The life and times of Abid Ali

The late S Abid Ali at the Brabourne Stadium in 1997. Pic/mid-day archives

Just before the Indian team was picked for their 1967-68 tour of Australia, the late sports writer GK Menon had a little bet with his sports editor KN Prabhu over whether Syed Abid Ali would get into MAK Pataudi's touring team.

Menon was at the Brabourne Stadium, where ML Jaisimha's South Zone was tackling Chandu Borde's West Zone in the October 28-31, 1967 Duleep Trophy final.
Nari Contractor, who had not played Test cricket since his head injury on the 1961-62 tour of the West Indies, believed he stood a chance. He also scored a hundred off the South Zone attack. The selectors picked Abid Ali, who claimed four of the six second innings West Zone wickets as his team clinched the trophy on the basis of a first innings lead. Menon won his bet and backed Abid Ali to perform well in his first opportunity of the Test series, which Prabhu covered from the press boxes in Australia.

The news of 83-year-old California-based Abid Ali's death arrived on Wednesday.

Abid Ali grabbed his opportunity and claimed 6-55; his Test debut scalps including reputed openers Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry, Bob Cowper, Barry Jarman, Graham McKenzie and Johnny Gleeson. He also scored 33 in each innings as India, led by stand-in captain Chandu Borde, lost the Test.

Borde was deeply saddened when I delivered news of his teammate's passing on Wednesday. "Abid was a great contributor to the team. He bowled so well in the Adelaide Test. I remember the Australian umpiring not being good, though. Abid was very agile as a fielder, a dependable batsman, who could indulge in fine strokeplay," said Borde during his evening walk in Pune.

Grit and determination went hand in hand with Abid Ali. In those days, when peak fitness was not given the importance as in today's cricket, he ensured he was in top shape. Running up and down the stands of Hyderabad's Lal Bahadur Stadium was his favourite fitness regime as was training hard on the Secunderabad Gymkhana grounds.

He was probably an unsung hero of India's 1971 series wins in the West Indies and England. When Dilip Sardesai was dismissed with India 40 runs short of the 124-run target at Trinidad, skipper Ajit Wadekar promoted Abid Ali to join Test debutant Sunil Gavaskar to help reach the target with no more damage. The job was done!

Abid Ali told me in an interview that he felt Gavaskar deserved to hit the winning runs in the 1971 Trinidad Test, so he tapped a full toss when India were on the verge of victory, to give the young star the honour of hitting the winning runs.

His turn came at The Oval a few months later and he grabbed it with Farokh Engineer at the other end.

Abid Ali's winning shot - a cut off Brian Luckhurst - was a surprise for Engineer because it was Abid Ali who kept telling him not to take any risks while guiding India to the four-wicket win.

"It was an emotional affair. I was lifted up [by some spectators] and I had tears in my eyes.

"We never ever thought of doing anything other than playing cricket on that tour," he told me.

In the several conversations he had with me, Abid said he was very proud of what he did in 1967-68 and on the 1971 tours. But the 0-3 loss to England in 1974 broke him. His international career ended after the inaugural World Cup in 1975.

He expressed his desire to write a book someday and assured the 1974 chapter would be the most controversial one of all.

Talking of 1974, the photograph of Abid Ali congratulating Gavaskar on his first hundred in England during the Manchester Test of that summer, is a memorable one. English batting great Denis Compton wrote in Sportsweek that Gavaskar's century in Old Trafford would rank "among the greatest."

Abid Ali's innings of 71 attracted praise from Compton as well: "What tremendous support Ali provided. These two smashed the England attack to all parts of the field [in their 85-run stand for the eighth wicket in India's first innings]. The large Indian contingent loved it - of course - but so did we all, for it was batting that we so seldom see these days. Ali's innings was thrilling and of aggressive strokes. He took all the England bowlers by the scruff of the neck."

When I met Abid Ali for the first time in October 1997, he was not coy to reveal the financial stress he was enduring while living in America; an open heart surgery in 1995 not helping matters.

Abid Ali was back in Mumbai six months later. At the Wankhede Stadium, he was presented a purse of R15.2 lakh after a match between an Indian XI and Arjuna Ranatunga XI. All his India teammates I spoke during the charity game waxed eloquent on Abid Ali's skills. The late Ajit Wadekar, his captain from 1971 to 1974, paid him the biggest compliment. "His shooters put the West Indies on the back foot in 1971. I have yet to see a better team man than him. Whether it was batting, bowling or fielding… he gave his best," said Wadekar.

And that's exactly how Syed Abid Ali would like to be remembered. As for us, his admirers, we would also want to remember him as a kind man, who took the blows of life on his chin.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello

Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper