Haseeb Ahsan, a former Test cricketer of Pakistan, passed away in Karachi at the age of 73 (March 9). Haseeb represented Pakistan in 12 Test matches between 1958 and 1962. Later, he served as chief selector, Director World Cup Committee 1987, and the manager of Pakistan cricket team that won the series against England in England for the first time in 1987 under the captaincy of Imran Khan.
Haseeb emerged on the scene of Test cricket as a slow right-arm off-spin bowler when cricket was mainly dominated by the batsmen of that era. Being a sharp-turner of ball, Haseeb soon came into prominence and made his Test debut on his first tour of the West Indies in 1958. It was unfortunate that his Test career came to an abrupt and pre-mature end when he was no-balled for throwing in the first Test match at Bombay in 1960-61.
While condoling the demise of Haseeb, former Test cricketers including Wasim Akram have paid rich tributes to him. However, one was pleasantly surprised to read Wasim Akram's remarks that actually it was Haseeb who spotted his talent as a chief selector and selected him for the first time against New Zealand in 1984. Whereas in the past, so many former selectors, fast bowlers, and captains have been staking claim of Wasim Akram's discovery for Pakistan. After this statement by the great bowler himself, all such claims have proved to be false and the credit of great left-arm bowler find singularly belongs to the late Haseeb Ahsan. In short, the contribution of Haseeb for the game of cricket in Pakistan is no less than immense in every sense of the word. May the departed soul rest in eternal peace.
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