Salim Durani (; ; 11 December 1934 – 2 April 2023) was an Afghan-born Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played in 29 Test matches from 1960 to 1973. An all-rounder, Durani was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-handed batsman famous for his

six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

-hitting prowess. He was the only Indian Test cricketer to have been born in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He was the first cricketer to win an

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

. In 2011, he was awarded the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour bestowed by the Indian cricket board on a former player.

Early life

Salim Durani was born in a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family in

. His father Abdul Aziz Durani was a professional cricketer. Impressed by his wicket-keeping and batting performances for Nawanagar in their tour of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in 1935, Abdul Aziz was offered a job as a

sub-inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police or police sub-inspector (PSI), is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which are primarily based on the British model. It was form ...

by the then Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, which was when the Durani family settled in

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city and the headquarters of Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some west of the state capital, Gandhinagar. The city was the capital of Nawanagar State, Na ...

. After India's partition in 1947, Aziz moved to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, while his family stayed in Jamnagar. Future Pakistan national cricketer Hanif Mohammad was Aziz's student there. Salim Durani left

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

along with his parents when he was three years old.

Cricket career

Durani was the hero of India's series victory against England in 1961–62. He took 8 and 10 wickets in their wins at

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, respectively. Also, a decade later, he would be instrumental in India's maiden victory against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, taking the wickets of

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese- British former cricketer and captain of the West Indies cricket team. Lloyd is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains of all time. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in ...

and Gary Sobers. In his 50 Test innings, he made just one

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

, 104 against the West Indies in 1962. He played for

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

in first-class cricket. He made 14 hundreds in first-class cricket and managed 8,545 runs at 33.37. Durani had a special rapport with the spectators, who once agitated when he was dropped from the team for the

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

Test in 1973, turned up with placards and slogans such as, "No Durani, no test!" As the only Afghanistan-born Indian test cricketer, he was present during the historic India vs Afghanistan test match on 14 June 2018.

Film career

Durani appeared in the film ''Charitra'' with

Parveen Babi Parveen Sultana Wali Mohammad Khanji Babi (; 4 April 195420 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model, who worked in Hindi films. One of the highest-paid actresses of the 1970s and the 1980s, she appeared in over 70 films and was the first ...

in 1973. He was the first cricketer to win an

. He was awarded the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

in 2011.

Death

Salim Durani died from cancer on 2 April 2023, at the age of 88. He was living with his brother, Jahangir Durani, in Gujarat's

and had undergone surgery for a thigh bone fracture earlier in the year. It was observed on numerous occasions, that Salim Durrani would hit a six on the demand of the audience in the cricket field. People also called him a romantic hero. Prime Minister of India

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

expressed grief over his death.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durani, Salim 1934 births 2023 deaths Cricketers from Nangarhar Province Afghan emigrants to India Indian people of Afghan descent Indian people of Pashtun descent People from Jamnagar Cricketers from Gujarat Indian cricketers Indian Muslims India Test cricketers Rajasthan cricketers Central Zone cricketers Saurashtra cricketers Gujarat cricketers Vazir Sultan Tobacco cricketers Indian Starlets cricketers Recipients of the Arjuna Award Deaths from cancer in India Cricketers from Delhi