Syed Kirmani Biography 
Syed Kirmani is a former wicket keeper batsman of Indian cricket team. He was India’s wicketkeeper in historic win of World Cup in 1983. Not only that, he won the award for the best wicket keeper in the 1983 Cricket World Cup. The catch of Faoud Bacchus that he took in the final against the West Indies was the highlight of the series and one of the most memorable moment of this cricketer’s career.
Kirmani started off his cricket journey as an understudy to Farokh Engineer in the tours of England in 1971 and 1974. Later he assisted him in 1975 World cup also. Kirmani made his debut against New Zealand and in his second test match, he equaled the world record. He caught behind 6 victims which was equal to world record then. When New Zealand toured India the next year, he topped the batting averages with 65.33. During late 1970’s too, he was known as a good batsman than a wicket keeper and his records were not encouraging. Subsequently he was dropped in favour of Bharath Reddy for the 1979 Cricket World Cup. He lost next test series against England too.
He returned back to the team in 1979 where he scored a century as a night watchman against Australia. He had 17 catches and two stumpings against Pakistan in the same season equaling Indian record. Against England in 1981–82, he scored 1964 runs thus becoming a permanent member of the team. His achievements in the historic win of Kapil Dev’s World Cup placed him as the greatest wicketkeeper India ever had. He retired from International cricket after a leg injury in 1987 World cup. Later he played for Railways in domestic cricket for a season and for his state Karnataka. He has also appeared in the movie, Kabhi Ajnabhi The.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 23, 2014
