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Abdul Qadir, Sir Viv Richards world’s best, says Imran Khan

Abdul

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cricket great Imran Khan termed his compatriot Abdul Qadir and Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies the best leg-spinner and batsman in the world, respectively.

Speaking at a business summit here on Friday, former Test captain Imran said if Qadir had played modern cricket, he could have easily taken more wickets than Australia’s great leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Qadir played 67 Tests from 1977 to 1990 and captured 236 wickets whereas Warne took 708 wickets in 145 Tests in his career spanning 1992-2007.

Imran added it was a Herculean task to get batsmen out leg-before by a spinner in olden days.

“Qadir, during his time, had to force batsmen to play on the back foot in order to trap them leg-before, but in today’s cricket, a batsman can be given out lbw even if he plays on the front foot,” he said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who was speaking at a session which was moderated by contributing editor of The Economist John Andrews, said Richards was his favourite batsman.

“Richards was a God-gifted player. He was brave, courageous and had all qualities of a great batsman,” said Imran of the stylish West Indies batsman.

When asked about the fast bowler he liked more in his time, Imran said Michael Holding was the best.

To a query about the best captain, he said, “I would say Australia’s former skipper Ian Chappell was the best.”

The World Cup-winning captain said there was a major need for bringing improvement in the structure of the Pakistan Cricket Board otherwise Pakistan would never excel on the cricketing horizon.

He was of the view that the prime minister of the country should never be the head of the cricket board, rather, the patron should be elected by respective clubs and zones.

Meanwhile, in another session, former Test captain Wasim Akram shared his experience.

He said Imran always encouraged him and informed him that he had talent.

“After this, I worked really hard and achieved success,” the former left-arm great fast bowler said.

He added that he was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 29 and yet managed to keep the disease in check.

“I used to draw sketch in my mind before delivering balls that where I had to pitch them and managed to achieve the targets,” he said and added that he got 502 wickets in One-day Internationals, scored 257 runs in a Test match innings and grabbed four hat-tricks.

Wasim said he learnt a lot from his mistakes and achieved success by planning well.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1325655
 
Those running Pakistan cricket have no clue.

It's a closed shop where people scratch each other's backs and look after only their own interests.
 
Yes yes, Pakistan has the most talent in the world so of course Qadir would have been blown Warne out of the water had the played in the same era, just like how Inzamam would have matched Vivian Richards.
 
Yes yes, Pakistan has the most talent in the world so of course Qadir would have been blown Warne out of the water had the played in the same era, just like how Inzamam would have matched Vivian Richards.

dont mind cos sahib but u always looks so negative,,,,,he may be not right but why you always come with so negativity at least post something positive thogh i agree with you most of the time...we just over hype our tslent..
 
he is right prime minister id soing all this rubbish for his filthy politics..nepotism and corruption by inept people right from the top to bottom..
 
Abdul Qadir better than the 'great' Shane Warne :)))

Maybe Warne too should have averaged around 50 with the ball away from home just like Qadir, then the competition would have been more realistic :)))
 
I am one of the fortunate one to see Viv Richard play from the stands. Yes he was the best. I have seen Qadir play too. Him being the best is a stretch.
 
Here we go again ... another cricketer from the past goes "In my days Grass was greener, the skies more blue, the water sweeter, the sunshine brighter , cricket better, heck just everything was better" ... facts be damned.

For instance Viv Richards enjoyed the advantage of having half the worlds best bowlers of that ERA from West Indies. And Shane Warne played most part of his career with the same lbw law as Qadir and the umpires would not give anything lbw on front foot. That trend started much later ... I would say not until approx 2005.
[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION]
 
Imran Khan is delusional. There is no way Qadir would have taken more wickets than Warne. :wahab2 It is like comparing Zaheer Khan with Glen McGrath.
 
"if Qadir had played modern cricket, he could have easily taken more wickets than Australia’s great leg-spinner Shane Warne. " -- IK

Qadir's bowling average in various countries,

Aus - 61
Eng - 40
Ind - 69
NZ - 52
WI - 38
SL - 32

----

Pak - 26

May be leg spin playing ability was extremely high during IK's days and that resulted in numbers for Qadir when he stepped outside of Pakistan. It looks like Warne would have averaged 60-70 in pretty much all countries if he had played few decades back.
 
Two undoubtedly brilliant players and arguably the best in the world at what they did but Imran certainly has a reputation of making exaggerated claims as an analyst.

I wonder how good was Viv against quality spin. I thought the 90s batsmen faced the most well balanced quality bowling across all eras. Would be interested in seeing how well he played Warne and Murali.
 
Abdul Qadir used to run through the best side of all time like they were an associate team. He was obviously very talented and it is not a stretch to imagine him picking close to 700 wickets, had he played twice the amount of games he actually did. Regardless, Imran was using hyperbole to emphasize that Qadir was a superb leggie. Little did he know that some small-minded critics take every statement of his literally but cry if their own statements are judged with the same scrutiny.
 
They were the best when he was playing. As always IK has this very annoying attitude of a dictator as if whatever he says is divine wisdom. Shane and Murli were both better then Qadir for starters, perhaps even Saqi as well. Many would successfully and rightfully argue that Tendu and Lara were better then Viv as well.
 
This is the problem with these news/articles where whole context go missing when translating. I saw the whole interview and you guys can see it on youtube too. Imran said he can give his opinion only on players from his era and when asked about best batsman he replied viv, best bowler holding (for 5 years when was bowling at full pace) and best spinner qadir in the era he played. And no sir he didn't said Qadir was going to get more wickets than Warne he only said he will get around same number of wickets. He said qadir was talented and had skills but wasn't successful.

It's always better to post videos instead of translations so people can understand it better.
 
Imran Khan is an ATG but with due respect Qadir is nowhere near Warne. It's not even comparable
 
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