Billy Ibadulla, First Pakistani To Score Test Debut Century, Passes Away at 88
The death of the former Pakistan all-rounder Billy Ibadulla occurred at the age of 88 on Friday, for his country in four Tests between 1964 and 1967; he held the distinction of being the very first Pakistan batsman to make a century on his Test debut.
He scored a magnificent 166 in the first innings of his Test debut against Australia in Karachi in 1964. Ibadulla, along with his fellow debutante and wicketkeeper Abdul Kadir, also shared the record-breaking opening wicket partnership of 249 runs. It is still the highest stand between two Test debutants for any wicket in Test cricket.
In his three subsequent Tests, Ibadulla's highest score was 32 runs and he took one wicket with his offbreak.
He had better luck in first-class cricket, where he scored 17,078 runs at an average of 27.28 and captured 462 wickets at an average of 30.96. He played 377 of his 417 first-class matches for Warwickshire.
Warwickshire president Dennis Amiss was quoted saying, "He was a special cricketer, one of the best, and we've had some really good times together. He could be naughty at times—lots of mickey-taking. And he gave as good as he got. We loved him at Warwickshire."
On X, the Pakistan Cricket Board condoled the death of former Test cricketer Khalid Ibadulla to his friends and family. He passed away tragically on 12 July. Ibadulla played four Tests between 1964 and 1967 and scored 253 runs with a century on Test debut. The deceased had scored 17,078 runs in 417 first-class matches besides claiming 462 wickets.
In only 64 List A matches, Ibadulla made 829 runs and took 84 wickets. He also umpired at 20 first-class and 12 List-A games. In addition, he ran a private coaching clinic in New Zealand.
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