Syed Abid Ali      

Full name Syed Abid Ali

Born September 9, 1941, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Current age 68 years 79 days

Major teams India, Hyderabad (India)

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast

Abid Ali had the feet of a sprinter, the energy of a marathon runner and the will of a decathlete, but his misfortune was that he was born 20 years too early. His game was made to order for one-day cricket: he bowled brisk medium-pace, fielded outstandingly, and was a busy lower-order batsman who ran between the wickets as if on invisible skates. On his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane in 1967-68, he took a memorable 6 for 55, but Abid Ali was forever destined to play choirboy to India's famous spin quartet. In the same series, he scored 78 and 81 at Sydney, a performance that earned high praise from Jack Fingleton, the noted Australian cricketer-turned-journalist. His career ended abruptly when he was at his peak, after he had top-scored with 70 from No. 7 and taken 2 for 35 against New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup. A bizarre postscript to this premature curtailment came when Abid Ali had the dubious pleasure of reading his own obituary after Farokh Engineer mistakenly announced his death on the air.
H Natarajan

Jul 27, 1971

John Price is caught by Abid Ali off Srinivas Venkataraghavan for a duck

© Getty Images

Mar 10, 1971

Garry Sobers congratulates Syed Abid Ali and Sunil Gavaskar

© Cricinfo Ltd

1971

The 1971 Indian touring squad

© Wisden

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