Spin legend Abdul Qadir had completed more than half of his autobiography before his passing away on Friday in Lahore, his son Sulaman said on Sunday.

“He had completed more than 100 pages of his book and was very keen to invite Prime Minister Imran Khan for the launching ceremony in a few months time,” Sulaman said.

“He has written all about his struggle to become a top player and his many interesting incidents in domestic and international cricket as a player and official and his relationship with Imran and others in the Pakistan team,” he added.

Surviving poverty

Sulaman said that his father was very keen to complete his book in which he has written about how he had survived poverty and played cricket.

“In one chapter, he has talked about how if he had breakfast in the morning, he was not sure if he would get food at night. Also about his experiences working at a bookshop and laundry for meagre allowances,” said another relative aware of the contents of the book.

“(There was also) about the impact Imran (Khan) had on Pakistan cricket and him, and his matches against India and many other interesting incidents including the one about how Shane Warne got in touch with him,” he said.

“He has also written about the irony of life that there was a time when he used to sneak into the Gaddafi stadium to watch matches and today there is an enclosure named after him in the stadium.”

In the book, Qadir had also talked about his close friendships with Sarfaraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim and Wasim Bari and how they supported him.