Qasim Umar

Kenyan-born, Qasim Umar was a prolific opening batsman with the ability to perform well anywhere in the middle order. He made his Test debut against India at Jullundur in 1983-84. In a career of just four years he played in 26 Tests, scoring 1502 runs with two double centuries, one century and 5 fifties, ending up with an impressive average of 36.63. With 15 catches to his credit, he was also a good fielder.

Qasim Umar's best score was 210 against India at Faisalabad in 1984-85, during which he also set a record second-wicket partnership of 250 with Mudassar Nazar. It was also a record individual Test score at Faisalabad, shared with Tasleem Arif. He then scored 206, also at Faisalabad, against Sri Lanka in 1985-86. He was unlucky to miss centuries in the Third Test against New Zealand at Dunedin in 1984-85, where he was out for 96 and 89. He played in 31 One-Day Internationals, scoring 642 runs with the help of four half centuries. His best ODI score was 69.

Qasim Umar won three international and five domestic Man-of-the-Match awards. In 1985-86 he became the first player to ring the bell on corruption in international cricket. He even named some of the great players who were suspected of being involved. Though the cricket administrators took no notice of his disclosures, his revealtions marked the end of a brilliant cricket career.
Rafi Nasim