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| Full name | Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1949-12-29)29 December 1949 (age 76) Madras, (NowChennai), India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman,Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Sadiq Kirmani (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 138) | 24 January 1976 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 2 January 1986 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 17) | 21 February 1976 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 12 January 1986 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:ESPNCricinfo,20 August 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani (pronunciationⓘ; born 29 December 1949) is an Indian cricketer who playedcricket forIndia andKarnataka as awicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded theCol CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour bestowed byBCCI on a former player.[1] Kirmani was a member of the Indian team that won the1983 Cricket World Cup .
He started off as an understudy toFarokh Engineer in the tours of England in 1971 and 1974 and to the1975 World Cup. Kirmani made his debut againstNew Zealand and in his second Test, equalled the world record of six victims in an innings.[1]
When New Zealand toured India the next year, he topped the batting averages with 65.33, and scored 305 runs in thetour of Australia. He did not have a very good time behind the stumpsagainst Pakistan andWest Indies in 1978–79.
He was dropped in favour ofBharath Reddy for the1979 Cricket World Cup and the subsequent series against England.Sunil Gavaskar was also sacked as the captain. Though Kirmani was dropped ostensibly for performance, there was a rumour that the real reason was that both he and Gavaskar had been approached by the organisers of theKerry Packer'sWorld Series Cricket.[2]
Back in the team for the seriesagainst Australia in 1979–80, he scored a hundred as a nightwatchman in Bombay. His innings of 101* in five hours nearly lasted out the day. He had 17 catches and two stumpings against Pakistan in the same season and it equalledNaren Tamhane's Indian record for a single series. Against England in 1981–82, he did not concede a single bye in three consecutive Tests while 1964 runs were scored.
Kirmani won the award for the best wicket keeper in the1983 Cricket World Cup, his highlight of which was the catch ofFaoud Bacchus that he took in the final against theWest Indies. In the first round match againstZimbabwe, he equalled the then record by effecting three catches and two stumpings. Kirmani was a lower order reliable batsman and another example is the unbroken 126 for ninth wicket withKapil Dev againstZimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup with Kirmani contributing 24 runs and that partnership proved critical in India being able to continue their run in the tournament.[3]
AtBombay the next year, he scored his second hundred in Tests making 102 and adding 235 withRavi Shastri, still an Indian record for the seventh wicket. In the Madras Test in the same series, he missed some crucial catches which contributed to an Indian defeat. He was dropped at the end of that series in favour ofSadanand Viswanath.
Kirmani made a comeback in the Australian tour of 1985–86, where he fared reasonably well. He had just taken an outstanding catch to dismissAllan Border in a World Series Cup match, when he hurt his leg badly. He was forced to sit out of the remaining matches of the tournament and that effectively ended his international career. India went for younger keepers likeKiran More andChandrakant Pandit and despite trying hard, Kirmani was never able to regain his place.[4]
During his international career, his record included 160 catches and 38 stumpings during test matches, and 27 catches and 9 stumpings during one-day internationals.[1] Always a central figure on the field, he could dive and somersault to catch the ball, and was responsible for many run-outs.[5]
Later in his career he played forRailways in domestic cricket for a season, after which he returned to his former team,Karnataka.[2]
His son,Sadiq Kirmani (born 21 May 1989), is also an Indiancricketer who plays forKarnataka in domestic cricket.[6] He is a right-handed batsman andwicket-keeper.[7] Sadiq did his schooling inThe Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore.[8] Sadiq has two elder sisters. The oldest, Nishat Fatima, is married to the son of former India cricketerSyed Abid Ali.
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Kabhie Ajnabi The | Himself | Hindi | ||
| 2007 | Sixer | Kannada | [9] | ||
| 2010 | Deadly-2 | ||||
| 2012 | Mazhavillinattam Vare | Malayalam | Cameo | [10] |
A Bollywood film titled83 released in December 2021 about the event of India's first world cup win at Lords. The film featuresSahil Khattar as Kirmani and is produced byAnurag Kashyap.[11][12]
| Preceded by | Chairman, Selection Committee October 2003 – September 2004 | Succeeded by |
