Qadir was voted the best player in the Group B matches of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and won a car which he donated to Imran Khan for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre project.

He achieved Pakistan's best bowling figures in a Test innings, which was nine wickets for 56 against the same team at the Gaddafi Stadium in the same series in 1987.

[8] In ODIs, his best bowling figures were five wickets for 44 runs against Sri Lanka during the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

"[9] He is widely regarded as a top spin bowler of his generation and was included in Richie Benaud's Greatest XI shortlist of an imaginary cricket team from the best players available from all countries and eras.

[3] Natural talent combined with aggression and passion made Abdul Qadir one of the most successful spinners of his era.

He had a distinct run-up, bounding in to the crease, and a great variety of deliveries: there was the orthodox leg-break, the topspinner, two googlies and the flipper.

[14] Abdul Qadir played 67 Test matches during 1977–90 and took 236 wickets, with an average of 32.80, including 15 five-wicket hauls.

[3] Abdul Qadir showed promise from his very first Test series, bowling along with left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim, with Wisden Almanack describing him as "the most notable discovery of his type for some time.

[27][28] Due to his performance with the ball, he won the man of the series award for first time in his Test career.

[33] At the Kennington Oval in 1987, Abdul Qadir's ten-wicket haul ensured another series win, this time in England.

Abdul Qadir was ineffective against India in the 1989–90 home series, taking only six wickets from four Tests with an average above 57.

[40] Abdul Qadir made his ODI debut against New Zealand at Edgbaston during 1983 Cricket World Cup; he took four wickets for 21 runs in 12 overs, earning him the man of the match award.

[41] He took 12 wickets for 264 runs in the tournament with an average of 22.00,[42] including a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leeds.

[54] Abdul Qadir played his last ODI against Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in 1993.

He also took two five-wicket hauls, including his best ODI performance of five wickets for 44 runs against Sri Lanka during the 1983 World Cup.

[59][60] Abdul Qadir replaced Saleem Jaffar, former Pakistan fast bowler, as chief selector in November 2008 for the series against India.

[66] Talking with Hasan Jalil at Pakistan Television (PTV) show in 2004, Abdul Qadir said: "We all know the ball has always been made up [tampered with] by Pakistani fast bowlers, but with so much scrutiny on this series, this has not been possible.

By talking about ball-tampering and claiming that every successful Pakistani bowler had 'made' the ball, he was damaging national pride, and that is against our policy.

[77] The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) paid tributes to Abdul Qadir with their chairman, Ehsan Mani, calling him a "maestro with the ball".

Wasim Khan, the PCB's Chief Executive added: "Abdul Qadir was one of the all-time greatest.