1983 World Cup Team Mate .
Syed Kirmani was most brilliant behind the sticks and among the pluckiest in front .We played for many years together for India and his contribution in the team’s successes-in Tests and ODI’s-was monumental.
As a wicket-keeper ,he was technically the best with only England’s Bob Taylor in close competition among the many wicket keepers I’ve seen in international and domestic cricket,whether in India or in England when playing for Glamorgan.
Taylor had agility and finesse,but Id rate Kiri a nose head .He was the more “complete”playing at home or overseas.
It was generally assumed that Kirmani was brilliant when keeping to spinners because he has been weaned on pitches that assisted spin and knew India’s spin bowlers extremely well.But that is simplistic logic and belies the difficulty quotient wicket -keepers can face on rank turners,especially when you have maestros like Prasanna ,Bedi,Chandra and Venkatraghavan with all their variations ,in your bowling attack.
The famed spin quartet were at their best in the 1970’s .Kiri’s introduction to International cricket was delayed because of the larger than life presence of Farokh Engineer .But he got the break ,in the 1975 -76 season he quickly established his credentials and there was no looking back.
He was a part of Bishen Bedi’s team that chased down a world record score against Clive Loyd’s mighty Team.Bedi was to tell me later that Kirmani’s great Glovework to him ,Chandra made them better ,more confident wicket taking bowlers.
I got to appreciate this first hand in my debut match itself ,against New Zealand in 1980-81.I realized why all Indian bowlers saw Kiri with high degree of admiration and gratitude.He moved superbly behind the stumps when keeping even to the likes of unpredictable ,unorthodox bowlers like Chandra or guileful masters like Bedi and Pras,But equally important was how he helped me to strike a balance between attack and defense,reading the technique and mental make up of batsmen adroitly guiding us to success.
Kiri’s batting never got the credit it deserved .He was no technician or stylist .But he had a technique of his own.He relied heavily on hand eye coordination with the ability to be unorthodox ,yet mighty effective.Above all ,he had a big heart and grit,without which consistent success at the highest level is impossible .
Kiri’s supporting knock to Kapil Dev’s blazing brilliance in the 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe is unforgettable.Without his stodgy defiance,I dare we couldn’t have won the World Cup.
Till the time we were together in the team ,I really enjoyed batting with Kiri and this shows up in the several substantial partnerships against most countries we had that helped the team get out of crises.Like the match winning 235 run partnership at Mumbai against David Gowar’s England team which bailed us out of trouble and helped win the opening Test of the series .Throughout the partnership,Kiri kept encouraging me “Don’t worry ,keep your end going”because I was still a junior in the team.
That also showed Kir’s character .We both got hundreds in that game .He always put the team interest first.We played a lot together ,as mentioned and Kiri was areal character in the dressing room with a wicked sense of humour.By giving himself a Kojack like make over with a clean shaven head he was someone you just couldn’t miss even in a crowd.But what I loved most about him was his sense of commitment and positivity .In the most dire crisis,Kiris broad smile and the words “yeh kuch nahi hai ,sambhal lenge”[There is nothing,we can’t handle ]never failed to elevate the mood in the Indian dressing room.
His book should be a great read.True to the man.A terrific Cricketer,a great Bloke with an eye of a dead fish when it came to appreciating the good things in Life ..God Bless you Kiri Mia….
