Founder of Largest Cricket museum in the world in Dubai.
UAE
How Kiri stumped me with his passion for the game
By Shyam Bhatia ,
For me, “Kiri,” as I call him, is a genius. I took the liberty of calling him by his nickname because our mutual liking was as quick as his stumping. Kiri often asks me how, despite I living in the UAE, we became so close and stayed in constant touch. I once told him it was because I was “caught behind” by him from the day I saw him in action. He laughed and reminded me that cricket has a way of connecting people who love the game intensely and that our bond was forged through our shared passion for cricket.
I have seen Kiri in action in Sharjah only once during the 1985 Rothmans Cup, as, strangely, he was either rested or not considered for the tournaments here, giving others the opportunity to don the wicket-keeping gloves. He virtually owned India’s wicket-keeping gloves since stepping into the shoes of former wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer. Since I have travelled to many of the World Cup and India’s other international matches around the world, we’ve often met at various venues.
For me, he was not just another wicketkeeper. Although he batted down the order, he has played many match-winning knocks for India. In 1984, I was thrilled when he cracked 102 and added 235 runs with my other dear friend, Ravi Shastri, for the seventh wicket in Mumbai against England. We often recalled that knock during our conversations. I always told him that he was a “crisis man,” dismissing batsmen with breathtaking catches or stumpings when India badly needed a breakthrough. He would then remind me that he was picked for Indian schools as a batsman.
Kiri’s first Test hundred came in 1979 when he was sent in as a night watchman against Australia, and that too at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. I’ve read about Kiri’s fondness for sleep in Gavaskar’s book ‘Idols’. I’m sure that despite being not out the day before, he may have had a sound sleep and came out the next day to score that ton.
What has been so inspiring about Kiri is his agility. The manner in which he would fly like a bird to pull off catches often made me wonder whether he had wings. And the way he would spring up to take catches made me believe that he surely had springs on his heels.
Kiri is someone who enjoyed everything he did. When he acted in Bollywood movies like ‘Kabhi Ajnabi’ in 1985, ‘Sixer’ in 2007, ‘Deadly 2’ in 2010, and the Malayalam movie ‘Mazhavillinattam Vare’, it didn’t surprise me. For me, Kiri is a true all-rounder. It’s no wonder that he even bagged a Test wicket when Kapil Dev gave him the ball to bowl against Pakistan in the Nagpur Test during Pakistan’s 1983 tour of India. He clean-bowled opener Azeem Hafeez with his right-arm off-break.
Once, when he visited my museum, he remarked that he was amazed by the collections I had, but what impressed him the most was my contribution to creating facilities for budding cricketers. He wrote the same in the museum’s visitor diary too. I am aware that Kiri started playing cricket in the by-lanes, keeping wickets with bricks as gloves. To rise from such humble beginnings and win the Best Wicketkeeper award in the historic 1983 World Cup, where India emerged as champions, reveals his determination to be the best.
Within a few months of visiting my museum, I was touched by his gesture of gifting me his 25kg book on the 1983 World Cup, one of his prized personal possessions, for the museum. This heaviest book on cricket, created by Opus India, which specializes in limited-edition large-format books, shows his magnanimity in supporting those who love the game. Kiri also gifted to the museum his wicket-keeping gloves that he had worn for India and created numerous winning moments.
Whenever I meet Kirmani, I am always reminded of his catch that dismissed Faoud Bacchus in the 1983 final against the West Indies and his catch of Allan Border in the 1985-86 World Series Cup. As an Indian, I feel proud to recall those catches and often tell him how happy I am to sit with him and talk cricket off the field.
I have often listened to him give interviews and heard him say, “Enjoy every game and work hard.” I believe he is someone who has worked hard and enjoyed his whole life. His willingness to entertain himself turned out to be everyone’s joy.
From the Family!
