ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cricket great Imran Khan termed his compatriot Abdul Qadir and Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies the best leg-spinner and batsman in the world, respectively.

Speaking at a business summit here on Friday, former Test captain Imran said if Qadir had played modern cricket, he could have easily taken more wickets than Australia’s great leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Qadir played 67 Tests from 1977 to 1990 and captured 236 wickets whereas Warne took 708 wickets in 145 Tests in his career spanning 1992-2007.

Imran added it was a Herculean task to get batsmen out leg-before by a spinner in olden days.

“Qadir, during his time, had to force batsmen to play on the back foot in order to trap them leg-before, but in today’s cricket, a batsman can be given out lbw even if he plays on the front foot,” he said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who was speaking at a session which was moderated by contributing editor of The Economist John Andrews, said Richards was his favourite batsman.

“Richards was a God-gifted player. He was brave, courageous and had all qualities of a great batsman,” said Imran of the stylish West Indies batsman.

When asked about the fast bowler he liked more in his time, Imran said Michael Holding was the best.

To a query about the best captain, he said, “I would say Australia’s former skipper Ian Chappell was the best.”

The World Cup-winning captain said there was a major need for bringing improvement in the structure of the Pakistan Cricket Board otherwise Pakistan would never excel on the cricketing horizon.

He was of the view that the prime minister of the country should never be the head of the cricket board, rather, the patron should be elected by respective clubs and zones.

Meanwhile, in another session, former Test captain Wasim Akram shared his experience.

He said Imran always encouraged him and informed him that he had talent.

“After this, I worked really hard and achieved success,” the former left-arm great fast bowler said.

He added that he was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 29 and yet managed to keep the disease in check.

“I used to draw sketch in my mind before delivering balls that where I had to pitch them and managed to achieve the targets,” he said and added that he got 502 wickets in One-day Internationals, scored 257 runs in a Test match innings and grabbed four hat-tricks.

Wasim said he learnt a lot from his mistakes and achieved success by planning well.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2017