Abbas Ali Baig (born 19 March 1939) is an Indian former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in 10

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

between 1959 and 1967. In a career spanning 21 years, he scored 12,367 runs in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

at an average of 34.16. He coached the Indian cricket team during its tour to Australia in 1991–92 and the

1992 Cricket World Cup The 1992 Cricket World Cup (officially the Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992) was the fifth staging of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in Australia and New Zealand from 22 February to 25 Mar ...

Biography

Born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Baig made his first-class debut during the 1954–55 Ranji Trophy, against

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. In his next match against

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, he scored 105 and 43 not out. At the end of the tournament, he ended up as his team's second-highest run scorer, scoring 187 runs at an average of 62.33. In the late 1950s, Baig moved to England and went to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. In 1959, he played 15 first-class matches for the university team. During this time, he scored 221 not out and 87 against

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Willi ...

and broke

Derrick De Saram Colonel Frederick Cecil "Derek" de Saram, OBE, ED (5 September 1912 – 11 April 1983) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, a Ceylon cricket captain, and an officer of the Ceylon Army. He led the attempted military coup of 1962. Early life and educat ...

's aggregate of 283 runs—208 and 75—to become the highest run scorer for the team in a first-class match. It was during this time

toured England. In the fourth match of the series, Baig was "summoned" to play for India, replacing the injured

Vijay Manjrekar Vijay Laxman Manjrekar (26 September 1931 – 18 October 1983) was an Indian cricketer who played 55 Tests. He represented several teams (Andhra, Bengal, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) in his first-class career. A small man, ...

. Aged 20 years and 131 days, Baig became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a century on debut when he made 112 in India's second innings. It was also the first century by an Indian debutant outside India. Despite another century from

Polly Umrigar Pahlan Ratanji "Polly" Umrigar (28 March 1926 – 7 November 2006) was an Indian cricketer. He played in Indian cricket team (1948- 1962) and played first-class cricket for Bombay and Gujarat. Umrigar played mainly as a middle-order batsman ...

, India lost the match. However, Baig retained his place in the team for the final match of the series. He also set the record for becoming the first batsman to score a century in the 4th innings of a test match on test debut. Following the series in England, Baig was included in the Indian squad for the home series against Australia later that year. In the second Test at

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

, he scored 19 and 36 runs in both the innings. The match marked India's first Test victory against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In the first innings of the next match at

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, he scored 50 and was involved in a crucial 133-run partnership with

Nari Contractor Nariman Jamshedji "Nari" Contractor (born 7 March 1934) is a former Indian cricket player, who was a left-handed opening batsman. His professional career ended after a serious injury. Cricket career Contractor began his first-class career, p ...

. Baig followed that with another half-century in the second innings when he made 58. His half-centuries helped India secure a

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. During a break in India's second innings, when Baig walked to the pavilion along with

Ramnath Kenny Ramnath Baburao Kenny (29 September 1930 – 21 November 1985) was an Indian cricketer who played in five Test matches between 1958 and 1960. He was an elegant right handed middle order batsman, "a front foot player with a sound defense" and ...

, he was kissed on his cheek by a young woman spectator, becoming the first Indian cricketer to be kissed on the field.

Vijay Merchant Vijay Singh Madhavji Merchant , real name Vijay Madhav Thackersey (12 October 1911 – 27 October 1987) was an Indian cricketer. A right-hand batter and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Merchant played first-class cricket for Bombay c ...

who was commentating then remarked "I wonder where all these enterprising young ladies were when I was scoring my hundreds and two hundreds." A painting called "The Kissing of Abbas Ali Baig", depicting the incident was featured in

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

's novel ''

The Moor's Last Sigh ''The Moor's Last Sigh'' is the fifth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 1995. It is set in the Indian cities of Bombay and Cochin. Title and influences The title is taken from the story of Muhammad XII of Granada, Boabdil, the last Moor ...

'' (1995). Baig's success in the 1959/60 season led to him being named as one of '' Indian Cricket''s five "Cricketers of the Year". In the following season, Baig had an unsuccessful outing against Pakistan, managing to score just 34 runs in four innings. This led to him being dropped from the side for the subsequent series. During this time, it was said he received hate mail for under-performing against fellow Muslims. However, he was impressive in the domestic circuit, scoring heavily in the

Ranji Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Ma ...

and

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, also known as Mastercard Duleep trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India. Named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as 'Duleep'), the competition wa ...

tournaments. In 1966, he was included in the team for the home series against West Indies. Baig scored 48 runs in two of the Tests he played in the series. He was dropped again and never played Test cricket again. He almost made it to the squad for the 1971 tour of West Indies before being dropped. He was selected in the Indian team that toured England in 1971. Baig's three younger brothers— Murtuza Baig, Mazhar Baig, and Mujtaba Baig—all played professional cricket. Murtuza played first-class cricket for Hyderabad but was less successful than Abbas.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baig, Abbas Ali 1939 births Living people India Test cricketers Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Indian cricketers Somerset cricketers South Zone cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Oxford University cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Hyderabad cricketers Indian Universities cricketers Cricketers from Hyderabad, India Alumni of University College, Oxford