the few leg-spinners who introduced a lethal spin attack that have been a relief for Imran Khan led Pakistan. Though he was never successful with his captaincy, his bowling was an important part of a successful team. In 67 Test matches played by him, he picked up 236 wickets, which consist of fifteen 5-wicket-hauls. Qadir’s best performance remains for a series where he scalped 30 wickets for 437 runs, in three Test matches on home soil, against England in 1987.
In his time, he was considered to be the most valuable for the team, with his mastered googlies, flippers, leg-breaks and top spins. He has been part of the Pakistani squad that reached the semi-finals in both 1983 and 1987 World Cups. Qadir played his last First Class match in 1994 but continued his contribution as a Chief Selector for Pakistani side in 2008 though he resigned in the following year without any proper clarification.
Remember playing against Abdul Qadir, one of the best spinners of his times. My heartfelt condolences to his family. RIP. pic.twitter.com/iu03d45sJ0
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) 7 September 2019
On 6th September, 2019, Abdul Qadir suffered a cardiac arrest resulting in his death. Death invokes a lot of emotion, and so does sports, as the entire cricket fraternity was deeply saddened by his sudden demise. Imran Khan, reportedly stated that, ‘I have lost a good friend’. Pakistan’s cricket players, like Wasim Akram, Mohammed Amir, also paid their respect. Across the border, Sachin Tendulkar, who Qadir had once predicted to be one of the greatest batsman, also posted on his Twitter handle, along with others like Ravichandran Ashwin. Qadir’s contributions can never be forgotten, when he departs, but on the contrary, it will help players across border to try and improve the game that has given us so much.
