Death silences an individual forever, while the living find their voice speaking of his deeds. Abdul Qadir’s sudden demise at the relatively young age of 63 flooded the mind with memories of a past when bowling meant the fast and furious pacers from the West Indies.
The seventies and eighties are remembered for the frightening dominance of the Caribbeans, who stacked their team with menacing pacemen, much like a scholar would his shelf with academic masterpieces. Qadir bowled in an era which was completely overshadowed by the batting exploits of the Clive Lloyds and Viv Richards of this world and the chilling spells from Marshall, Roberts, Holding and the rest.
It was a time when the rest of the world and its cricket teams were meant to play second fiddle to the West Indian dominance with the helplessness of a child who is too weak and fragile to retaliate.
It was during this time that world cricket was introduced to the unorthodox bowling action of a Pakistani, who could tie batsmen in knots and plot their doom. Qadir would run into bowl with bodily twists and turns that became an imitator’s delight and a batsman’s nightmare.
He was no ordinary leg-spinner, using a craft that was rare for his time and many believed a dying art. It was not the time like today when almost every team has one, if not two, leg-spinners bowling for them.
It won’t be misplaced to say that Qadir revived an almost dying patient gasping for breath. His control and the variety of deliveries he could produce with control and guile made Pakistan formidable opponents who challenged the supremacy of the invincible West Indians.
Imran Khan, the supreme and inspirational leader that he was, made Qadir come out of his shell and created the right conditions for him to prosper. He was the inventor of many innovative deliveries, none more than his googlies that he could bowl in two different ways, to make them his most lethal weapon.
Qadir, the match-winner against teams like England and the West Indies, somehow could never make much impact against the Indians. Led by the masterly Sunil Gavaskar, India were left untroubled by Qadir’s skills, though he was never taken lightly by them. He may not have made much of an impression on Indian batsmen, but he sure had a huge fan following in this country and influenced a generation here and elsewhere that was to produce a Shane Warne and an Anil Kumble later.
Despite his lack of success against India, he still was the bowler who needed to be mastered. When the young Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in Pakistan, the challenge was not just the fast bowling strength of the rivals, headed by Imran and supported by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
Pakistan may have been impressed but had reserved their judgment till Tendulkar smashed Qadir for three sixes in one over in a one-day game at Peshawar, that was shortened by rain.
Qadir was to say later: “That was a time when I was at my best and even the best batsmen had second thoughts coming out to hit me. It was amazing. I knew instantly this was someone special.” Qadir was special: A trend-setter who put life into the dying art of a complex craft that’s throbbing with life today.