Abdul Qadir’s Sulaman on Sunday revealed that the spin legend had completed more than half of his autobiography before his death in Lahore.
Qadir, who would have turned 64 on September 15, died in his hometown on Friday. He suffered a cardiac arrest while having dinner and died on his way to the hospital.
“He (Qadir) had completed more than hundred pages of his book and was very keen to invite Prime Minister Imran Khan for the launching ceremony in a few months time,” Sulaman said.
He added, “He has documented his struggle to become a top player and his many interesting incidents in domestic and international cricket as a player and official as well as his relationship with Imran and others in the Pakistan team.”
Qadir’s death saw tributes and condolences from the cricketing fraternity pouring in from all over the world, which included his then captain and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Qadir played in 67 Tests, picking up 236 wickets. He also featured in 104 One-day Internationals, where he took 132 wickets.
Sulaman said that his father was very keen to complete his book in which he has written about how he had survived poverty and played cricket.
“In one chapter, he has talked about how if he had breakfast in the morning, he was not sure if he would get food at night,” another family member of Qadir was quoted as saying. “There was a also about his experience of working at a bookshop and laundry for meagre allowances.
“[There was also] about the impact Imran had on Pakistan cricket and him, and his matches against India. There were many other interesting incidents, including the one about how Shane Warne got in touch with him.
“He [Qadir] has also written about the irony of life: there was a time when he used to sneak into the Gaddafi stadium to watch matches and today there is an enclosure named after him in the stadium.”
In the book, Qadir had also talked about the friendship he maintained with with Sarfaraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari and how they supported him when he did not have a good Test debut.
