ABDUL Qadir, who has died aged 63 in Lahore, brought showmanship to wrist-spin long before Shane Warne announced himself with the so-called ball of the 20th century against England in 1993.
Qadir, who played 67 Tests for Pakistan and took 236 wickets, made every ball an event. He’d rock to and fro at the start to his run-up, before bounding in to bowl, a fizzing bundle of energy, all of it imparted on the ball.
I played against him in 1982, in England, when I was new to Test cricket, and was mesmerised and clueless against his fizzing leggers and googlies. Mind you, bette...