Abdul Qadir

Abdul Qadir Biography

Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani Cricketer who was born on September 15, 1955 in Lahore, Punjab. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-handed leg spin bowler.

He usually played as a bowler but contributed with the bat as well whenever the need would arise. He is said to have revived the Leg Spin in cricket.

Background

Abdul Qadir started playing first class cricket for Habib Bank Limited. He made his debut in the 1975-76 season, getting a five-wicket haul in his debut match.

He also played for Lahore and has a number of wickets for his home team. His continued streak of annoying the batsmen brought him to the national team very soon.

Debut

Qadir made his debut in Test cricket in December 1977 against England and took one wicket. The match was drawn but Qadir was retained for the next match.

He made his mark in the next match, where he dismissed six English batsmen in the first innings itself. The match was drawn again but he made England his favorite target thereafter.

His ODI debut came against New Zealand in the 1983 Prudential World Cup in England. He picked up four wickets in Pakistan’s loss.

Rise to Glory

In the Benson and Hedges World Series of 1984, he took 15 wickets in five matches, including a five-wicket haul against Australia. In 1986, he was at the top, taking a minimum of three wickets in every match and keeping the average below 20.

In Test Cricket, he spared no team. His favorite being England, against whom he has taken eight out of fifteen five wicket hauls and four out of the five ten wicket hauls.

Both the British and West Indies batsmen went clueless against him in the 1980s. His career best of 9/56 in Lahore came against England and it remains the best performance by a Pakistani bowler till date.

Low Points

Abdul Qadir might have annoyed the batsmen from all over the world but even when he was at his peak, he struggled to bowl to Indian cricketers. Sachin Tendulkar, a youngster at that time, hit four sixes to him in a warm up match and the seniors like Kapil Dev hit him harder.

The Indians had rendered him to a wicketless bowler against them in 1980s and he was dropped from the team. Later on, seeing Mushtaq Ahmed taking the lead, he decided to give in.

Captaincy

Although Qadir was a spectacular bowler, he never became a successful captain. He could only lead his team to victory against Bangladesh, a then newbie in cricket.

Retirement

Abdul Qadir retired from cricket in November 1993 and opened a Cricket Academy in Punjab. He mentored the future players such as Danish Kaneria who became good leg spinners in the future.

He also served as the Chief Selector for Pakistan Cricket Board in 2008. However, owing to differences with the board, he resigned.