Syed Kirmani

Farokh Engineer was replaced by Syed Kirmani as the wicket keeper of India. Later, Kirmani became the greatest wicket keeper India has ever produced.

During the dozen years that he played, there was a tremendous alteration in the way India played. In the initial part of his career, he had to tackle the famed spin quartet and this was not a very easy task. When they retired, Kapil Dev rose to prominence and Kirmani had to manage with a pace attack. Kirmani performed both roles with distinction and this is an evidence that he was a great keeper.

Amongst the tail enders, Kirmani was a stubborn batsman who recorded 2 Test centuries and resuced the national team on several occasions. He was certainly a key figure during the Indian victory in the 1983 Cricket world Cup. During this tournament, he was immaculate behind the stumps and additionally contributed as was expected from him with the bat. All throughout his career, he was a quietly efficient worker.

Career Highlights

Syed Kirmani participated in 49 ODIs and in these scored 373 runs with 48 not out as his highest score. His batting average was 20.72 and batting strike rate was 60.55. As a wicketkeeper, he took 27 catches and stumped 9 batsmen.