Legendary Pakistan leg spinner Abdul Qadir breathed his last in Lahore on Friday after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. The same has been confirmed by medical reports and his family members.
Qadir was 63 years old and leaves behind his wife, four sons and a daughter. Notably, Qadir’s daughter has been married to Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal.
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Wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, Umar’s elder brother confirmed the news of Qadir’s death. He stated that after being rushed to the hospital, he was declared dead on arrival.
The leg spinner enjoyed an illustrious career with the Pakistan Cricket team. He went on to feature in 67 Test matches and 104 ODIs and amassed a total of 368 wickets in his international career. Qadir would have turned 64 on 15th September.
“It is a great loss to Pakistan cricket because it was Qadir bhai’s leg-spin magic and artistry that inspired a generation of young leg-spin bowlers in Pakistan and around the cricket world,” former Pakistan leg-break bowler Danish Kaneria said.
Qadir, who was quite vocal about the policies of the Pakistan Cricket board which he did not like, worked as a chief selector way back in 2009. It was the squad which was selected by him as the selector which went on to win the ICC World T20 in England.
He was known to be a fun-loving person and was one of the most important weapons for the former captain and present Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. In fact, Qadir produced some of his most memorable performances under the captaincy of Imran Khan. In one such test match, Qadir picked up 9 wickets for just 56 runs against West Indies at Faisalabad.
Cricket experts, critics, writers and commentators alike believe that Qadir’s biggest achievement was how he became successful as a wrist spinner in an era which was dominated by fast bowlers.
