Syed Abid Ali obit: A gritty all-rounder, ace fielder and a fitness freak

Syed Abid Ali, a star of the Indian cricket team in the 1960s and early 1970s, passed away on Wednesday (March 12) at Tracy in California. His relative, Reza Khan of the North American Cricket League (NACL), announced the news through a social media post. He was 83.

Abid Ali, an all-rounder who played 29 Tests for India between December 1967 and December 1974, was possibly ahead of his time as he was tailor-made for white-ball cricket. A lower-order batter, he also opened the innings as a batsman and a medium-pace bowler.

Had a peculiar action

Abid Ali, emerging from Hyderabad, had a peculiar round-arm action that helped him keep the bounce low, which troubled the batsmen. He had the rare honor of dismissing a batsman off the first ball of a Test match, getting Roy Fredricks bowled in the famous 1971 series versus the Windies, which India won. Abid was the non-striker when Sunil Gavaskar scored the winning runs against the West Indies in the Port of Spain Test of 1971. When West Indies tried to chase a challenging target in the final Test of the series, Abid bowled Rohan Kanhai and Garry Sobers off consecutive deliveries. Abid scored the winning runs against England later that year.

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Curious third act!

His delivery and bowling action were strange. As he neared the stumps towards the final act of delivery, Abid would go through the motions of a delivery but kept the batsmen guessing as he would not release the ball. It was only in the third act of a delivery that Abid would actually release the ball, leaving the batsmen frustrated and guessing.

In cold, biting conditions in New Zealand, Abid bowled his heart out, manfully shouldering the attack from one end and bowling long spells when most Indian fielders had their hands in their pockets due to the intense cold.

Terrific fielder too

Abid was also one of the finest fielders that India ever produced. A fitness freak, he would practice catching for long sessions.

An energetic fielder, he was one of the close-in quartet, along with Ajit Wadekar, Eknath Solkar, and S Venkatraghavan, to take stunning catches at the slips or at short-leg and put pressure on even the world's leading batsmen with their presence around the bat. Abid, like the other three, fielded close to the batsman. The catcher-quartet even took blows at a time when the fielders did not have the protective gear of today.

He used to water the roller at the Fateh Maidan, bounce a cricket ball off it and practise catching for hours together as the cherry ricocheted in different directions. “Fielding is an art which one has to enjoy to excel,” he was quoted as saying in an interview in 2006.

Abid Ali made his Test debut against Australia on December 23, 1967, and played his last Test against West Indies starting December 15, 1974. In 29 Tests, he scored 1,018 runs at an average of 20.36, scoring six half-centuries. His highest score was 81. Abid Ali also claimed 47 wickets at an average of 42.12 with a best haul of 6/55.

Had a stint at ODIs

He also represented India in five One-day International matches, scoring 93 runs with a top score of 70. He claimed seven wickets at 26.71. He also represented India in the World Cup.

Abid Ali was a stalwart of first-class cricket, scoring 8,732 runs in 212 matches, playing mostly for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. He scored 13 centuries and 31 fifties in FC with a top score of 173 not out. In these 212 matches, Abid Ali claimed 397 wickets bagging five wickets in an innings on 14 occasions. He also scored 169 runs in 12 List A matches and took 19 wickets.

Hyderabad days

Abid Ali attended St. George's Grammar School and All Saints High School in Hyderabad. In 1956, the selectors picked him to play for Hyderabad Schools, who were impressed by his fielding. He scored 82 against Kerala and won the best fielder's prize. A few years later, when the State Bank of Hyderabad formed a cricket team, he was given a job there. He started as a wicketkeeper before becoming a bowler.

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Abid made it to the Hyderabad junior side in 1958–59 and the state Ranji Trophy team in the next year. He scored over 2,000 runs and took over a hundred wickets for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. His highest individual score was 173 not out against Kerala in 1968-69 and his best bowling was 6 for 23 against Surrey at the Oval in 1974.

Coaching career

After retiring from cricket, Abid Ali shifted to the US, settling in California. He also helped promote cricket in California. Abid coached the junior team of Hyderabad for a few years, before moving to California in 1980. He coached Maldives in the late 1990s and the UAE between 2002 and 2005. Before coaching the UAE, he trained the Andhra team that won the South Zone league in Ranji Trophy in 2001–02.

Obituaries for Abid Ali appeared in the media in the early 1990s when he had survived a heart bypass surgery. His death was mistakenly announced on the air by former cricketer, Farokh Engineer. He is survived by two children, a daughter and a son.