Bowled over by Durrani

Veteran cricketer Salim Durrani is deservingly the latest recipient of the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to the game.

Flamboyance and romance marked Salim Durrani's cricket, his cricketing career and his life in general. Were these two traits foreshadowed at his birth itself? Perhaps, yes. For the birth of this Pathan, hailing from Afghanistan, took place under the open skies at a historic site. Interviewing him a few years ago, I asked the septuagenarian cricketer about the two differing accounts of his birth – one mentioning his birthplace as Kabul and the other Karachi. “Neither”! Pat came the puzzling answer. Resolving the mystery, Durrani went on: “I was born under the open skies in a caravan camp in the Khyber Pass. (It is a 53-km passage through the Hindu Kush mountain range, connecting the northern frontier of Pakistan with Afghanistan. It was used by invaders, including Alexander the Great, to enter India). It was on December 19, 1937. My mother and her younger brother were on their way from Kabul to Karachi where my paternal uncle had a garage. My mother developed labour pains as the caravan was crossing the historic site. It was weeks later when we reached Karachi, my birth was registered. That is how my birthplace is given as Karachi."

Salim Aziz Durrani in his heyday strode two worlds that are made of the very stuff of glamour – cricket and cinema. Televisionhad just taken root in the twilight of Durrani's career in 1973. Tall, handsome and full of Pathan charm and innocence, Durrani would have been a smashing hit in T-20 and satellite TV channels, had they been in existence during his playing days. Durrani was an aggressive left-handed batsman who hammered the best of bowlers. He played a stellar role in India's landmark 1971 victory over the West Indies at Port of Spain, where he dismissed Clive Lloyd and skipper Gary Sobers (for a duck). An all-rounder, Durrani's only century came at Port of Spain during the 1962 tour. He was to bat at number nine, but was promoted to go in at the fall of the first wicket. In three hours of aggressive batting, Durrani electrified the field as he belted Hall, Sobers and Gibbs to all parts of the Queens Park Oval. He acted as the hero in BR Ishra's Charitra opposite another debutante, Parveen Babi. The film, released in October 1973, bombed at the box office.

Today, Durrani, 74, still retains his inherent charm and unassuming ways. He shuttles between Jamnagar, his home town, Mumbai and Delhi. Now and again, one can find him enjoying his glass of beer at New Delhi's Press Club , recognised only by senior journalists.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based freelance journalist.)

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