‘Hero worship of cricketers began with Salim Durani’: Karsan Ghavri

Whoever noticed him play, be it followers, teammates, opposition gamers… every one in every of us not solely favored him, but in addition liked him. There have been only a few sportspersons on the earth who’ve acquired such reward from everybody and Salim Sahab was one in every of them. If you have got performed with him or performed towards him or spent even a short while with him, you’ll always remember it for the remainder of your life and that’s the charisma he had even earlier than cricket turned synonymous with India. Today we see lots of hero worship, and I can positively say that it began with Salim Sahab.

I spent round 12-13 years in Mumbai native cricket enjoying towards one another. When I got here to Mumbai in 1970 to play for ACC, Times Shield was a significant event. And at the moment Salim Bhai had already attained a cult standing as a consequence of his performances within the Kanga League and numerous tournaments. Fans used to comply with him on and off the sector to catch a glimpse of him and what was totally different was that they did not know that he was a giant star. He used to make associates inside minutes..be it a groundsman, or the managing director of a company, he handled everybody the identical. He was distinctive in himself as it’s tough to search out an excellent cricketer and human being like him. There was some reality about Salim saab. His recognition will stay unmatched eternally.

Ahmedabad. Durrani handed away on Sunday morning at his Jamnagar house as a consequence of age-related illnesses. (PTI picture)

One explicit innings I bear in mind is Tony Lewis’s Test towards England on the Brabourne Stadium in 1972. There was lots of drama even earlier than the beginning of the match as Salim Saab’s identify was not within the 14 member Indian staff. And every week earlier than the Test, there have been protests in Bombay and Indian cricket has not seen something prefer it earlier than or since. Thousands of followers joined the protest and the temper was that if Salim Sahab shouldn’t be within the staff, we is not going to permit the Test to happen in Bombay. The followers had been threatening to lock down the stadium and the BCCI workplace.

I nonetheless bear in mind, there have been headlines on the entrance web page of newspapers that screamed, “No Durani, no Test match in Bombay.” Then the BCCI lastly gave in to the protests and Salim Saab was included because the fifteenth participant. You would have thought that this is able to ease the stress, however the Bombay cricket public was adamant that Salim Sahab ought to play and he was included within the XI. He scored a superb 73 towards the England staff with Darren Underwood. I nonetheless bear in mind the incident of that day as if it occurred yesterday. I used to be within the North Stand and when somebody raised the slogan ‘Humein six chahiye’, Salim Saab agreed. Whatever route the mantra got here from, Salim Saab would have responded by hitting a six or a 4.

This made Salim Saab a very particular persona and his admiration crossed borders. In 1977, throughout a tour of Australia, a few of us had the chance to spend time with Sir Gary Sobers. And they spent lots of time speaking about Salim Saab and conveyed their needs to him by us. And the message was: “Congratulations to a great player from a good player.” Where can you discover such reward?

Former cricketer Salim Durani with Anil Kumble at an award operate in Mumbai. (PTI File)

He was the primary debonair, glamorous man of Indian cricket. Together, Tiger Pataudi, ML Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig, Salim Saab had been the most important crowd pullers. People used to come back simply to observe him play. Yes, we had some nice gamers like Chandu Borde, Ajit Wadekar, Polly Umrigar, Bapu Nadkarni, however these 4 had been the group pullers and most wanted gamers.

The highlight was on him on a regular basis, however he by no means let it get to his head. Not everybody can deal with the eye, however he did it with such ease. And Salim Saab was the one who stood out among the many 4. Just like how MS Dhoni may stand alone in a staff which had Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Salim Saab.

Looking at all the pieces he did after retirement, Salim Saab was the exact opposite, preferring to stay within the background. He was in Mumbai for a while after retirement, however that was all after he moved to Jamnagar, the place he lived at his native place.

Today once I take into consideration all these reminiscences of him, I can say one hundred pc that India is not going to see a cricketer like Salim saab. Kapil Dev might be the one one who may come near him, however there is no such thing as a comparability between the 2. If we begin counting the nice gamers of India, then from 1 to 10 there shall be Salim Sahab and at quantity 11 you possibly can maintain Kapil Dev. He was class on and off the sector, a match winner in each approach. Nobody wins matches for you on their very own.

For instance, how nicely he performed the Fab Four spinners – Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, S Venkataraghavan, Bagwan Chandrasekhar. He may play four-five pictures for a specific ball. Today, due to T20 cricket, batsmen have higher vary, however earlier than the arrival of whiteball cricket, Salim Saab had that vary. He may hit the ball over extra-cover or mid-wicket or behind sq.. He had a lot time and infrequently he would wait until the final second and select locations to hit and the repute of the bowlers did not matter in any respect. Even the Fab Four weren’t spared in home cricket.

(Karsan Ghavri is a former Test cricketer, spoke to Venkat Krishna B)