INDIA: Salim Durani, a dapper cricketer for India in the 1960s with movie star features, a puckish sense of humour, and a penchant for smashing massive sixes, passed away on Sunday. He was 88 years old. The former all-rounder broke his thigh bone in an accident in January of this year, leading to proximal femoral nail surgery. He was a professional cricketer for India who participated in 29 Test matches between 1960 and 1973. Durani was an all-rounder known for his ability to smash sixes and was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler.
His demise was confirmed by sources close to his family. He had been residing in Jamnagar, Gujarat, with his younger sibling, Jahangir Durani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the demise of the former all-rounder.
Durani’s cricketing career
The powerful left-arm orthodox bowler and Kabul native Durani played 29 tests. He helped India beat England 2-0 in the historic five-match Test series in 1961–1962, taking eight and ten wickets in the team’s wins at Calcutta and Madras.
He is the sole Indian Test bowler who was born in Afghanistan. The former-all rounder played a key role in India’s series victory over England in 1961–1962. He took 8 and 10 wickets in their wins in Chennai and Kolkata, respectively.
Durani, who was known for his good looks and confidence, played 50 innings for his country and scored 1,202 runs. However, despite having seven 50-run innings and a total of 1,202 runs, he never got to 100. Ten years after India’s historic win over England, he was a key part of India’s victory over the West Indies in Port of Spain. He did this by getting rid of both Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd.
He only scored one century—104 against the West Indies in 1962—in his 50 Test games. He participated in first-class cricket matches for Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Saurashtra. In first-class cricket, where he scored 8545 runs at a 33.37 average, he recorded 14 hundreds. When Durani was not selected for the Kanpur Test in 1973, the crowd erupted with placards and cries of “No Durani, no test!” Durani had a unique rapport with the spectators.
The star cricketer also dabbled in Bollywood, starring opposite renowned actress Parveen Babi in the 1973 movie Charitra.
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