He is one of the unsung heroes of Indian cricket. Syed Abid Ali who passed away recently at the age of 83 never really got his due despite rendering yeoman service to Indian cricket from 1967 to 1975, says Partab Ramchand. Ali had his ups and downs, was in and out of the side, but the fighter in him always came through and he came up with sparking performances to prove his worth time and again, Ramchand points out. Ali figured in 29 Tests and five ODIs running up a more than useful record
Indeed, Abid Ali would have excelled in the T-20 format. He would have been one of the first choices for an IPL franchisee for his approach mirrored the kind of cricket being played today. As a medium pace bowler he was not that incisive but was difficult to get away as his late prodigious swing always had the batsmen guessing. His batting was based on attacking principles and more than once he outshone even Farokh Engineer while at the crease. He was a sharp close-in fieldsman but was second to none in sprinting to get to the ball before it reached the ropes. This came naturally to him for he was a speedy runner between wickets often completing three runs while his partner was just commencing the third. And he was a fitness fanatic at a time when fitness was generally an ignored aspect of Indian cricket.
Abid fitted in admirably with the glamorous stars of Hyderabad cricket who included M.A.K. Pataudi, M.L. Jaisimha and Abbas Ali Baig. In fact, it was his sterling perormances for Hyderabad and South Zone that got him his India cap for the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1967-68. He was a success right away taking six for 55 in Australia’s first innings in his debut Test in Adelaide, besides scoring 33 in each innings. He did better than expected on the tour, the highlight being successive innings of 47, 78 and 81 in Brisbane and Sydney during which he pushed even the swashbuckling Engineer to the background. By now he was opening the batting and bowling, a feat he performed in quite a few Tests in his career.
Abid Ali played in all eight Tests on that dual tour and had done enough to command a regular place in the Indian team but for the home series against New Zealand and Australia in 1969-70, he figured in only four of the eight Tests. His bowling was ideal for overseas conditions but at home he was forced to play second fiddle to the famed spin quartet which had by now taken shape. He took 36 wickets from 19 Tests abroad but was restricted to just eleven wickets from ten Tests at home. As expected, he was most effective in England, the piece de resistance coming at Manchester in 1971 when he had a spell of four for 15 leaving England at tatters at 41 for four, his victims being John Edrich, Keith Fletcher, John Jameson and Basil D’Oliveria.
After having a restricted appearance during the 1969-70 season, Abid Ali’s career looked to be over but he fought back with some sterling performances during the 1970-71 domestic season forcing the selectors to recall him for the tour of West Indies in early 1971. Abid did well enough and there were a couple of highlights too. The first was bowling Roy Fredericks with the first ball of the match in the second Test at Port of Spain, a rare occurrence for an Indian bowler. And in the final Test at the same venue, he bowled Gary Sobers first ball. In between, there was the customary half century in the third Test in Guyana as also the fact that he was there at the finish with Sunil Gavaskar when India registered a historic maiden victory over the West Indies in the second Test.
At Port of Spain, Abid Ali had been Gavaskar’s partner when the opener hit the winning boundary in his debut Test. Five months later, he had the honour of hitting the winning boundary at the Oval that signalled India’s historic Test victory in England that also sealed for them the series. He came back from the tour with his reputation enhanced but at home during the 1972-73 series against England he was reduced to sending down just a few overs with the new ball before the spinners got to the real business of bowling out the opposition. Back in England in 1974, he did reasonably well on that disastrous tour, the highlight being a bright 71 from No. 9 in Manchester. But after two Tests against West Indies at home in 1974-75, he was discarded never to be considered again though he remained in contention for the tour of New Zealand and West Indies in early 1976 and for the trip to Australia in 1977-78.
However, Abid’s India career was not yet over. He had figured in the first two ODIs that India played in England in 1974 and was an automatic selection for the first World Cup in the same country the following year. Abid proved that he had still some cricket left in him, symbolized by his gallant 70 (top score) against New Zealand. That, however, proved to be his last knock in the India cap. Somehow, figures of 1018 runs and 47 wickets from 29 Tests don’t exactly reflect his lion-hearted showing on the field.
(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)
from Webdoux