Waqar Hassan was a stylish stroke maker of Pakistan and the backbone of the Pakistan cricket team during its early days. He was a right handed cricketer.
Cricket is a passion in South Asia, and Pakistan has produced some of the finest cricketers of all time. He was born on 12th September, 1932 in Amritsar in British India. Waqar Hassan is one of the legends of this sport in Pakistan.
He made his debut at the age of 17 against India in 1952-53. Though the rest of Pakistan’s batting line up failed miserably in the third test against India, Waqar Hassan stood out with 81 runs and 65 runs respectively. He again played a match saving innings at Calcutta. His brilliant form continued and against the New Zealand, Waqar Hassan put up a 308 run partnership with Imtiaz Ahmed when Pakistan was 6 wickets down for 111 runs.
Pakistan won the match in a close finish. Being a reliable batsman, Waqar Hassan was also an agile fielder at the cover area. Hassan played 21 test matches for Pakistan from 1952 to 1959 and scored 1071 runs including one century. In first class cricket, he played 99 matches with 4741 runs with 8 centuries. His last Test was against Australia on 21st November, 1959.
He made an early exit from the cricket scene to concentrate on his business. He however remained associated with cricket as a member of the advisory council, selector and manager of the national team to tournaments played in Sharjah.
In 2002, He wrote “For Cricket and Country: An Autobiography” with the help of cricket journalist Qamar Ahmed. Waqar Hassan passed away on 10th February, 2020 at the age of 87 in Karachi after suffering from illness for some years.
