Late 1970's and 1980's was an era of pace bowling in cricket. Australia had no great leg-spinner, India were also more reliant on Kapil Dev than others, England were dependant on Bob Willis and Ian Botham and West Indies, well, spin bowling seemed a forbidden art in that region.
The man who swam against the tide and kept the flag of spin bowling flying high in the high noon of fast bowling was Pakistan's legendary leg-break bowler Abdul Qadir. Known for his highly-animated action and a deadly googly, the former Pakistani Test cricketer breathed his last on September 6 in Lahore after suffering a cardiac arrest at the age of 67.
Qadir played 67 Tests and 104 ODIs. He grabbed 236 wickets in the longest format as well as 132 in the shorter. In the era of West Indian domination, he caused great trouble to the Caribbean side and almost bowled his team to a series victory over Vivian Richards-team in their own backyard in 1987.
While he was one of the finest leg-spinners of all time, many people have surmised that when it comes to bowling a googly, there was no one better than him. YouTube is full of his videos and his wrong ones turned more than what any other leggie managed.
No wonder than that the entire cricket world is paying tributes to this magician. From the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, under whose captaincy Qadir played, to Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, who faced him as a 16-year old on his maiden tour, all have fondly remembered the leggie and hailed him as one of the best.
Here are the reactions from some of the most prominent personalities in cricket:
