RIP Abdul Qadir

[Richard Pryor]

The great Pakistani leggie Abdul Qadir has passed away. Perhaps the only exception to the 'legspin was dead until Warne' narrative.

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir passed away in Lahore on Friday due to cardiac arrest.

"We were taking our father [Abdul Qadir] to the hospital but he died before we could reach there," said, son, Salman Qadir.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also offered their condolences, upon hearing the news.

"PCB is shocked at the news of 'maestro' Abdul Qadir's passing and has offered its deepest condolences to his family and friends," the board said in a statement on its official social media platforms.

Qadir represented Pakistan in 67 Tests and 104 One-day Internationals (ODIs) matches from 1977 to 1993.

He claimed 236 wickets in the five-day format while 132 in the limited-overs matches.

He made his Test debut against England in Lahore in 1977. While his ODI debut came against New Zealand in 1983 in Birmingham.

Qadir kept the art of wrist-spin alive in 1970s and '80s with his quality bowling and temperament.

Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Qadir passes away

Leg-spinner played ODI and Test cricket for Pakistan

cricketpakistan.com.pk

 

[Van_Dyke]

RIP, 63 is too young. The game has an awful lot to thank him for, particularly keeping legspin alive during the 80s.

 

[Gough]

That's horrible news. I was a pre Warne leggie too and he was the king.

 

[Andrew Birch]

His wrong'un was the best that I can remember. Mimicking his unusual angled approach and bowling technique was very popular in 80's street cricket. Vale.

 

[SportsCentre]

His bowling action was an action you just loved to over-exaggerate in the backyard as a kid.
As a 7-8yr old kid, I remember after reading / seeing his name on scorecards amd finally hearing how it were pronounced, that it were nothing like what I'd been calling him

 

[Plugger35]

Before Warne he was the no.1 leg spinner, in fact he was pretty much the only leg spinner I can remember playing international cricket in the 80s.

When you think of great Pakistani cricketers from the 80s he would be one of the first that comes to mind along with Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.

A true legend of the game.

 

[Andrew Birch]

His bowling action was an action you just loved to over-exaggerate in the backyard as a kid.
As a 7-8yr old kid, I remember after reading / seeing his name on scorecards amd finally hearing how it were pronounced, that it were nothing like what I'd been calling him

Car-Dar?

 

[Korn]

The first leg spinner I have ever seen, first heard of the "wrong un" was from this guy.
Was fascinated by his run up when I was a kid, his bowling was actually pretty fast for a spinner.

This guy is a legend, RIP.

 

[DEVO]

Very sad to hear, a great bowler in an excellent Pakistani team.

RIP

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

His wrong'un was the best that I can remember. Mimicking his unusual angled approach and bowling technique was very popular in 80's street cricket. Vale.

I vaguely remember him playing some celebrity game in the 90s

Was bowling to Dermott Brereton who was miked up and talking to the commentators.

Brereton went to cut one... wrong 'un that hit him in the box. "Well picked, Derm!"

 

[The Casey Cat]

Awful news. Way too young. Terrific bowler. Took 72 wickets at under 16 for Carlton in the late 90s. Stronger comp then too. Freak.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Awful news. Way too young. Terrific bowler. Took 72 wickets at under 16 for Carlton in the late 90s. Stronger comp then too. Freak.

Good article about that club stint here:

Abbamania

Twelve years ago, Abdul Qadir, still good enough to turn out for Pakistan, spent a summer playing club cricket in Melbourne. The few who saw him remember it like it was yesterday

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

 

[Monocle]

The first leg spinner I have ever seen, first heard of the "wrong un" was from this guy.
Was fascinated by his run up when I was a kid, his bowling was actually pretty fast for a spinner.

This guy is a legend, RIP.

Agree ...............he was a treat to watch, he was a true master of his craft.

One of the very few Pakistan cricketers I liked as a kid.

Make NO mistake he was one of the Greatest Pakistan Cricketers EVER.

He was as mesmerising to watch as Warne in full flight as he had opposition batsmen befuddled and totally lost, he was a game turner and a match winner.

RIP Abdul Qadir ............... Cricketing Legend.

 

[Park cricketer]

Wasn't old enough to have watched him but I've heard he was one if the lone attacks for Pakistan as far as spin is concerned in overseas countries. One of Pakistan's and world's greatest spinners.

RIP Abdul Qadir.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Earliest footage I could find of him bowling, is against England in 1982. He had played against England at home in 1978/79, against India away in 1979, and home against the West Indies before this, but could not find anything from these series (except for Imran Khan scoring a ton in the 1980 Windies series).



No footage that I could find from his next series against Aus at home, but Imran Khan talks with Richie Benaud about Qadir at the start of this video, speaks about how he insisted that Qadir tour England (footage above) and he was criticized because he didn't take many wickets, but Khan thought he bowled well and backed him to play the home series against Aus and that series cemented him in the side:

 

[Richard Pryor]

In the 1982-83 series Qadir played home against India. Here is Qadir batting in the first Test in Karachi, bowled by a ripper from Kapil Dev:


Haven't had a chance to watch them yet for timestamps of Qadir, but here are some cool full highlights of the Karachi Test which feature more positive footage of Qadir, He took 4 for 67 and 2 for 75:



Took just 11 wickets in 5 Tests in the series at an average of 47.81, but with Imran Khan taking 40 wickets at 13.95 in the series it didn't matter a whole lot. Three out of six games were draws so I'm guessing he was bowling on some flat pitches as well.

In the 1983 season Abdul Qadir made his ODI debut in the World Cup. He had a good world cup, taking twelve wickets at 22 and ER of 3.9, with a five-for against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately the only footage I could find on yt was of the Semi Final against West Indies where Pakistan was drubbed, with Qadir taking one of their only two wickets in the game:


For 1983-84 season could only find Test footage from the Fifth Test of the series in Australia.

Here he is as night watchman for Pak in the first innings:


Did not bowl well going for a ton without a wicket in the only innings where he bowled. Had a tough series overall as many visiting spinners since, taking twelve at an average of 61. He fared much better in his next series that season which was at home vs England, where he took 19 wickets at 23.73, with 3 5-fors and a 10-for.

He also did well in the B&H World Series ODI's in Aus for 83-84, taking 15 at 18.13. Here is the seventh match where Qadir took 3 for 27 in a Pak loss:


Took his second and final ODI five-for in this series against Aus (posted in OP).