KARACHI: Former Pakistan wicket-keeper/batsman Taslim Arif died here on Thursday night, about two months short of his 54th birthday. In his short international cricket career for Pakistan, he proved himself to be a mighty character with true grit, a quality he continued to display in whatever he did after his playing days were over, until his dying day.
Taslim literally died with his boots on. Just days ago, he was doing the running commentary of matches in the 2007-08 Pentangular Cup cricket championship for GEO Super. In addition, while he continued to serve cricket in any capacity he could, he was helping run a cricket academy and being a constantly familiar face on the country’s cricket circuit.
He had been diagnosed with a lung infection lately, his chain smoking habit leading to his early death. He had been hospitalised recently several times for respiratory problems. On Thursday, it was eventually all over.
The right-handed Taslim Arif played in six Test matches and two One-day Internationals for Pakistan — all within the year 1980 when the national selectors, disillusioned with regular wicket-keeper Wasim Bari’s dwindling form, had decided to try someone new. Taslim, in fact, came in as a specialist batsman in the Pakistan Test match line-up, to initially play instead of Zaheer Abbas on the tour of India in 1979-80 when the star batsman was experiencing the worst slump of his career.
Taslim opened the batting with Sadiq Mohammad in the sixth and final Test match of the series against India, at Calcutta (now Kolkata) on January 29, 1980. He immediately made a big impact in the drawn encounter (Pakistan had already lost the rubber 2-0) with scores of 90 and 46 in the two innings while the left-handed Sadiq was dismissed for low contributions of 5 and 8.
Taslim top-scored in either innings — Javed Miandad though also made 46 in the second innings. His 90 in the first came off 268 balls in seven hours four minutes of batting with four boundaries. His 46 took 92 balls in two and a half hours with four fours. Impressed with his Test debut performance, the selectors decided to sideline Wasim Bari for the 1979-80 home series against Australia — which began a little over three weeks later — and play Taslim Arif both as opening batsman and wicket-keeper.
In the first Test at Karachi, which Pakistan won by seven wickets — they later also took the three-match rubber by a 1-0 margin, Taslim had Haroon Rasheed as his opening partner. He himself scored 58 and 8 in addition to making two catches and two stumpings behind the wicket. Then, Taslim had the biggest six days of his short international career.
In the second Test match in Faisalabad, played from March 6 to 11, 1980, Taslim earned the distinction of being on the field of play for the entire duration of the match. This amounted to 20 hours and 8 minutes on the four playing days — interrupted, of course, by some bad weather as the first day was totally washed out. He kept wicket for 773 minutes (211 overs) as Australia piled up a first innings total of 617 — Taslim made only one catch though.
Then, in Pakistan’s reply of 382 for two in 435 minutes (126 overs) before the Test ended in a tame draw, Taslim scored an unbeaten 210. Following an 87-run start with Haroon (21), he batted for a total of seven and a quarter hours, faced 379 deliveries and hit 20 fours. His second-wicket stand with Zaheer Abbas (19) was worth 72 runs and the unbroken partnership for the third wicket with skipper Javed Miandad (106 not out) another 223 runs.
Taslim played in all three Tests against Australia. In the third match at Lahore, with the game nearing an inevitable draw, Taslim came on to bowl his right-arm medium-pace — Javed Miandad kept wicket — and dismissed Graeme Beard (caught by substitute Sultan Rana for 49) to return bowling figures of 5-0-28-1.
He was retained for the four-Test home series against West Indies as opening batsman and wicket-keeper. In the second innings of the drawn first Test at Lahore, he retired hurt after being hit on the hand by fast bowler Sylvester Clarke. He played in the second match at Faisalabad, being dismissed lbw to Clarke for a third-ball duck, and kept wicket poorly as Pakistan were beaten by the West Indies by 156 runs. It later transpired that he had been playing the Test with a compound fracture in a finger.
That was the end of Taslim’s international career. Wasim Bari returned to the Pakistan team in the third match of the 1980-81 rubber and went on to play in 25 of the country’s next 28 Tests before announcing his retirement in 1983-84.
Taslim scored 501 runs in his six Tests at an average of 62.62 with one hundred and two half-centuries. He effected 9 dismissals (6 ct, 3 st) as wicket-keeper and had figures of 1-28 as bowler. In his two One-day Internationals, both played against West Indies in 1980-81, his total was 28 runs (ave 14.00) with a highest of 24 in addition to a catch and a stumping.
Born on May 1, 1954 in Karachi’s PIB Colony — and having started his playing career with Malir Gymkhana — Taslim was just 13 years 263 days old when he made his first-class debut, for Karachi Blues in an Ayub Trophy Championship match in 1967-68. He went on to represent Karachi (1967-68 to 1972-73), Sind (1972-73 to 1973-74) and National Bank of Pakistan (1973-74 to 1989-90).
His first-class career, however, ended in 1988-89 by which time he’d appeared in 148 matches and scored 7,568 runs (ave 33.63) with a highest of 210 not out. He hit 13 centuries and 40 fifties, held 311 catches, made 56 stumpings and captured seven wickets at 30.28 apiece with a best of 4-46.
Taslim went to Sri Lanka in 1973-74 as a member of the Pakistan Under-25s team. His two major tours with the senior side were to Australia and West Indies in 1976-77 and to India in 1979-80. He toured Sharjah with Pakistan outfits in 1980-81 and 1981-82, before the United Arab Emirates venue staged the first of its world record 198 full One-day Internationals.
In 1978-79, he played for the World Series Cricket (WSC) Cavaliers and the WSC World XI in Australia. In the mid 1970s, he was a member of the Daisy Hill CC in England’s Bolton League and the professional signing at Lowerhouse in the Lancashire League and, in 1995-96, represented Pakistan Masters in a four-nation Masters Cup tournament in Sharjah.
When Taslim made his 210 not out, he broke the record of his own countryman Imtiaz Ahmed (209 v New Zealand at Lahore 1955-56) for the highest score in a Test match by a wicket-keeper. Of course, his mark has been surpassed twice since then — by Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower 232 not out v India at Nagpur 2000-01 and by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara 230 v Pakistan at Lahore 2001-02.
In 1974-75, Taslim dismissed 41 batsmen (35 ct, 6 st) in 14 first-class matches to create the then new record for wicket-keepers in a Pakistan domestic season. In 1978-79, in a BCCP Invitation Tournament match for National Bank against Punjab at the Aitchison College Ground in Lahore, he became the first Pakistan wicket-keeper to effect 10 dismissals in a first-class match. He held six catches and made four stumpings.
Two of Taslim Arif’s nephews have played a considerable amount of first-class cricket. Wasim Arif (1982-2000) was a wicket-keeper like him who played for Karachi, HBFC and National Bank. Mohammad Ali (1993-2006) is a left-arm fast-medium bowler, who has appeared for Railways, Lahore City, United Bank, Islamabad, ADBP, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur and, after having become a British citizen, for Wales Minor Counties, Derbyshire and Middlesex in addition to second eleven cricket for several other English counties.
Taslim’s 15-year-old son Ainan Arif, an opening or middle-order right-hand batsman and useful off-break bowler, has been playing regular cricket for various Karachi teams — including under-19 outfits — for three seasons now. He also captained the Karachi Harbour under-19s in 2007-08.
In 1999, Taslim featured in the revival of the Asif Iqbal Coaching Academy in Karachi. Later, he joined hands with off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed in running another academy in Karachi. In 1999-00, he was coach of the Pakistan team in the Under-17s Asia Cup competition. He also served as a batting consultant with NBP and a cricket selector for Karachi.
Taslim Arif Abbasi later became well known as a radio and television cricket commentator. He had also served as match referee in 40 first-class matches since 1996, in addition to having performed similar duties in 25 major limited-over matches since 2001, eight Twenty20 matches (2005-06) and four Youth One-day Internationals from 2003 to 2006.
Taslim has left behind his wife, two sons and a daughter to mourn his death. He also had three daughters from an earlier marriage, to an Australian national.
