Surinder Khanna (born 3 June 1956, in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

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 ...

) 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 striki ...

er. He played domestic cricket for

and played ten

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for

between 1979 and 1984. He was a

Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

Born

Surinder Khanna was born at 3 June 1956 in the capital of India, Delhi.

Domestic career

Surinder Khanna played for

in the

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 ...

. He made his debut in 1976. A century in each innings (111 and 128) in the Ranji Trophy final against

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in 1978–79 brought Surinder Khanna into the limelight. That season, he scored 657 runs (73.00) to star in Delhi's maiden triumph in the national competition. A capable wicketkeeper and a dashing middle order batsman, Khanna was a tower of strength to Delhi for many years and played a leading role in their successes in the late 70s and early 80s.

International career

When the selectors decided to drop

Syed Kirmani Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani (; born 29 December 1949) is an Indian cricketer who played cricket for Indian cricket team, India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in ...

for the tour of England in 1979, Khanna was given the big break. He was the designated wicket-keeper for India in the 1979 World Cup. He played without much success in all the three World Cup games and the Test place went to the other debutant Bharath Reddy. He did not enjoy a very good record in the first class games, scoring but 41 runs in six games (four innings). He was dropped from the Indian team after that. With Syed Kirmani and Bharath Reddy firmly entrenched as the two leading wicketkeepers in the country, Khanna's career seemed over. But he continued to do well for

and his natural style of play suited the ODI game. He was recalled back to the Indian team for the

1984 Asia Cup The 1984 Asia Cup (also known as the Rothmans Asia Cup) was the first edition of the Asia Cup. It was held in Sharjah, UAE, which was the location of the newly formed Asian Cricket Council. The new tournament was held between April 6–13, in 19 ...

held at

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

. He scored half centuries in low scoring encounters against

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 ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. India won the tournament and Khanna was named

Man of the Series In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. He was a member of the Indian team that went to Pakistan in October the same year. He played in the first ODI in which India lost to Pakistan by 46 runs. He was dropped after this game and never made it back to the Indian team. He continued to pile on the runs for Delhi and eventually finished his career with over 5000 First Class runs. He achieved his highest score of 220 not out against

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

in 1987–88. Between 1991 and 1992 he was the professional for Stewarts Melville Royal High CC in Edinburgh. During the 1991 season he scored 1098 runs at an average of 91.5. Nowadays, he is visiting AIR (All India Radio) studios as a cricketing expert during the matches.

International awards

One Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khanna, Surinder Delhi cricketers Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers North Zone cricketers 1956 births Living people Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Wicket-keepers