Pakistan’s first Test captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar and country’s most successful Test batter and 2009 T20 World Cup winning captain Younis Khan have been inducted into the Pakistan Cricket Boards Hall of Fame.
The two iconic figures of Pakistan cricket have joined Abdul Qadir, Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Zaheer Abbas in the illustrious group. Kardar (posthumously) and Younis were inducted following a transparent voting process, which was participated by Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis (all former Pakistan men’s captains and PCB Hall of Famers), Sana Mir, Urooj Mumtaz (both former Pakistan women’s captains), Aaliya Rasheed, Dr Nauman Niaz, Rasheed Shakoor, Qamar Ahmed and Waheed Khan (all respected print and broadcast journalists).
PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said on Sunday: “The PCB Hall of Fame is designed to acknowledge, recognise and cherish the sacrifices, contributions and achievements of the role models in our sport nd it is befitting that in our diamond jubilee celebrations, we induct two stalwarts from two completely different generations and eras of our proud cricket history. “AH Kardar gave us a cricket dream, vision and mission in our formation years, and Younis Khan was one of the players who gave his absolute best in fulfilling those expectations through exemplary hard work, deep commitment and untiring performances against all opposition and across all formats.
“The two gentlemen will always remain shining stars of Pakistan cricket and idols for the future generations.” Reacting to the news, Shahid Kardar, AH Kardar’s son, said: “This is a richly deserved tribute to a natural Skipper whose inspirational leadership, imprint of character, tactical brilliance and sheer grit put Pakistan on the world cricket map by evolving a bunch of club level cricketers into a team that achieved laurels beyond its perceived potential. He lit the flame that set the country ablaze, converting just another pastime sport into a rage.—APP
