Pakistan's first black cricketer, accused his colleagues of having relations with prostitutes and taking drugs

Cricket News Desk. Whenever Pakistan is discussed in the world of cricket, controversies are also mentioned in the same breath. Pakistan has given many brilliant and talented players to the cricket world, but only a few of them have been successful in reaching the pinnacle of the game even under the shadow of controversies. Due to these controversies, most of the players had to put their careers at stake. One of them was Qasim Ali Omar. A cricketer who came into limelight due to his long and tiring innings for the bowlers, but his rebellious attitude proved to be the end of his career.

Today is Qasim Umar's birthday. Qasim is known in the cricket world for two major reasons – first, he is the first black cricketer of Pakistan cricket; Second- First cricketer to speak on activities like doping and fixing in Pakistani cricket. The second reason gave him recognition but along with it his career also ended and gradually his identity began to fade away.

First test cricketer born in Kenya, first black player from Pakistan
Qasim Omar was born on 9 February 1957 in Nairobi, the capital of the African country Kenya. His mother was of Kenyan descent, so Kasim's face appeared to be of African descent. However, after a few years, Qasim's family settled in Pakistan and it was from here that Qasim started trying his hand at cricket. After appearing in the Under-17 and Under-19 teams and scoring many runs in domestic first-class cricket, Qasim got his chance to make his debut for the Pakistan team. With his debut in Test cricket, he also became the first Test cricketer born in Kenya.

Debut against India, scored runs against Australia
Qasim's international career started against India. 26 year old Qasim was also included in the Pakistani team that toured India in 1983. He made his debut in the first ODI in Hyderabad, but was out after scoring only 5 runs. After this he did not get a chance in any other match. However, he also made his debut in this format in the second Test of the Test series on the same tour. Qasim scored only 15 runs at number three in the match in Jalandhar, but by scoring 75 runs in 75 balls, he showed that he can stay at the crease for a long time. Later this became Qasim's identity.

Qasim's first major performance came about a month and a half later in Australia, where he scored a brilliant inning of 113 runs in almost 5 hours against the Dennis Lillee-led Australian bowling attack. Even after this, Qasim played long innings with less runs but more balls.

Habit of playing long innings, reward of two double centuries
His second big performance came against India a year later. This time the Indian team was on Pakistan tour. Qasim played the longest innings of Pakistani cricket in the test match played in Faisalabad. In the first innings of the match itself, Qasim had made a brilliant partnership with Mudassar Nazar. Meanwhile, Qasim batted for about 11 hours (685 minutes) and scored his first double century (210 runs). This match was a draw. Exactly one year later, Qasim played a long innings against Sri Lanka on the same ground and scored another double century (206 runs).

Drugs, prostitutes, fixing – sensational allegations against Imran's team
Qasim, who came into limelight with his innings, gave the biggest shock to the cricket world in 1987. According to a report in Pakistani newspaper Dawn, after returning from the 1986-87 tour of Australia, Qasim spoke to many journalists and made many sensational allegations. First of all, Qasim accused captain Imran that despite scoring a half-century in the ODI match, Imran insulted him in front of everyone in the dressing room. After this he made the most shocking revelations.

Qasim said that most of the players of the team including the Pakistani captain consume drugs. Qasim claimed that players often consume opium and hashish. Qasim even said that these players keep them hidden in their batting gloves.

The matter did not stop here. He also said that Pakistani players pay more attention to girls and are often seen with prostitutes in hotel rooms.

Charges were still pending. Qasim claimed that many players received cash ranging from expensive watches to gold pens, liquor bottles and thousands of dollars. In return, these players used to lose their wickets easily in the match. This means that the match fixing revelations which tarnished the world of cricket many years later, was already happening and its stronghold was Pakistan.

He admitted to taking the money himself
Qasim not only accused other players but also admitted that a Perth businessman had given him money in exchange for losing his wicket. Qasim claimed that the businessman had said that there would be no shortage of money, only his work would have to be completed.

Ban imposed on himself, career ended in 4 years
Pakistan Cricket Board has not taken any action on these statements and allegations of Qasim. On the contrary, Qasim was banned for 7 years. With this Qasim's career also ended. In his career spanning almost 4 years, Qasim scored 1502 runs in 26 Test matches at an average of 36, including 3 centuries including 2 double centuries. Whereas in ODI, Qasim scored 642 runs in 31 matches, which included 4 half-centuries.