Salim Aziz Durani (born 11 December 1934) is a former 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 st ...

er who played in 29 Test matches from 1960 to 1973. An all-rounder, Durani was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-handed batsman famous for his six-hitting prowess. He is the only Indian Test cricketer to have been born in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. Durani was the hero of India's series victory against England in 1961–62. He took 8 and 10 wickets in their wins at

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

, respectively. Also, a decade later, he would be instrumental in India's maiden victory against the

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, taking the wickets of Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers. In his 50 Test innings, he made just the one

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, 104 against the West Indies in 1962. He played for

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and Saurashtra in first-class cricket. He made 14 hundreds in first-class cricket in which he managed 8545 runs at 33.37. Durani had a special rapport with the spectators, who once agitated when he was dropped from the team for the Kanpur Test in 1973, with placards and slogans such as, "No Durani, no test!" As he is the only Afghanistan-born Indian test cricketer he was present during the historic India vs Afghanistan test match on 14 June 2018. He appeared in the film ''Charitra'' with Parveen Babi in 1973. He was the first cricketer to win an

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

. He was awarded the

C.K. Nayudu Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (31 October 1895 – 14 November 1967), also known as CK, was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches. He played first-class cricket regularly until 1958, and returned for one last time in ...

Lifetime Achievement Award by the BCCI in 2011.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durani, Salim 1934 births Living people India Test cricketers Indian cricketers Rajasthan cricketers Central Zone cricketers Saurashtra cricketers Gujarat cricketers Vazir Sultan Tobacco cricketers Indian Starlets cricketers Recipients of the Arjuna Award Cricketers from Kabul Afghan emigrants to India Indian people of Pashtun descent Cricketers who have acted in films

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