Taslim Arif Abbasi (1 May 1954 – 14 March 2008) was a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in six

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and 2

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s (ODIs) in 1980. His score of 210* for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

stood for more than 20 years as the highest score made by a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

in Test cricket, until broken by Sri Lankan

Kumar Sangakkara Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the ...

. Arif died in Karachi from a lung infection in 2008. He was buried at

Faisal Cantonment The Faisal Cantonment ( ur, )is a cantonment town of the city of Karachi, in Sindh, Pakistan. It serves as an Airforce base and residential establishment. PAF Base established in 1925, as a strategically important British Royal Air force ...

cemetery in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. He is survived by two sons and a daughter: Imran Arif, who lives in London; Ainan Arif, who is himself a cricketer who plays for the

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

; and Marium Arif, who lives in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. He went to a local government school in P.I.B colony Karachi. After finishing his matriculation he was admitted to National College Karachi on the basis of his cricket record. He continued to play for the college team in intercollegiate matches. His mentor Professor Mukarram Ali Khan Shirwani played a major role in introducing him to several selectors as an outstanding and budding wicketkeeper batsman. During his days in the college he had several team members who gained national duties. One of his teammates was Mohsin Hassan Khan who played for Pakistan as an opener and later became a national coach. Along with most of his teammates he was against political parties involvement in students politics. He actively supported Fasahat Ali Khan against Hussain Haqani of Islami Jamiate Talaba by bringing in the entire sports teams to vote which resulted in Fasahat winning the students union elections.

Record

In September 1978, playing for National Bank against

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, before he had made his international debut, Arif became the first Pakistani wicket keeper to effect ten dismissals in a first-class match. His record was later broken by Wasim Yousoufi in 1997.

References

External links

* 1954 births 2008 deaths Cricketers from Karachi

Taslim Arif Taslim Arif Abbasi (1 May 1954 – 14 March 2008) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in six Test matches and 2 One Day Internationals (ODIs) in 1980. His score of 210* for Pakistan against Australia stood for more than 20 years as the highest ...

Infectious disease deaths in Sindh World Series Cricket players Pakistani cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Wicket-keepers {{Pakistan-cricket-bio-1950s-stub