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LAHORE: Former captains Fazal Mahmood and Abdul Qadir have been inducted into the PCB Hall of Fame posthumously. The two stalwarts have joined Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Zaheer Abbas, who were the initial inductees to the PCB Hall of Fame by virtue of being part of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Fazal and Qadir were inducted following a transparent voting process. The PCB Cricket Committee was involved in finalising the short-list comprising players who were retired from international cricket for, at least, five years. Subsequently, a 13-person independent voting panel, comprising three ICC Cricket Hall of Famers, four former Pakistan captains and six respected members of the print and electronic media, was constituted to take part in the voting process, which was overseen by an internal auditor who also confirmed the results in favour of the inductees.

The formal inductions of all the eight PCB Hall of Famers will take place during the ongoing season. PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said, "It is befitting that Fazal Mahmood and Abdul Qadir, legends from two different eras, be voted by their peers and admirers into the PCB Hall of Fame for 2021. This is a testament to their enormous popularity and is also a recognition of their services to this great game. Fazal's heroics in the early days introduced Pakistan cricket to the world as a force to be reckoned with and later inspired the next generations of fast bowlers. The wily, crafty and magical Abdul Qadir revived and reignited the slowly vanishing art of wrist-spin bowling."

He said, "Fazal Mahmood and Abdul Qadir are all-time greats and truly outstanding ambassadors for Pakistan and global cricket. This is just a small token of our appreciation and gratitude towards their contributions."

Fazal Mahmood, considered as the first superstar of Pakistan cricket, was born on 18 February 1927 in Lahore and took 139 wickets in 34 Tests from 1952 to 1962, including five wickets in an innings 13 times and 10 wickets or more in a match four times. However, his first-class career had commenced eight years earlier when he represented Northern India in the Ranji Trophy. When he hung his boots after the 1963-64 season, he had grabbed 466 wickets in 112 matches. In Pakistan's debut Test series in 1952 in India, Fazal took 20 wickets, including 12 wickets in the Lucknow Test, which Pakistan won by an innings and 43 runs. In the return series in 1954-55, Fazal took 15 wickets in four Tests, while in the 1960-61 series he picked up nine wickets in five Tests.

In 1955, Fazal became the first Pakistan cricketer to be named in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year, a year after his performances had helped Pakistan draw their first series against England in England. Fazal claimed 20 wickets in the four-Test series, including match figures of 12 for 99 at The Oval that earned AH Kardar's side a 24-run victory.

Fazal was bestowed with the President's Pride of Performance Award - the highest national literary award of Pakistan - in 1958. In 2012, he was posthumously awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz - the second highest civilian award - in recognition of his services to Pakistan cricket, seven years after his passing.

Abdul Qadir, boasting a bouncy, enthusiastic run-up with a left elbow high and flicking the ball from hand to hand, took 236 wickets (five wickets in an innings 15 times and 10 wickets in a match five time) and scored 1,029 runs in 67 Tests from 1977 to 1990. He also demonstrated that leg spin could be highly effective in one-day cricket by claiming 132 wickets and scoring 641 runs in 104 ODIs from 1983 to 1993. In 209 first-class matches from 1975-76 to 1995-96, he captured 960 wickets and scored 3,740 runs, including two centuries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021

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