Shadab Kabir was Pakistan’s left-handed opening batsman, who played five Test matches and three ODI’s between 1996 and 2002. His full name is Mohammad Shadab Kabir Siddiqi was born on November 12, 1977, in the city of lights, Karachi. He was mainly an opening batsman, prolific runs scorer in the domestic circuit. Shadab Kabir can bowl part-time right-arm off-breaks. In the ground, he is an excellent fielder, having a great ability to field anywhere in the ground. A safe fielder with his ground fielding and catching.
Indeed, he was very unlucky with three consecutive ducks in his first 3 ODI’s. Therefore, selectors dropped him, and he wasn’t picked again, and his One-Day International career was finished without scoring any runs. Canada’s Nicholas De Groot and Ireland Peter Gillespie are the other two players, who bagged ducks in their first three ODI matches. That was extremely a sad moment for any player, once, who was considering the future of Pakistan cricket.
In 1996, he was a member of the Pakistan squad, who beat England at their home for third consecutive times. Shadab Kabir made his Test debut in the first Test at Lord’s, and he scored 17 and 33. Particularly in the 2nd innings, he opened the batting with Saeed Anwar and give a fine start of 136 runs. In that innings, he stayed at the crease for more than 3 hours and help the Saeed Anwar to play his strokes freely. Pakistan won this Test match by 164 runs. This was indeed a fine start for any newbie. In the 2nd Test at Leeds, he scored 35 & 2. Hence, he was dropped in the 3rd Test. His little contribution helps Pakistan to win the series in England. When the home season kicks in, he was again selected for the Zimbabwe series.
In the first test played at Sheikhupura, he was again flopped by scoring only 2 runs, eventually went into the dark for 6 years. However, he remained positive in those years and playing domestic cricket, and score regularly. Therefore, in 2002, he was again selected for the Bangladesh Test series as Saeed Anwar pull out of the series due to a wrist injury. In the warm-up match, he produced a lovely inning of 92, which ended in a draw.
In the first Test at Dhaka, he scored a career-best 55 runs in 61 balls with the help of 10 delightful boundaries. This inning gives him some confidence, however, in the 2nd Test at Chattogram, he failed again by scoring only 4 runs. That was the end of his Test career. In 5 Test matches, he scored 148 runs @ 21.14 with the best of 55, including one fifty, 22 Fours, and 11 catches.
He kept playing domestic cricket till 2012, but never comes back. Overall, in 136 first-class matches, he scored 6,961 runs @ 31.78 with the best of 176, including 11 hundred, 42 Fifties, and 102 catches. In 81 List-A matches, he scored 2,813 runs @ 38.53 with the best of 152* including 4 hundred, 18 fifties, and 30 catches. In 10 T20 matches, scored 257 runs @ 28.55 with the best of 45, at a strike rate of 101.58, and held 4 catches.
During his career, he played for several teams. Pakistan, Pakistan A, Karachi Blues, Karachi, Karachi Zebras, Karachi Urban, Karachi Whites, Karachi Dolphins, Karachi Harbor, Karachi Port Trust, PCB Whites, Pakistan Inv XI, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, REDCO Pakistan Ltd, Pakistan Under-19’s, Port Qasim Authority, and Pakistan Customs.
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