Former Pakistan spin great Abdul Qadir dies of cardiac arrest
Karachi/New Delhi, Sep 6: Pakistan's master leg-spinner Abdul Qadir died in Lahore on Friday after suffering from a massive cardiac arrest, his family confirmed.
Qadir was 63 years old and is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter who is married to current Pakistan star batsman Umar Akmal.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman, Kamran Akmal, Umar's elder brother, confirmed the tragic news about Qadir's death.
It is learnt that the veteran suffered a cardiac arrest when he was at home and was declared dead on arrival after being rushed to a hospital.
Qadir, who played in 67 Tests and 104 ODIs had a total 368 wickets in his international career, would have celebrated his 64th birthday on 15th September.
"It is a great loss to Pakistan cricket because it was Qadir bhai's leg-spin magic and artistry that inspired a generation of young leg-spin bowlers in Pakistan and around the cricket world," former Pakistan leg-break bowler Danish Kaneria said.
In fact another spin great Mushtaq Ahmed only came into prominence imitating Qadir's action.
For Indian fans, Qadir will forever be etched in memories for his unique angular bowling action. It started in a get-set-go mode where he would licking his lips and using the saliva and the heavy hip pivot was unique in its style.
For all those growing up in the 80's, every mohalla cricket, whether the bylanes of Karachi or colonies in Delhi had their own "Abdul Qadir prototype".
But the fondest memories would certainly be related to 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar attacking him with great gusto during an exhibition match. Qadir, who was at the twilight of his career, repeatedly tossed it up and Tendulkar would just dance down the track to hit him for four sixes.
There were many stories how Qadir mildly sledged Tendulkar and enticed him to go after him. However may times after that, he had acknowledged that it was that moment in the game, which he made him believe that he has seen something special.
Qadir was a favourite of the Indian media and had been associated with many channels as an expert in earlier years. A raconteur par excellence, Qadir would narrate stories of the famous Indo-Pak cricket matches of 80's when both countries frequently toured.
Qadir, who remained a critic of the Pakistan Cricket Board's policies till the end, worked as chief selector in 2009 and it was the squad that was selected by him that went on to win the ICC World T20 in England.
Qadir had resigned midway through the tournament as chief selector after having differences with the erstwhile PCB chairman Ejaz Butt over the non-selection of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
Always a colourful character, Qadir was a favourite of Pakistan's World Cup winning captain turned prime minister, Imran Khan and he produced some of his best performances under Imran's captaincy taking 9 for 56 in one test against West Indies at Faisalabad.
All four of his sons, Rehman, Imran, Sulaman and Usman have played first class cricket in Pakistan while his youngest Usman (also a leg-spinner like his father) also appeared in the Big Bash T20 league last season and has shown his intention to qualify to play for Australia after being overlooked time and again by Pakistani selectors.
Cricket pundits and writers believe that Qadir's biggest achievement was to keep the art of wrist spin alive during the eras of 70s and 80s when fast bowlers dominated world cricket.
Lahore: People carry the body of former Pakistani cricketer Abdul Qadir in Lahore
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
