Abdul Qadir Profile

Qadir's action was a wonderfully extravagant routine, and he admitted more than once that it was contrived as a spectacle to distract batsmen. Variety was the key; it was said he had six different deliveries per over. Like the Andy Roberts bouncer, Qadir was said to have two different googlies. The flipper was often equally lethal though much often depended not on his ability but on mood.

Rarely was the mood right against India, whose batsmen were largely untroubled by him. On Pakistan's historic 1987 tour, when they won a series in India for the first time, Qadir was largely ineffective for four Tests before being dropped for the final. Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed, orthodox spinners both, were far more effective and led Pakistan to victory. But for every India, there was a West Indies and that Pakistan were able to compete with the era's most frighteningly dominant team without losing a series to them in the mid-80s was largely down to Qadir's successes against them.