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 striki ...
er who played in 29
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
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.
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 and
Chennai, respectively. Also, a decade later, he would be instrumental in India's maiden victory against the
West Indies at
Port of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
, taking the wickets of
Clive Lloyd and
Gary Sobers.
In his 50 Test innings, he made just the one
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 ...
, 104 against the West Indies in 1962. He played for
Gujarat,
Rajasthan 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
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 ...
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, one ...
. 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
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...
in 2011.
See also
*
List of Test cricketers born in non-Test playing nations
References
External links
*
{{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