Abdul Qadir | Getty
Pakistan’s ace leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, who made leg-spin an art again in the 70s and 80s, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan after suffering from a massive heart attack on September 6. His family confirmed the tragedy and he is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter, who is married to Umar Akmal.Umar’s brother Kamran Akmal confirmed that the former Pakistani bowler suffered a cardiac arrest and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Qadir, who played in 67 Tests and 104 ODIs had a total 368 wickets in his international career, would have celebrated his 64th birthday on 15th September.
Qadir is known as the mentor of Pakistani leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and for giving guidance to Australia’s Shane Warne as well. He was also the selector of the ICC World T20 2009 winning Pakistani team. He enjoyed support from Pakistan’s greatest captain Imran Khan and had some of his memorable performances under him. Qadir’s son Usman, also a leg-spinner, recently played in Big Bash League and wants to qualify to play for Australia.
He is also remembered as the bowler to whom Sachin Tendulkar hit four sixes in an over in an exhibition match in Pakistan on his first tour to Pakistan in 1989 as a 16-year-old. Many Indian cricketers of yesteryears shared a great rapport with Qadir and many of them took to Twitter and paid homage to the great bowler.
Here are some tweets:
