Abid Ali
Encyclopedia
Syed Abid Ali is a former all-rounder
Indian cricket
er. He was a watchful lower order batsman, a medium pace bowler and a brilliant fielder.
formed a cricket team, he was given a job there. He started off as a wicket keeper before becoming a bowler.
team in the next year.He hardly bowled in the first few years and did not score his first Ranji hundred till 1967. He was unexpectedly picked for the team to tour Australia
and New Zealand
that year.
He made it to the team for the first Test against Australia
possibly in the place of the captain M. A. K. Pataudi
who dropped out injured. Abid scored 33 in both innings and took 6 wickets for 55, the best by Indian on debut till then. Sent in to open the batting in the third Test, he hit 47. This was followed by innings of 81 and 78 in the final Test.
Abid was the non-striker when Sunil Gavaskar
scored the winning runs against the West Indies
in the Port of Spain
Test of 1971. When West Indies tried to chase a difficult target in the final Test of the series, Abid bowled Rohan Kanhai
and Garry Sobers in consecutive balls. A few months later, he hit the winning boundary when India defeated England
by four wickets at the Oval.
In the Manchester
Test of the same series, he took the first four wickets for 19 runs before lunch on the first day to reduce England to 4 for 41.
He played nine more Test matches, and scored 70 runs against New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup
. He continued to play first class cricket for four more years. Abid Ali scored more than 2000 runs and took over hundred wickets for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. His highest individual score was 173 not out against Kerala in 1968-69 and his best bowling was 6 for 23 against Surrey
at the Oval
in 1974.
.
His son Faaqir Ali, who was married to the daughter of the Indian cricketer Syed Kirmani
, died from a heart attack in April 2008.
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
Indian cricket
Indian cricket
Indian Cricket may refer to one of the following:*Cricket in India*Indian cricket team*Indian Cricket *Board of Control for Cricket in India...
er. He was a watchful lower order batsman, a medium pace bowler and a brilliant fielder.
Early life
Abid Ali attended the St. George's Grammar School and All Saints High School in Hyderabad. In 1956, he was picked to play for Hyderabad Schools by the selectors, who were impressed by his fielding. He scored 82 against Kerala and won the best fielder's prize. A few years later when State Bank of HyderabadState Bank of Hyderabad
State Bank of Hyderabad is an associate bank of State Bank of India , and is one of the scheduled banks in India. The Bank's Head Office is situated at Gunfoundry Area, in Hyderabad, India. SBH has over 1200 branches and about 12,800 employees. Assets are in excess of Rupees 767 billion...
formed a cricket team, he was given a job there. He started off as a wicket keeper before becoming a bowler.
Playing career
Abid made it to the Hyderabad junior side in 1958–59 and the state Ranji TrophyRanji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia...
team in the next year.He hardly bowled in the first few years and did not score his first Ranji hundred till 1967. He was unexpectedly picked for the team to tour Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
that year.
He made it to the team for the first Test against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
possibly in the place of the captain M. A. K. Pataudi
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansoor Ali Khan or Mansur Ali Khan , sometimes M.A.K. Pataudi , nicknamed Tiger Pataudi, was an Indian cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team...
who dropped out injured. Abid scored 33 in both innings and took 6 wickets for 55, the best by Indian on debut till then. Sent in to open the batting in the third Test, he hit 47. This was followed by innings of 81 and 78 in the final Test.
Abid was the non-striker when Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...
scored the winning runs against the West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
in the Port of Spain
Queen's Park Oval
Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies and has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean. It also hosted a number of matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. It is privately owned by the...
Test of 1971. When West Indies tried to chase a difficult target in the final Test of the series, Abid bowled Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...
and Garry Sobers in consecutive balls. A few months later, he hit the winning boundary when India defeated England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
by four wickets at the Oval.
In the Manchester
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
Test of the same series, he took the first four wickets for 19 runs before lunch on the first day to reduce England to 4 for 41.
He played nine more Test matches, and scored 70 runs against New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup
1975 Cricket World Cup
-Group B:-Knockout stage:-Semifinals:In the best World Cup performance to date by a bowler, Gary Gilmour took six wickets as England were bowled all out for 93 , after falling to 37/7...
. He continued to play first class cricket for four more years. Abid Ali scored more than 2000 runs and took over hundred wickets for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. His highest individual score was 173 not out against Kerala in 1968-69 and his best bowling was 6 for 23 against Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1974.
Coaching career
Abid coached the junior team of Hyderabad for a few years, before moving to California in 1980. He coached Maldives in late 1990s and UAE between 2002 and 2005. Before coaching UAE, he trained the Andhra team that won the South Zone league in Ranji Trophy in 2001-02. He currently continues to reside in California, where he now coaches promising youngsters at the Stanford Cricket Academy.Personal life
Obituaries for Abid appeared in the media in the early 1990s; in fact he had survived heart bypass surgeryCoronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease...
.
His son Faaqir Ali, who was married to the daughter of the Indian cricketer Syed Kirmani
Syed Kirmani
Padma Sri Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani played cricket for India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper.-International career:...
, died from a heart attack in April 2008.