Syed Abid Ali
CountryIndia
Birth date9 September 1941
Birth placeHyderabad, Hyderabad State, British Raj
Death date12 March 2025 (aged 83)
Death placeUnited States
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
RoleAll-rounder
Internationaltrue
Testdebutdate23 December
Testdebutyear1967
TestdebutagainstAustralia
Testcap116
Lasttestdate15 December
Lasttestyear1974
LasttestagainstWest Indies
Odidebutdate13 July
Odidebutyear1974
OdidebutagainstEngland
Odicap1
Lastodidate14 June
Lastodiyear1975
LastodiagainstNew Zealand
Club 1Hyderabad
Year 11959/60–1978/79
Columns4
Column 1Test
Matches 129
Runs 11,018
Bat avg 120.36
100s/50s 10/6
Top score 181
Deliveries 14,164
Wickets 147
Bowl avg 142.12
Fivefor 11
Tenfor 10
Best bowling 16/55
Catches/stumpings 132/–
Column 2ODI
Matches 25
Runs 293
Bat avg 231.00
100s/50s 20/1
Top score 270
Deliveries 2336
Wickets 27
Bowl avg 226.71
Fivefor 20
Tenfor 20
Best bowling 22/22
Catches/stumpings 20/–
Column 3FC
Matches 3212
Runs 38,732
Bat avg 329.30
100s/50s 313/41
Top score 3173*
Deliveries 325,749
Wickets 3397
Bowl avg 328.55
Fivefor 314
Tenfor 30
Best bowling 36/23
Catches/stumpings 3190/5
Column 4LA
Matches 412
Runs 4169
Bat avg 428.16
100s/50s 40/1
Top score 470
Deliveries 4783
Wickets 419
Bowl avg 419.31
Fivefor 40
Tenfor 40
Best bowling 43/20
Catches/stumpings 45/–
Date30 September
Year2008

Syed Abid Ali pronunciation (9 September 1941 – 12 March 2025) was an all-rounder Indian cricketer who was a lower-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler. He played an important role in Indian cricket in the 1960s and '70s.

Early life

Abid Ali attended St. George's Grammar School and All Saints High School in Hyderabad.[1] In 1956, he was picked to play for Hyderabad Schools by the selectors, who were impressed by his fielding. He scored 82 against Kerala and won the best fielder's prize. A few years later, when the State Bank of Hyderabad formed a cricket team, he was given a job there. He started off as a wicket keeper before becoming a bowler.[2]

Playing career

Abid made it to the Hyderabad junior side in 1958–59 and the state Ranji Trophy team in the next year. He hardly bowled in the first few years and did not score his first Ranji hundred till 1967. He was unexpectedly picked for the Indian team that toured Australia and New Zealand that year.

He made it to the team for the first Test against Australia possibly in the place of the captain, M. A. K. Pataudi, who dropped out injured. Abid scored 33 runs in both innings and took 6 wickets for 55,[3] the best by an Indian on debut at that point. Sent in to open the batting in the third Test, he hit 47. This was followed by innings of 81 and 78 in the final Test.

Abid was the non-striker when Sunil Gavaskar scored the winning runs against the West Indies in the Port of Spain Test of 1971. When West Indies tried to chase a difficult target in the final Test of the series, Abid bowled Rohan Kanhai and Garry Sobers off consecutive balls. A few months later, he hit the winning boundary when India defeated England by four wickets at the Oval.[4]

In the Manchester Test of the same series, he took the first four wickets for 19 runs before lunch on the first day to reduce England to 4 for 41.

He played nine more Test matches, and scored 70 runs against New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup. Abid continued to play first class cricket for four more years. He scored more than 2,000 runs and took over a hundred wickets for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. His highest individual score was 173 not out against Kerala in 1968-69 and his best bowling was 6 for 23 against Surrey at the Oval in 1974.

Coaching career

Abid coached the junior team of Hyderabad for a few years, before moving to California in 1980. He coached the Maldives in late 1990s and the UAE between 2002 and 2005. Before coaching the UAE, he trained the Andhra team that won the South Zone league in Ranji Trophy in 2001–02. Abid resided in California in his later years. He coached promising youngsters at the Stanford Cricket Academy before retiring.[4]

Personal life and death

Obituaries for Abid Ali appeared in the media in the early 1990s when he had in fact survived a heart bypass surgery.[4] His death was mistakenly announced on the air by Indian former cricketer Farokh Engineer.[5]

Abid Ali had two children, a daughter and a son. Later in life, he resided in the United States,[6] where he died on 12 March 2025, at the age of 83.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Siddiqui, Ahmed Mohiuddin (13 December 2015). "All Saints' High School – 160 Glorious Years of Academic Excellence!". The Moroccan Times. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Syed Abid Ali, Indian Crickter". Veethi.com
  3. ^ "1st Test: Australia v India at Adelaide, Dec 23-28, 1967". Cricinfo. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  4. ^ "Sports News Today, Live Cricket Score, Football News, Sports Videos". Sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  5. ^ Natarajan, H. "Syed Abid Ali". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  6. ^ Gupta, Abhijit Sen (9 September 2021). "Lion-hearted all-rounder Syed Abid Ali turns 80". The Siasat Daily
  7. ^ "Syed Abid Ali passes away at 83". Sportstar.thehindu.com. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.

Bibliography

  • Sujit Mukherjee, Matched winners, Orient Longman (1996), p 76-90
  • Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Who's Who of Test Cricketers