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Pakistan’s PM remembers leg-spinner Qadir as ‘genius’
ISLAMABAD, Sept 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan
on Saturday remembered former spinner Abdul Qadir as a “genius” a day after
the legendary cricketer died of a heart attack.
Cricket hero-turned-politician Khan and Qadir had a long and eventful
association as team-mates.
Qadir, who would have turned 64 on September 15, was a favourite of the
former captain.
“Abdul Qadir was a genius, one of the greatest leg spinners of all time,”
Khan tweeted, as fans all over Pakistan mourned the player’s death.
“And he was also the life of the dressing room entertaining the team with
his wit & humour”.
Qadir made his Test debut against England in Lahore in 1977 and went on to
play 67 Tests, taking 236 wickets with a best of 9-56 against the same side
in 1987.
Those figures are still the best by a Pakistan bowler in a Test innings.
He also took 132 wickets in 104 one-day internationals, with Imran using
him as an attacking weapon in the 1983 World Cup held in England.
“Qadir’s bowling statistics do not do justice to his genius,” said Khan.
“Had he been playing cricket now with the modern DRS system, where batsmen
can be given out on the front foot as well, Qadir would have gotten as many
wickets as the great Shane Warne”.
Legendary Australian leg-spinner Warne — the second-highest Test wicket-
taker with 708 (only behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800) — was
also a big fan of Qadir.
Qadir’s unique dancing action was as attractive as it was destructive,
spinning the ball prodigiously, and he had a lethal googly and a flipper.
He played the last of his international matches in 1993 before also serving
as chief selector of Pakistan.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1311 hrs