He was named "Man with the Golden Arm". A leg break and Googly bowler the handsome man from Lahore - then the Capital of Cricket in Pakistan and during British India, he didn't exactly crashed into limelight after his Test debut in the mid 1970s. His name was Abdul Qadir.
Somehow inconsistent in his performance, he was far from a regular in the Pakistani team. It was a perpetual struggle for him to keep his place as a bowler in a highly talented Pakistani cricket team where the fast bowling duo Imran Khan and mercurial Sarfraz Nawaz ruled the roost.
Time and again he was in and out of the Pakistani squad. But the foresighted Imran Khan stuck to him in his team when the later became the Captain. Many then accused Imran of nepotism, pandering to the Lahore lobby (same accusation faced by Bombay lobby here) as he realized Abdul Qadir's potential.
The spinner never belied his Captain. He continued to mature and delivered at the right time, especially from the 1982 tour of England when he along with Imran Khan guided their team to some memorable victories.
Abdul Qadir did well in 1983 World Cup in England too where Kapil's Devils unexpectedly won the Cup. His 5 wickets in a crucial win against the Lankans helped Pakistan to enter into the semifinals only to lose to the favorite West Indies. Later on the night of the historic win at Lord's Abdul Qadir was one of the two Pakistani cricketers to join the Indian team in their night long celebration. The other player was Mudassar Nazar.
By this time Qadir was already acclaimed in the international cricket circuit, enough to get an offer to play county cricket. He famously said - "My art is not for sale", afraid of getting exposed in English County cricket. He sure mastered the art of Leg spin and Googly, giving a lot of batsmen, especially from England and Australia trouble reading him (Indians are good readers of spin). He was aptly nicknamed - The Man with the Golden Arm.
He would bowl with an unusual twist to his arm and could l take a maiden in the 49th over in an One Day International. In a crucial game against England in the 1987 World Cup he was instrumental in Pakistan's win by restricting the Pommies who were unable to hit him during the slog overs as he mesmerized them with his spin & surprise googlies.
Qadir had his contribution in batting too. In the same world cup he hit Courtesy Walsh for a six in the last over to seal the feat of the Windies. It was West Indies 's last shot at the 50 overs format of the game. It has never recovered till date to get anywhere close to winning the Cup.
Abdul Qadir was also instrumental in inadvertently bringing Sachin Tendulkar into limelight. Challenged by him, the rookie 15 year old boy Hit 4 consecutive sixes off the Connoisseur leg spinner in a limited overs match, stunning a highly partisan Pakistani crowd. A star was born that day. Qadir didn't have to wait until the night to announce the arrival of the star. The same evening he predicted that Sachin is going to be a great Batsman for years to come. He wasn't far from the truth
63 years is too young to go, especially for sportsmen. But life ain't fair and sport. RIP Abdul Qadir.
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