Imran Ali (date of birth unknown) was an Indian

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 regularly for

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. A talented junior player, he toured Ceylon with an India Schools representative side in April 1964, and made his first-class debut for Vidarbha during the 1964–65 season. Playing as a middle-order batsman, Imran established himself as a regular player in Vidarbha's

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

team throughout the next decade, and during the 1968–69 season even played two matches for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy, although without much success. He retired at the end of the 1976–77 season after thirteen seasons for Vidarbha, having captained the side in his final two seasons.

Cricket career

Little is known of Imran's early life, including his date and place of birth.Imran Ali player profile and statistics
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 June 2013. His first matches at higher levels came for a

team in the 1962–63 and 1963–64 editions of the Cooch Behar Trophy, a school-based tournament. His good form for Vidarbha led to his selection first for a Central Zone Schools side, and then for an India Schools side that toured Ceylon (now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) in April 1964, and included future Test cricketers

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, Ashok Gandotra, and Eknath Solkar. Imran scored a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in the team's match against a Jaffna Schools side, an innings of 102 not out batting alongside Ramesh Nagdev, who scored 85 runs. Following on from this good form at junior levels, Imran made his first-class for Vidarbha's senior side during the 1964–65 season of the

, and went on to play in each of the team's three matches during the tournament,First-class matches played by Imran Ali (45)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 June 2013. scoring his first half-century, an innings of 83 runs, in the final match against Madhya Pradesh. He soon established himself as a regular player in Vidarbha's side, usually as a middle-order batsman.First-class batting and fielding in each season by Imran Ali
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 June 2013. An innings of 94 runs scored against Rajasthan during the 1968–69 season led to Imran's selection to play for Central Zone in that season's edition of the Duleep Trophy. However, he played only two matches for Central Zone (the second against the touring Australians), and was not selected in the side in later seasons. Imran remained a consistent, although not outstanding, player for Vidarbha throughout the 1970s. Arguably his most successful seasons came towards the middle of the decade: he scored over 200 runs during both the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons, averaging 37.91 runs over both seasons combined. Imran's only first-class

was an innings of 104 not out scored against Railways in November 1975. This included a 96-run partnership with Sirish Najbile (60 runs) for the fifth wicket. The 1976–77 season was Imran's last at first-class level. For his final two seasons, he replaced Murthy Rajan as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Vidarbha, captaining the side in eight matches for five draws and three losses.Imran Ali as captain in first-class matches where team is Vidarbha
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 June 2013. He finished his career having scored 1,799 runs from 45 first-class matches, at an average of 23.98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Imran 20th-century births Central Zone cricketers Living people Indian cricketers Place of birth missing (living people) Vidarbha cricketers Year of birth missing (living people)