Salim Durani
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A profile
Avijit Ghosh, April 3, 2023: The Times of India
From: Avijit Ghosh, April 3, 2023: The Times of India
From: Avijit Ghosh, April 3, 2023: The Times of India
Salim Durani's match-winning deliveries and six-hitting skills are part of Indian cricket's folklore, and his fetching looks added a dash of style and romance to the game in the 1960s and 1970s.
Durani, the first cricketer to win the Arjuna Award, had a surgery after breaking his thigh bone in January.
Young modern-day fans might wonder what was so special about him after looking at the all-rounder's international career: 29 Tests. 1,204 runs (avg: 25) and 75 wickets (avg: 35) spanning 13 years (1960-73). But like his fictional namesake Saleem Sinai in Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', Durani was in central situations in several key moments of India's cricket history.
Durani's left-arm spin - he took a 10-wicket haul in Madras- fashioned India's 2-0 triumph over England in 1961-62 when series wins were as rare as films without songs. A few months later, the southpaw counterattacked the intimidating Wes Hall of West Indies for 104 when several others "crumpled". At a time when Mughal-e-Azam's Prince Salim was on a million minds, Durani became the people's shehzada (prince) Salim. He was a hero and a star rolled into one.
PM Modi hailed Durani as a "cricketing legend and an institution in himself".
'Shehzada' Salim was sixer king
In 1971, the left-arm spinner famously promised captain Ajit Wadekar the night before that he would get the wickets of Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd. Durani walked the talk, leading to India's first win over the formidable Windies at Port of Spain. And in 1973, the left-hander endured pain to smote two match-winning sixes on a devilish track, leading to another series win against England.
Nowadays when a single IPL game can witness 15 sixes, it is easy to challenge the dexterity of someone who struck only 15 sixes in his entire Test career. But again those were days of different bats and mindsets. No Indian cricketer of that generation has a better per match average, roughly one six in every second test. "They say lifting the ball is dangerous. I say life itself is dangerous," quipped Kabul-born Durani in The Illustrated Weekly of India in 1979.
During the 1972-73 series, he would often hit a sixer as the crowds chanted, "We want sixer", earning him the reputation of a six-hitter on demand. In the 1979 article Durani pointed out that wasn't the case. "I must clear up this notion about my hitting a six by 'public demand.' It so happened that a couple of sixes I hit in the 1972-73 series coincided with the public's demand."
Durani's parents lived in Afghanistan, but they first shifted to Karachi and then to Jamnagar in pre-independence India. His Afghan origin helped forge a bridge between two nations when he was made a special guest in Afghanistan's first Test match against India in Bengaluru in 2018.
Tutored and guided by the great Vinoo Mankad, who also played for Jamnagar, Durani fired a stroke-filled ton for Saurashtra against Gujarat in his debut Ranji Trophy game in 1953. He played domestic cricket for Gujarat too, but forged a long-term relationship with Rajasthan; the kings of the western state played a vital role in his life.
The all-rounder was pivotal to Central Zone's Duleep Trophy triumph against star-studded West Zone in 1972. Durani scalped nine wickets and single-handedly steered his side to a narrow two-wicket win with an unbeaten 83.
He should have played more Tests. Gavaskar wrote in his autobiography, 'Sunny Days', "...People call him a 'wayward genius'. I don't know about his being wayward, but he is certainly 'a genius,". West Indies got a taste of his genius at Port-of-Spain in 1971. Over six feet tall, Durani could make the ball turn and bounce and on a helpful surface could conjure an unplayable delivery like the one that sneaked through Sobers' bat and pad and lifted the leg bail.
"It was a dream delivery. In an age of television that ball would have been shown over and over again. And probably, like the Shane Warne delivery that bowled Mike Gatting round the legs, one would have remembered it much more," Ajit Wadekar, who captained India in that game, told this reporter in 2006.
Durani's looks and popularity ultimately earned him a lead part in 'Charitra' (1973). Playing a playboy industrialist, he was paired with Parveen Babi in the B R Ishara flop. Speaking to this reporter in 2007, the cricketer also recalled shooting for another film, 'Akhri Din, Pehli Raat'. "Meena Kumari had written the film's story. We shot about eight reels. Unfortunately, the film was never completed," said Durani, who was also considered for roles in 'Pakeezah' and 'Sharmilee'.
For many years, he would be seen in Delhi's Press Club of India enjoying his drink.
His experiences with the cricket and film world would have made for a delightful autobiography. Gavaskar had even suggested a name for the book: Ask for a Six. Sadly, Durrani never took a shot at it.
A summing up
Sriram Veera, April 2, 2023: The Indian Express
Salim Durani played just 29 Tests, took 75 wickets, and scored 1,202 runs. But Durani was never about numbers. He was Indian cricket’s ultimate entertainer, someone who always played for the galleries.
Durani was a flamboyant all-rounder with movie star looks, known for hitting sixes on demand, a temperamental spinner who, on his day, could remove the best batsman — the story of him telling Ajit Wadekar to give him the ball and proceeding to knock out Garry Sobers is often spoken about.
He was an enigmatic cricketer, with almost everything about him being mythical — like about his place of birth. In some interviews, he said he left Kabul and moved to Karachi when he was eight months old; in others, he said he had never been to Kabul.
His colourful personality allowed him to be at ease with maharajas, movie stars as well as the common man. His love for alcohol, Gold Flake cigarettes, and even his financial crisis, just added to his image of a carefree character who lived his life to fullest.
Those who knew him well would often say, “Salimbhai mast rehte hain hamesha”. On Sunday, his “mast life” ended.
He belonged to the era of handsome cricketers; the debonair M L Jaisimha, who would stylishly wrap a scarf around his neck; the royal Tiger Pataudi, regal in all aspects; the charming Faroukh Engineer, flamboyance on and off the field; the dashing Budhi Kunderan, who married an English woman and settled in Scotland; the handsome Abbas Ali Baig, who had women fans jump over the fence to land a kiss; and of course Durani.
It’s best to start with his sixes-on-demand as that kickstarted the public craze about him. Its origins probably lie in the 1965-66 Ranji Trophy final in Jaipur when he hooked Ramakant Desai for a six after the crowd asked for the maximum.
“Miracles like that followed in succession. In Test matches, my first sixer on demand was in Calcutta in 1972-73 against England. There was a loud roar in the east stand: Salimda! We want a sixer! The bowler was none other than Derek Underwood in top form,” he once said in an interview.
It’s said that he was a mercurial left-arm spinner and could wreak havoc. In his book, Gundappa Vishwanath wrote about the origin of the famous story of how Durani knocked out Garry Sobers.
During the 1971 tour of West Indies, Vishwanath was having a drink in captain Ajit Wadekar’s room at the end of the third day’s play when Durani walked in. “He straightaway asked Ajit if he could have a drink; he loved his drink or two in the evenings and it was standard practice in the West Indies for all of us to assemble in Ajit’s room and unwind. Just then he said, ‘I will get you Lloyd and Sobers tomorrow in two overs’. All of us were surprised and looked at him as he continued, ‘Just give me the ball when Lloyd is on strike and even if someone else picks up the non-striker at that point, don’t bother continuing with him and throw me the ball against Sobers’,” Vishwanath recalled.
The next day, he walked the talk, getting Clive Lloyd caught by Wadekar for 15 and bowling Sobers with a ripper from the rough outside off stump for a duck.
He became life-long friends with the likes of Sobers and Rohan Kanhai. He was well-known in Pakistan too, particularly because of his father Aziz Durani, who went back to Karachi after Partition. Former Pakistan captain and the manager of the 1992 World Cup team Intikhab Alam was saddened to hear of his demise. “I knew his father, Master Aziz, very well; in fact Master was very close to my uncle who was DIG, Police, in Karachi in the 50s, and was instrumental in getting Master Abdul Aziz married. After his marriage, he went to India, but he came back after Partition. He was a passionate coach, who taught the great batsman Hanif Mohammad, among others,” he said.
“The story also goes that Master Aziz wanted his son Salim to be a left-arm spinner and left-arm batsman. But young Salim was equally ambidextrous as a bowler. So, Master Aziz developed the drill where Salim’s right hand would be tied behind his back and he would bowl, so that the left-arm spin became more ‘natural’. So, not only was Salim your big-hitting all-rounder, but he also could bowl with both hands. Way ahead of his time… When I came to India for my first tour in 1960-61, I met Salim in Bombay and we shared memories of his father,” Intikhab told The Indian Express.
Durani also starred in Hindi films, acting opposite Parveen Babi in ‘Charitra’, where, in one of dialogues, he said: “Zindagi ki sabse bada tragedy yahi hai ki log devta ko pehchaante hai, shaitaan ko pehchaante hain, lekin insaan ko nahi (Life’s biggest tragedy is that people recognise and value gods, demons, but not humans).”
Fortunately, in his life, he was loved by all, his fans, peers, the next generation of cricketers, across the world – in India, in the Caribbean, and Pakistan.
A
April 3, 2023: The Times of India
In 1971, the left-arm spinner famously promised captain Ajit Wadekar the night before that he would get the wickets of Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd. Durani walked the talk, leading to India’s first w in over the formidable Windies at Port of Spain. And in 1973, the left-hander endured pain to smote two match-winning sixes on a devilish track, leading to another series win against England.
Now adays when a single IPL game can witness 15 sixes, it is easy to challenge the dexterity of someone who struck only 15 sixes in his entire Test career. But again those were days of different bats and mindsets. No Indian cricketer of that generation has a better per match average, roughly one six in every second test. “They say lifting the ball is danger ous. I say life itself is dangerous,” quipped Kabulborn Durani in The Illustrated Weekly of India in 1979.
During the 1972-73 series, he would often hit a sixer as the crowds chanted, “We want sixer”, earning him the reputation of a six-hitter on demand. In the 1979 article Durani pointed out that wasn’t the case. “I must clear up this notion about my hitting a six by ‘public demand. ’ It so h appened that a couple of sixes I hit in the 1972-73 series coincided with the public’s demand. ”
Durani’s parents lived in Afghanistan, but they first shifted to Karachi and then to Jamnagar in pre-independence India. His Afghan origin helped forge a bridge between two nations when he was made a special guest in Afghanistan’s first Test match against India in Bengalu ru in 2018. Tutored and guided by the great Vinoo Mankad, who also played for Jamnagar, Durani fired a stroke-filled ton for Saurashtra against Gujarat in his debut Ranji Trophy game in 1953. He played do mestic cricket for Gujarat too, but forged a longterm relationship with Rajasthan; the kings of the western state played a vital role in his life. The all-rounder was pivotal to Centra l Zone’s Duleep Trophy triumph against star-studded West Zone in 1972. Durani scalped nine wickets and single-handedly steered his side to a narrow two-wicket win with an unbeaten 83.
He should h ave played more Tests. Gavaskar wrote in his autobiography, ‘Sunny Days’, “…People call him a ‘wayward genius’. I don’t know about his being wayward, but he is certainly ‘a ge nius,”. West Indies got a taste of his g enius a t Port-of-Spain in 1971. Over six feet tall, Durani could make the ball turn and bounce and on a helpful surface could conjure an unplayable del ivery like the one that sneaked through Sobers’ bat and pad and lifted the leg bail. “It was a dream delivery. In an age of television that ball would have been shown ov er and over again. And probably, like the Shane Warne delivery that bowled Mike Gatting round the legs, one would have remembered it much more,” Ajit Wadekar, who captained India in that game, told this reporter in 2006.
Durani’s looks and popularity ultimately earned him a lead part in ‘Charitra’ (1973). Playing a playboy industrialist, he was paired with Parveen Babi in the B R Ishara flop. Speaking to this reporter in 2007, the cricketer also recalled shooting for another film, ‘Akhri Din, Pehli Raat’. “Meena Kumari had written the film’s story. We shot about eight reels. Unfortunately the film was never completed,” said Durani, who was also considered for roles in ‘Pakeezah’ and ‘Sharmilee’.
For many years, he would be seen in Delhi’s Press Club of India enjoying his drink.
Details
Salim Durani, April 3, 2023: The Times of India
HOW I HIT THOSE SIXES!
It was from Vinoo (Mankad) I learnt the graceful art of lifting the ball. How thrilling it was to know Vinoo had lifted Roy Jenkins for a six before lunch on the opening day of the June 1952 Lord’s Test. It was just like him to do so. Even as it was just like me to lift that six off (Norman) Gifford on the final morning of the January 1973 Madras Test.
The moment Gifford came on, Ipulled that six over (Mike) Denness on the mid-wicket boundary. And the test was asgood as won. For good measure, I lifted another six off Gifford – just in case.
However, I must clear up this notion about my hitting a six by ‘public demand. ’ It so happened that a couple of sixes I hit in the 1972-73 series coincided with the public’s demand. Like the six I hit over Derek Underwood on the first evening of the February 1973 Bombay test. It was a ball asked to hit even as the public clamoured for a six, so I banished it for six, that’s all. All my sixes are controlled, calculated and timed to nicety. How many times in Tests have you seen me lift a catch in going for a six? I know I can clear the field. I feel supremely confident when I lift.
( FROM THE ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY, 1979)
