Indian Cricketer and Wicket-Keeper Syed Kirmani were Born

 29th December 1949: Indian Cricketer and Wicket-Keeper Syed Kirmani were Born


Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani was born on 29 December 1949. He played cricket for India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in India. 

He started off as an understudy to Farokh Engineer in the tours of England in 1971 and 1974 and to the 1975 World Cup. Kirmani made his debut against New Zealand and in his second Test equalled the world record of six victims in an innings. 

When New Zealand toured India the next year, he topped the batting averages with 65.33 and scored 305 runs in the tour of Australia. He did not have a very good time behind the stumps against Pakistan and West Indies in 1978–79. 

He was dropped in favour of Bharath Reddy for the 1979 Cricket World Cup and the subsequent series against England. Sunil Gavaskar was also sacked as the captain. Though Kirmani was dropped ostensibly for performance, there was a rumour that the real reason was that both he and Gavaskar had been approached by the organisers of the Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. 

Back in the team for the series against Australia in 1979–80, he scored a hundred as a night watchman in Bombay. His innings of 101* in five hours nearly lasted out the day. He had 17 catches and two stumpings against Pakistan in the same season and it equalled Naren Tamhane's Indian record for a single series. Against England in 1981–82, he did not concede a single bye in three consecutive Tests while 1964 runs were scored.

Kirmani won the award for the best wicketkeeper in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, his highlight of which was the catch of Faoud Bacchus that he took in the final against the West Indies. In the first round match against Zimbabwe, he equalled the then-record by effecting three catches and two stumpings. Against West Indies at home, he partnered Sunil Gavaskar - who scored 236* - in a record stand of 143* for the ninth wicket in the Madras Test. Kirmani was a lower order reliable batsman and another example is the unbroken 126 for the ninth wicket with Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup with Kirmani contributing 26 and that partnership proved critical in India being able to continue their run in the tournament. 

At Bombay the next year, he scored his second hundred in Tests making 102 and adding 235 with Ravi Shastri, still an Indian record for the seventh wicket. In the Madras Test in the same series, he missed some crucial catches which contributed to an Indian defeat. He was dropped at the end of that series in favour of Sadanand Viswanath. Kirmani made a comeback in the Australian tour of 1985–86, where he fared reasonably well. 

During his international career, his record included 160 catches and 38 stumpings during a test matches, and 27 catches and 9 stumpings during one-day internationals. Always a central figure on the field, he could dive and somersault to catch the ball and was responsible for many run-outs.

Location: India

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