Abdul Qadir (cricketer)

Abdul Qadir Khan SI (}}, 15 September 1955 – 6 September 2019) was an international cricketer who bowled leg spin for Pakistan. Abdul Qadir is widely regarded as a legendary leg spinner from the 1970s and 1980s and was a role model for up and coming leg spinners. Qadir was voted the best player in the Group B matches of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and won a car which he donated to Imran Khan for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre project. Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board, from which he resigned in 2009 due to differences of opinion with leading Pakistan cricket administrators.

Abdul Qadir 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. In November 2022, Abdul Qadir was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

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." 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".

He was educated at the Government College University, Lahore. Provided by Wikipedia