Former Pakistan all-rounder Billy Ibadullah passed away on Friday, July 12, at the age of 88. Ibadullah holds the distinction of being the first Pakistani batsman to score a century on Test debut. In October 1964, against Australia at the National Stadium, he scored 166 off 330 balls, including 20 fours. In the same match, he scored 249 for the opening wicket with wicketkeeper Abdul Qadir. Six decades on, this remains the greatest partnership by two rookies in the history of Test cricket.
Subsequently, Yasir Hameed, Fawad Alam, Javed Miandad, Umar Akmal, Azhar Mahmood, Ali Naqvi, Mohammed Wasim, Abid Ali, Younis Khan and Taufiq Umar all scored hundreds on debut for Pakistan.
Dennis Amis, who played alongside Ibadulla at Warwickshire, paid tribute to his former team-mate.
“He was a special cricketer, one of the best and we had many great times together. He could be really mischievous and teasing at times but he was rewarded in equal measure. We all loved him at Warwickshire,” Amis wrote.
Billy Ibadura’s biography
Ibadullah played in four Test matches, scoring 253 runs at an average of 31.62 and scoring one hundred. He had a sensational record in first-class cricket, scoring 17,078 runs at an average of 27.28 in 417 matches, scoring 22 hundreds and 82 fifties.
He also played 64 List A matches, scoring 829 runs at an average of 16.91, with two fifties and a highest score of 75.
Ibadullah also played for Otago for several seasons after moving to New Zealand, and his son Kasem Ibadullah played 19 List A and 31 first-class matches for Gloucestershire and Otago.
