Iqbal Qasim: Pakistan’s miserly left-arm spinner with a sharp edge

When Pakistan’s spin bowlers are discussed, Abdul Qadir’s googly is the first thing remembered. In the same era, however, there was also a quiet left-arm spinner who pitched the ball in the same spot over after over and gave the batsman no room to breathe. He was Iqbal Qasim. According to ESPNcricinfo, he is Pakistan’s most successful left-arm spinner³. In 50 Test matches he took 171 wickets at an average of 28.11 and conceded only 2.21 runs per over¹.

Early life and start in cricket

Iqbal Qasim, whose full name is Mohammad Iqbal Qasim, was born in Karachi on 6 August 1953. He batted left-handed and bowled left-arm slow orthodox spin. His first-class career ran from 1971-72 to 1992-93, during which he represented Karachi, National Bank of Pakistan and Sindh².

His Test career began against Australia in Adelaide on 24 December 1976. In the second innings he took 4 wickets for 84 runs in 30 overs¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, in his second Test, in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets, although he conceded plenty of runs and Pakistan lost that match by a big margin. His early series against the West Indies and England were not very successful³.

Style: accuracy and economy

According to ESPNcricinfo, Iqbal Qasim came in between the umpire and the stumps with a steady, angled run-up, and the ball went quickly towards the batsman at a low pace. Short in height, he focused on accuracy more than on flighting the ball, and rarely conceded much more than two runs an over. According to the same profile, he was a regular member of the side for more than a decade and sometimes took fine catches in close fielding².

In his Test career he took five or more wickets in an innings 8 times and ten or more wickets in a match twice. He was especially effective on home pitches: in 29 Tests in Pakistan he took 111 wickets at an average of 25.15¹.

Memorable spells

On 16 December 1979 in Bombay (Wankhede), against India, he took 4 wickets in the first innings and 6 for 40 in the second, giving him 10 in the match, but Pakistan lost. According to ESPNcricinfo, he reached his peak in 1980 under Javed Miandad’s captaincy and took 39 wickets that year³. On 27 February 1980 in Karachi against Australia he took 4/69 in the first innings and 7 wickets for just 49 runs in 42 overs in the second. His best Test bowling is 7/49, and his best match figures are 11/118¹.

Later that year came 6/89 in Faisalabad and 4/48 in Karachi against the West Indies. According to ESPNcricinfo, in 1982 he took 23 wickets in five Tests, 14 of them in the first two Tests against Sri Lanka³. On 14 March 1982 in Faisalabad he bowled 65 overs against Sri Lanka and took 6 wickets for 141 runs. In the same series, on 5 March 1982 in Karachi, batting at number three, he scored 56, his only Test half-century¹.

His most famous feat is the Bangalore Test that began on 13 March 1987. In the first innings he took 5 wickets for 48 runs, and in the second 4 for 73¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, on a difficult fourth-innings pitch, Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed bowled nearly 83 overs between them. A fine innings by Sunil Gavaskar held them up for a long time, but Iqbal Qasim finally made the breakthrough and India fell 17 runs short of the target, so Pakistan won the series³.

On 15 September 1988 in Karachi against Australia he took 5 wickets for just 35 runs in 39 overs, 24 of them maidens, in the first innings, and 4/49 in the second to complete 9 wickets in the match. According to ESPNcricinfo, it was a big win in Karachi. Two Tests later, on 7 October 1988 in Lahore, his Test career ended against Australia again, the same side against whom it had begun¹³.

One-day cricket

In one-day cricket Iqbal Qasim played 15 matches from 1977 to 1988 and took 12 wickets. According to ESPNcricinfo, it is interesting for such an economical bowler that he was almost twice as expensive in ODIs as in Tests. He moved in and out of the side and missed all three World Cups held during his career³. His last ODI was against Bangladesh in Chittagong on 29 October 1988, where he took 3 wickets for 13 runs in 9 overs, his best ODI bowling¹.

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Impact and legacy

According to ESPNcricinfo’s 2016 profile, among Pakistan’s spinners only Abdul Qadir had taken more Test wickets than him². His success did not depend on a single magical delivery but on constant pressure: only 4,807 runs from 13,019 balls. In matches Pakistan won, his 74 wickets came at an average of 20.39¹.

Iqbal Qasim is an example of patience being a weapon in cricket. He forced the batsman into error, and when the error came, the wicket was written against his name.