Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Cricker who played for both India and Pakistan

Google doodle on Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Cricker who played for both India and Pakistan

Search giant Google Thursday celebrated the legacy of Abdul Hafeez Kardar by dedicating a special doodle to a man who played test cricket for both India and Pakistan. Kardar who was also known as “The Skipper” captained Pakistan’s first Test team and is widely remembered as the father of Pakistani cricket. Kardar received the Pride of Performance Award from the Government of Pakistan in 1958.

Abdul Hafeez Kardar was born 17th January 1925 in Lahore and educated at Islamia College, Lahore and University College, Oxford. He played domestic cricket for a variety of teams, including Oxford University, Northern India and Muslims. He was a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, scoring 6,832 runs and taking 344 wickets in first-class cricket. He averaged 29.83 in batting, and 24.55 in bowling. Kardar played for the Pakistan team from 1948 to 1952.

Kardar captained Pakistan against all the Test playing nations of the day leading his team to victory against each of them. Kardar famous was the series-levelling victory achieved touring England in 1954 at The Oval. Kardar and his men also created history by winning the first-ever and only Test against Australia in Karachi in 1957.

Abdul Hafeez Kardar went into politics and served as the president of the Pakistan Cricket Board in the 1970s. Kardar was forced to resign after an embarrassing pay dispute with the players in 1977.

Happy Birthday to The Skipper!