Abdul Qadir

Name : Abdul Qadir Khan
Born : 15-9-1955, Lahore
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Legbreak googly

Profile

Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer whose main role was as a leg spin bowler.Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board, from which post he resigned because of differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket. Qadir appeared in 67 Test 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 series was 30 wickets for 437 runs, against England in 1987. His best bowling figures for an innings were nine wickets for 56 against the same team at the Gaddafi Stadium. 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 Pakistani team in 1983 and 1987 Cricket World Cups. Yahoo! Cricket described 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 imaginary cricket team from the best players available from all countries and eras. Former English captain Graham Gooch said that "Qadir was even finer than Shane Warne".

Captaincy

Qadir was not successful as a captain. He captained the Pakistan cricket team in five Test matches during 1987–88 and 1988–89, losing four of them.He captained Pakistan for the first time against England, in absence of regular captain, Javed Miandad.The three matches he captained in, against the same team, were lost by Pakistan. In ODI matches, Qadir captained Pakistan against Bangladesh and India in the fourth and fifth match of the 1988 Asia Cup respectively; Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 173 runs, and lost to India by four wickets.

As chief selector

Abdul Qadir replaced Saleem Jaffar, former Pakistan fast bowler, as chief selector in November 2008 for the series against India.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.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.The series was abandoned following an attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore during the second Test between the teams.Qadir resigned from the post in June 2009 without explaining any concern.

Personal life

Qadir was born on 15 September 1955 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.His brother, Ali Bahadur, was also a leg-spinner who appeared in 10 first class matches during 1986–87.Qadir's three sons—Rehman Qadir, Imran Qadir and Sulaman Qadir—also represented different Pakistani teams in the first class competition,while his younger son, Usman Qadir, has played in 12 List A matches.