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Former Test cricketer Waqar Hassan passes away at 87

Former Test cricketer Waqar Hassan passes away at 87
February 10, 2020
KARACHI (92 News) – Waqar Hassan, a member of the Pakistan’s first Test cricket team, passed away in Karachi on Monday. He was 87. He represented Pakistan in 21 Test matches. In Pakistan's first Test series, against India in 1952–53, he was the highest scorer on either side, with 357 runs at an average of 44.62, playing several defiant innings when Pakistan were in trouble. He was less successful on the 1954 tour of England, with 103 runs at 14.71, but impressed with his fielding in the covers. He scored his only Test century against New Zealand in 1955–56 at Lahore, when he made 189 in 430 minutes, adding 309 for the seventh wicket with Imtiaz Ahmed after the score had been 111 for 6. His 189 set a new record for Pakistan's highest Test score which lasted only until Ahmed (who made 209) overtook it the next day. Waqar Hassan also played first-class cricket in Pakistan from 1949 to 1966, with a highest score of 201 not out for LW Cannon's XI against Hassan Mahmood's XI in 1953–54. He captained Karachi Blues to victory in the final of the 1963–64 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and in his last first-class match he captained them to victory in the 1964–65 competition. He served as a national selector several times from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was the chief selector when Pakistan beat India 3–0 at home in 1982-83.