When the flame of leg-spin all but flickered out, Abdul Qadir, the Pakistani magician, rekindled the fire
Before Shane Warne reinvigorated it, leg-spin had almost nothing going for it. Almost, because it did have Abdul Qadir. And the gifted Pakistani, who sadly passed this week, had talent enough on his own.
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Quirky leg-spinners are everywhere in world cricket these days but there was a time when the entire future of the craft settled on the shoulders of a gifted, tortured, mysterious little man from Lahore.
His name was Abdul Qadir and he died on Friday, aged 63, from a cardiac arrest.
In the years before Shane Warne reinvigorated the trade, leg-spin had next to nothing or no-one going for it - but it had Qadir and that was enough.
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Such was his sense of showmanship that his whirling, twirling action was designed to create a magical aura and, at the urging of his captain Imran Khan, he once even grew a beard to enhance this vibe.
Even his signature was special. His hand would flash across the page with a series of twirls and curls - if there’s such a thing as a leg-spinner’s signature, he had it.
Qadir’s bouncy action, his vicious wrong ‘un, his child like enthusiasm for his craft saw him take 236 wickets at 32 from 67 Tests for Pakistan including four 10 wicket match hauls (featuring a bag of 9-56) against his favourite opponent, England.
Qadir’s greatness lived long. He struggled in Tests in Australia a but in 1998 at age 44 he spent a year playing club cricket in Melbourne with Carlton and won the Ryder Medal with a staggeringly successful 72 wickets at 15 apiece.
That season brought some comical scenes such as the sight of grade batsmen failing to pick his spitting wrong un and being smacked under the arm pit by it as they tried to let it go.
But, like many gifted performers, his artistic temperament was both a bonus and a burden.
A master of his craft yet full of insecurities, he once pulled out of a tour of New Zealand because he felt his wife was being possessed by the devil.
When out of form he fretted and his eyebrows would arch to reveal his inner anguish.
Once against Queensland at the Gabba he clashed with captain Imran who pointed him to the dressing room.
Quizzed later, Imran said: “I deny rumours I sent him to the dressing room … I sent him home to Pakistan. He’s flying home tonight. I’ve had enough of him.’’
Shane Warne thought so much of Qadir that he arranged a special meeting with him at his house in Lahore with Australian journalist Patrick Keane, where Warne and Qadir bowled miniature deliveries to each other as they sat on the floor of Qadir’s home, a rare time when the term magic carpet was actually that.
If there is one thing leg-spinners love it’s other leggies. Several years into retirement former Australian leggie Trevor Hohns made a special trip to the Gabba to stand behind the bowlers arm simply to watch Qadir in action.
Of the many things I loved about this quirky genius was simply his signature. His hand would flash across the page with twirls and curls. If there’s a thing called a legspinners signature he had it. Abdul Q baby. Unforgettable. pic.twitter.com/dgjcHA7fcK
— Robert Craddock (@craddock_cmail) September 6, 2019
A sad day for wrist spinners....one of our flag bearers Abdul Qadir has died...supreme talent ...missed his work ?...Google *Genius* Abdul Qadir-The Legend- A Compilation Of His Best Bowling...hypnotic ! RIP
— Kerry O'Keeffe (@kokeeffe49) September 6, 2019
Qadir was well aware of the fact that he was the man leg-spin needed to succeed.
In an interview in Australia in the 1990s as journalists were walking away he said “people should keep their fingers crossed for me.’’
And they did, too.
Other leg-spinners like Warne and Anil Kumble have long left Qadir’s wicket tally in the shade but those who saw him will never forget him and will always appreciate the way that when the flame of leg-spin had all but flickered out, he rekindled the fire.
Originally published as When the flame of leg-spin all but flickered out, Abdul Qadir, the Pakistani magician, rekindled the fire