Off Spinner In Pakistan

[Christian Swindler]

AbdulQadir appeared in 67 Tests and 104 One Day International (ODI) matches between 1977 and 1993, and captained the Pakistan cricket team in five ODIs. In Test cricket, his best performance for a series was 30 wickets for 437 runs, in three Test matches at home, against England in 1987. He achieved Pakistan's best bowling figures in a Test innings, which was nine wickets for 56 against the same team at the Gaddafi Stadium in the same series in 1987.[7] In November 2022, Abdul Qadir was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.[8]

In ODIs, his best bowling figures were five wickets for 44 runs against Sri Lanka during the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He was a member of the Pakistani team in the 1983 and 1987 Cricket World Cups. Yahoo! Cricket described Abdul Qadir as "a master of the leg-spin" who "mastered the googlies, the flippers, the leg-breaks and the topspins."[9] He is widely regarded as a top spin bowler of his generation and was included in Richie Benaud's Greatest XI shortlist of an imaginary cricket team from the best players available from all countries and eras. Former English captain Graham Gooch said that Abdul Qadir "was even finer than Shane Warne".[3]

Abdul Qadir played 209 first-class matches and took 960 wickets with an average of 23.24. His best bowling figures for an innings were nine wickets for 56 runs, whereas his best performance for a match was 13 wickets for 101 runs. As a batsman, he scored 3,740 runs, averaging 18.33 from 247 innings. He also scored two centuries and eight fifties. Abdul Qadir's highest score in the format was 112 runs. Qadir played his last first-class match in 1994.[3]

Abdul Qadir showed promise from his very first Test series, bowling along with left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim, with Wisden Almanack describing him as "the most notable discovery of his type for some time."[15][16] He made his Test debut against England at his home ground, Gaddafi Stadium, on 14 December 1977. His leg-breaks and googlies both caused problems for the English batsmen, but he was only able to take one wicket and his length began to falter late in the innings, forcing Pakistan to take the new ball and bowl their fast bowlers instead.[17][18] He was far more successful in the second Test match. He took 6 wickets for 44 runs in 24 overs, bowling around the wicket into the footmarks of English fast bowler Bob Willis, giving him the best bowling figures for a Pakistan bowler against England.[16][19] After taking five wickets in the third and final Test match,[20][21] he finished as the leading wicket-taker for the series with 12 wickets at an average of 25.41.[22]

Abdul Qadir's second Test series, in England in 1978, was an injury-plagued let-down, but he was a strong and established force by his return in 1982, when his six wickets in the Lord's Test played a major role in a historic Pakistani victory.[23] He took ten wickets in the series with an average of 40.60.[24]

Abdul Qadir replaced Saleem Jaffar, former Pakistan fast bowler, as chief selector in November 2008 for the series against India.[61] A series of three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan; the series could not take place due to the deterioration of both countries' diplomatic relationship after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[62] His next assignment was team selection for the home series against Sri Lanka; the tour was arranged as a replacement for the scheduled tour of India which was cancelled by BCCI.[63][64] The series was abandoned following an attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore during the second Test between the teams.[65] Abdul Qadir resigned from the post in June 2009 without explaining any concern.[66]

Talking with Hasan Jalil at Pakistan Television (PTV) show in 2004, Abdul Qadir said: "We all know the ball has always been made up [tampered with] by Pakistani fast bowlers, but with so much scrutiny on this series, this has not been possible."[67] PTV cancelled his contract stating that "We are a national network and we have certain codes of conduct on what can and cannot be said on air. By talking about ball-tampering and claiming that every successful Pakistani bowler had 'made' the ball, he was damaging national pride, and that is against our policy. So we dropped him."[68]

On 7 September 2019, Abdul Qadir died of cardiac arrest in Lahore.[75][76] Qadir died nine days before his 64th birthday.[77] The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) paid tributes to Abdul Qadir with their chairman, Ehsan Mani, calling him a "maestro with the ball". Wasim Khan, the PCB's Chief Executive added: "Abdul Qadir was one of the all-time greatest. His friendly and warm presence will forever be missed".[78]

Shane Warne said: "It's very sad news, so condolences to Abdul Qadir's family. I had the opportunity to meet him in 1994 on my first tour to Pakistan. I think a lot of people who bowled leg-spin, like I did, he was the guy who we looked up to in the eighties. He was the main leg-spinner in that era. He was a terrific bowler who bamboozled a lot of batsmen. His record is a terrific one."[79]

Quetta Gladiators mystery spinner Usman Tariq caught all the limelight during his side's Pakistan Super League (PSL) match against the Karchi Kings recently. Tariq, a mystery spinner, struck twice in an over, leaving the batters, fans, and even Gladiators mentor Sir Vivian Richards in disbelief. Tariq, who would pause during his action before delivering the ball, removed Tim Seifert and James Vince in the first and last ball of the seventh over of Karachi's innings. Tariq trapped both Seifert and Vince LBW with his bizarre action, which was deemed illegal by fans on social media.

"He (Taqir) has a carrom ball and on top of that, he is accurate. The spin is so subtle that it is just enough to beat the bat. For the right-handers, he is difficult to face," Misbah said on A Sports.

"If you play him like an off-spinner where the ball comes back in which we have tried and seen but all the batters make the same mistake when we think he is delivering the carrom ball. We try to play him in-line we plant our foot to play but him that subtle turn will get to you LBW or bowled. When you are facing your first or second ball as a batter in your innings even if you pick it you will make a mistake some way or the other," he further explained.

Speaking on Tariq's challenges, Misbah suggested: "In PSL there are international players who have played a lot of world-class spinners which will be a challenge to him also they would do a video analysis on him"

Comments Topics mentioned in this article Quetta Gladiators Karachi Kings James Vince Tim Seifert Pakistan Super League Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards Cricket Get the Latest India tour of Sri Lanka, 2024 Updates, check out Paris Olympics 2024 News, Schedule and Results at NDTV Sports. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS. Related Articles Schedule Of PSL 2025 To Clash With IPL's. Here's The Reason Behind PCB's Move Pakistan Star's Controversial Gesture After PSL 2024 Final Smoking Video Goes Viral - Watch Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United Highlights, PSL Final: Islamabad United Clinch PSL Title Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United Live Streaming, Pakistan Super League Final Live Telecast: Where To Watch Live Video: Epic Drama As Journalists Walk Out Of Press Conference Ahead Of PSL Final HS_Array.functionArray.push(function () window._pricee = window._pricee ); Advertisement

India and Pakistan, cricket's fiercest and most lucrative contest, is set to be played in New York in what will be the marquee fixture of next year's T20 World Cup partially held in the U.S. for the first time.

It has long been anticipated that the match-up between the foes, who don't play bilateral matches against each other due to political tension, would be played in New York as cricket attempts to seriously make inroads into the congested American sports market.

The Guardian recently reported that the fixtures of June's T20 World Cup had been finalized and are expected to be released soon. It is little surprise that the marquee clash between India-Pakistan has been earmarked to be played in the most famous city of America.

New York has been at the heart of cricket's grandiose ambitions for some time. Australia's former long-time cricket boss James Sutherland once had a rather audacious idea for the T20 World Cup to be held at Central Park.

While Sutherland's plan was widely mocked six years ago, given the parlous state of internal American cricket politicking and the sport's wider irrelevancy in the U.S, there has been a lot of effort put into building a foundation and concentrating on the country's burgeoning cricket-mad South Asian communities.

Launched in July, the professional T20 tournament lured many top players in the world and was deemed a financial success. Just a few months after the MLC's first edition, cricket was included in the Los Angeles 2028 Games to end the sport's over 100-year absence at the Olympics.

To continue cricket's momentum in the U.S. - a country deemed a target market by the sport's power brokers and a tag that has often riled up smaller cricket nations - next year's T20 World Cup will be played there in a support act to main host the West Indies.

The U.S. landing the event initially came as a surprise with then USA Cricket bosses Paraag Marathe and Iain Higgins telling me in 2020 that the hope was for America to host the tournament in 2026 or 2030.

But with momentum finally growing in cricket's coveted locale, the T20 World Cup in 2024 - the first major tournament played in the new four-year cycle of events - was granted to the U.S. but the short timeframe has led to logistical issues.

Oval-shaped cricket grounds have different dimensions to baseball and boast complexities with its surfaces that require specifically built infrastructure. Grand Prairie in Dallas staged the bulk of the MLC and will host T20 World Cup matches and so too Broward County in Florida which has been the site of many international fixtures over the years.

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