Warwickshire celebrates South Asian Heritage Month

We’re marking South Asian Heritage month (18 July to 17 August) with stories celebrating the cultural roots of South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and their impact on cricket and Warwickshire CCC.

Here we look at three South Asia-born players who made their mark at Edgbaston and will long be remembered for their contribution to the Club.

Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1925-1996)

Abdul Hafeez Kardar signed for Warwickshire in 1948 – and in doing so created history by becoming the first South Asian-born cricketer to play for the Cub.

He is among a select group to have played international cricket for both India and, after their independence, Pakistan and is widely regarded as the father figure of Pakistani cricket.

Abdul was born in Lahore, India, and was introduced to Warwickshire by then captain Ronald Maudsley who’d spotted him playing for Oxford University.

He caught the eye as a fearless cricketer who wasn’t afraid to dance down the track and smash the ball back over the bowler’s head.

A left hand bat and left arm spinner, he played 45 matches for Warwickshire between 1948-50 and received his county cap in 1949. His highest score of 112 came at Lord’s against Middlesex in 1950, the same year he took 5-25 against Leicestershire for his best bowling figures.

He’d already played three Tests for India before captaining Pakistan in their first Test match in 1952. In 23 matches as captain, Kardar led his team to victory over all the Test-playing countries except South Africa, whom they never met.

Following his retirement from the game Abdul became chairman of selectors, and president of Pakistan’s Board from 1972 to 1977.

He was credited with popularising cricket in Pakistan, developing many of their great players and instilling a sense of pride and ambition into his players during their formative years as an international cricket nation.

Dilip Rasiklal Doshi (1947-)

Indian spinner Dilip Doshi made a big impact during two summers with Warwickshire in the early 1980s – and took more than 100 wickets for the Bears in his first season!

Born in Rajkot in the state of Gujarat, Doshi is one of just a handful of players to have made their Test debut after their 30th birthday and still take more than 100 wickets (113).

He played 33 tests for India between 1979 and 1984 and no doubt would have played many more had he not been competing for international selection with world class spinners Bishan Bedi and Srin Venkataraghavan.

He made his debut in County Championship cricket for Nottinghamshire between 1973-1977, playing 44 times, before gaining his first Indian Test cap in 1979 at the age of 32, the winter before joining Warwickshire.

He made an immediate impact, taking a remarkable 101 wickets in his debut season, including his best innings return of 6/72 against Somerset at Taunton.

Dilip made 44 appearances for the Bears and in total he took 898 wickets in a first-class cricket career of 238 matches spanning 17 seasons.

His son, Nayan, played County Championship cricket for Surrey and Derbyshire between 2004-08 and was in line to follow in his father’s Bears’ footsteps on a short-term contract having left Surrey in the summer of 2007.

However, an administrative issue over his registration prevented him playing in a championship match against Sussex in August that year and the proposed move was cancelled.

Khalid ‘Billy’ Ibadulla (1935-2024)

Born in Lahore in the Punjab, Ibadulla played for Warwickshire from 1954 until 1972 and during that period was part of County Championship and Gillette Cup winning sides.

Ibadulla – the second South Asia-born player to represent the Club – gained International recognition for Pakistan in 1964 against Australia in Karachi, when he made 166 on Test debut before making a further three appearances for them until 1967.

He holds the record for being the player to have played the most first-class matches (217) before being selected to play Test cricket.

He had made his first-class debut in Pakistan as a 16-year-old before coming to Edgbaston in 1954 ahead of serving his required two year qualification period for participation in County Championship games.

He was allowed to play in non-championship matches, debuting in 1954 against Oxford University, before becoming a permanent fixture in the side as a talented all-rounder, heading the bowling averages in 1957, taking 57 wickets at an average of 17.20 runs each.

In 1962 Ibadulla made over 2,000 runs in the season, one of three Warwickshire batsmen to achieve this feat during the summer, astonishing, when only seven previous batsmen had achieved this in the whole history of the club at that time.

He went on to complete 1,000 runs in a season six times, with a highest score of 171 against Oxford University in 1961
As a useful medium pace bowler his best return for the county was 7-22 against Derbyshire in 1967. He finished his career with 462 first-class wickets and over 17,000 runs having played 417 matches in his lengthy career.

Towards the end of his career, Ibadulla spent the winter in New Zealand playing for and coaching Otago and moved to Dunedin in 1976 where he became a cricket coach before umpiring in English first-class matches in 1982 and 83.

He became a permanent resident in New Zealand, coaching and TV commentating and also stood, unsuccessfully, for election to the New Zealand parliament in 1993.