Former India all-rounder, who turns 75 tomorrow, has had to battle hard at various stages of his life, especially after migrating to the US
Syed Abid Ali in action on the 1974 tour of England. Pic/Getty Images
If at all Syed Abid Ali had any lethargy, he left it all in the dressing room when he batted, bowled and fielded for India or Hyderabad, South Zone or State Bank.
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Tomorrow, India’s all-rounder of the late 1960s and early 1970s celebrates his 75th birthday in California.
Pundits reckon he would have been a great one-day player had he been born 20 years after September 9, 1941. After figuring in the inaugural World Cup in 1975, Abid declared that one-day cricket is here to stay and he was laughed at. That was his last year in international cricket.
There is good reason for Abid to celebrate his landmark birthday wholeheartedly in California tomorrow. For he has battled through some tough financial situations and health issues and, yet, has not lost his passion for the game.
Only recently, he was coaching in the south of India and enjoyed each day of his stint mainly because of the kind of talent he saw in the interiors.
I had the pleasure of meeting Abid for the first time in October 1997. He made no bones of the fact that he was looking to coach in India to better his financial position.
He had an open heart surgery a few years before that 1997 visit to India and many people were led to believe he had passed away. In fact, an obituary appeared in the wires and a player-turned-commentator even announced his death on air.
If Abid thought his problems had ended by the late 1990s, he was mistaken. In 2008, his 33-year-old son Faqeer, who married teammate Syed Kirmani’s daughter, collapsed to his death while playing club cricket in America. Abid’s financial condition deteriorated and off he went to umpire local cricket matches in California for 66 dollars per game. In 2014, he endured another heart ailment.
Of course, the Indian cricket board’s one-time payment grant to former players has helped him tide over his financial problems and I had the pleasure of informing him in 2012 of the Rs 60 lakh allotted to him. He couldn’t believe it and exclaimed, “I really need the money. Somehow, God has sent it to the BCCI and the people there have been gracious enough to pass it on. It feels as great as winning a match.”
I asked him in 1997 why he decided to migrate. “That’s a tough question,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have done it, but I did (in 1980) because I wanted my children to be well educated.”
A benefit match was organised for him the following year at the Wankhede Stadium where Abid was given a Rs 15.2 lakh purse by Cricket for Care.
His 29-Test career started in sterling fashion in 1967-68 at the Adelaide Oval where he came on as first change to claim 6 for 55. As opener, he scored 78 and 81 in the final Test of that series which India lost 0-4. But his most satisfying of batting performances was the 71 in the cold weather of Manchester, where he put on 85 runs with centurion Gavaskar, clearly the best of the latter’s early hundreds.
Abid Ali was at the crease when India won at Queen’s Park Oval and Kennington Oval in 1971. In the West Indies, it was his batting partner Sunil Gavaskar who hit the winning runs, while India crossed the line in London through a cut shot by Abid Ali off Brian Lukhurst with Farokh Engineer at the other end. A few balls earlier, Engineer had urged Abid, who walked in at the fall of Gundappa Vishwanath’s wicket, to play safe and rule out the big shots. Next ball, Abid steps out and England’s redoubtable wicketkeeper Alan Knott missed an easy stumping. Abid, tears of joy rolling down his cheeks, was lifted by Indian supporters on the way to the Oval pavilion even as Engineer tried to make his way through the crowd to reach the pavilion steps.
Engineer and Abid played the 1975 World Cup together and they had a dressing room spat in the match against East Africa at Leeds. Sunil Gavaskar in his book Sunny Days compared it to a Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier bout. “The difference being,” Gavaskar wrote, “that both threatened each other with bats. Unfortunately, for the bat manufacturers, the stronger bat was never found out, because the other members of the team intervened and stopped the quarrel from proceeding further. Yet, it was horrible while it lasted.”
Abid must have been really livid to nearly beat up a teammate because those who know him swear that he doesn’t possess a mean bone. Of course, he could be hard on shirkers and always believed in training hard.
Many great cricket writers reported on Abid’s cricket — Jack Fingleton, Ray Robinson, EW Swanton and India’s finest KN Prabhu — but the man himself sums up his career most aptly: “I enjoyed every minute as a player and I always gave 110 per cent because I believe that’s the only way to play any game.” Those who followed Abidbhai’s career can vouch for the fact that he means every word.
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
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