Abdul Qadir

Blessed with the temperament and blaze of a quicker bowler, Abdul Qadir was one of the finest wrist-spinners to have ever played the game. At a time when there were not too many practitioners of leg spin bowling, the credit for keeping the art of wrist-spin alive through the late 70’s and 80’s must go to Qadir. Unlike other leg spinners, Qadir had a distinct style and this won him numerous fans. It is very difficult to comprehend if there has ever been a better display of wrist-spin than Qadir’s spell against England at Lahore in 1987-88. He flummoxed the English and finished with 9-56. Another legend, Graham Gooch expressed that Qadir was even finer than Shane Warne, who after Qadir, took over the mantle of keeping the art of leg spin alive.

When Abdul Qadir bowled his way into the side, Imran Khan’s all-round performances made headlines regularly. He considers himself lucky to have played alongside the legendary all rounder and thinks he did a good job to finish with more than 200 wickets, despite his times being dominated by quicks. “I was lucky to come through that era. I can proudly say that I was one of the few spinners who claimed more than 200 wickets in that era.”

Qadir attributes his success to the almighty and says, “There is only one God. Everyone can ask for what they want, but they have to work hard towards attaining that goal.”

Expressing happiness at seeing two leg spinners in the three most successful bowlers in Test cricket, Qadir said, “I am very happy that bowlers like Mushtaq Ahmed, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble have revived the art of leg spin which almost seemed dead.” Qadir feels the art of spin bowling is so deep that if a bowler practices day in and day out, he will still have something new to learn everyday. “Youngsters today are learning spin bowling in a very limited manner. They do not work enough on the flippers, and the short-pitched deliveries, which can be very useful in one-day cricket.”

Qadir played in 67 Tests for Pakistan and took 236 wickets in the process. These include 15 five wickets hauls and 5 ten-wicket matches – that’s a true reflection of the wicket-taking abilities of the pathan from Punjab. He also appeared in 104 One Day Internationals and grabbed a total of 132 wickets in the shorter version of the game.

The legendary spinner strongly feels that the slow bowlers have an important role to play in the twenty-over format of the game. Offering a few tips to budding spinners, Qadir said, “To be considered a good spinner, one must know where a particular batsman likes to score and device variations to fox the batsman.”

Reflecting back on his playing days, Qadir said he personally liked bowling to attacking batsmen. “Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Viv Richards brought out the best in me. They were amazing strikers of the ball and that made it all the more challenging.”

Qadir had the eye for spotting young prodigies who would go on to make it big in international cricket; Sachin Tendulkar is most illustrious name among the many young cricketers who caught Qadir’s eye very early in their career. “When Sachin had driven deliveries from Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, I knew this player would be a great one day. He had a spark in him.”

For a man who achieved a lot more than he anticipated when he began, Qadir’s modesty is overwhelming. The man who gave a new lease of life to the art of leg-spin, he easily ranks as one of the greatest cricketers that Pakistan has ever produced.