LAHORE: Former captains Fazal Mahmood and Abdul Qadir, two of the greatest to ever play the game, were posthumously inducted into Pakistan Cricket Board Hall of Fame, the cricket board announced.
According to a statement, 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. A 13-person independent voting panel 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.
“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,” PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said, adding, “This is a testament to their enormous popularity and is also a recognition of their services to this great game”.
Raja further said, “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.”
“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,” he concluded.
Fazal, who passed away in May 2005, was Pakistan’s first great bowler with the paceman inspiring the team to several famous victories after the country made its international debut in 1952.
Serving Pakistan for a decade, he took 139 wickets in 34 Tests and was bestowed with the President’s Pride of Performance Award in 1958 before being posthumously awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2012.
Qadir, who passed away in September 2019, has been widely credited with reviving the art of leg-spin bowling, and often left the opposition clueless after he made his debut in 1977.
Not only did he take 236 wickets in 67 Tests, he was also a highly-effective option in One-day Internationals where he bagged 132 wickets in 104 matches.
