Taslim Arif Abbasi (1 May 1954 – 14 March 2008) was a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played in six

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and 2

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s (ODIs) in 1980. His score of 210* for

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

against

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stood for more than 20 years as the highest score made by a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

in Test cricket, until broken by

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Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team and is widely regarded as the greatest Zimbabwean cricketer ever and one of the greatest wi ...

. Arif died in Karachi from a lung infection in 2008. He was buried at

Faisal Cantonment The Faisal Cantonment () previously known as Drigh Road Cantonment is a cantonment town of the city of Karachi, in Sindh, Pakistan. It serves as a Pakistan Air Force base and residential establishment. History The PAF Base, a critical British ...

cemetery in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. He went to a local government school in P.I.B colony Karachi. After finishing his matriculation he was admitted to National College Karachi on the basis of his cricket record. He continued to play for the college team in intercollegiate matches. His mentor Professor Mukarram Ali Khan Shirwani played a major role in introducing him to several selectors as an outstanding and budding wicketkeeper batsman. During his days in the college he had several team members who gained national duties. One of his teammates was Mohsin Hassan Khan who played for Pakistan as an opener and later became a national coach. Along with most of his teammates he was against political parties involvement in students politics. He actively supported Fasahat Ali Khan against Hussain Haqani of Islami Jamiate Talaba by bringing in the entire sports teams to vote which resulted in Fasahat winning the students union elections.

Record

In September 1978, playing for National Bank against

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, before he had made his international debut, Arif became the first Pakistani wicket keeper to effect ten dismissals in a first-class match. His record was later broken by Wasim Yousoufi in 1997.

References

External links

* 1954 births 2008 deaths Cricketers from Karachi Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Karachi cricketers Sindh cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Infectious disease deaths in Sindh World Series Cricket players Pakistani cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Wicket-keepers {{Pakistan-cricket-bio-1950s-stub