By Prakash Bhandari
Salim Aziz Durani, 88 who passed away in Jamnagar in Gujarat was the first poster boy of Indian cricket and enjoyed the popularity that the superstars of the sixties and seventies like Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand enjoyed.
He was among the first to promote the willow sport as a glamorous game with his personal charm. The six footer towering Pathan of Afghan origin was a master stroke player and was best suited for the limited over cricket to present day high-octane T20 format. It was the misfortune of the ‘Prince of Cricket’ Salim Durani that he was over the hill when the limited over cricket came into being.
This author has been an intimate friend of Salim for the past 50 years and spent hours and hours with him talking to him about cricket and his life. The blue-eyed handsome man unfolded the many aspects of his cricketing exploits and his personal life and how he became a ladies’ man.
“My fans say I used to hit a six on any ball on demand from the gallery.It all began in a match in Nagpur when I was smashing six after six. Interestingly, the ball would land over the fence in the ladies gallery who were yelling demanding sixes from me.After that the media started dubbing me as Mr Six. All I can say is that I used to play each ball on its merit,” Durani told this author in Jaipur, sipping his favourite beer.
“It was a sheer chance that there were some loose cannons thrown at me and my bat swung into action to punish such balls and invariably it went over the boundary. In fact, it was against the Tony Lewis English team when batting against Norman Gifford or the left arm spinner Derek Underwood that I batted with ease and lifted their ball to get some fresh air in the sky,” he informed.
“Underwood was rated a better left -arm bowler than Bishan Bedi. But I found that Underwood could be hit and I did exactly that. One such towering six landed on a very large hoarding of Lipton Tea. After that people started demanding sixes to hit several advertising hoardings in Bombay. It was just a coincidence and people started expecting fire play from me every time I entered the ground with a bat. No cricketer can boast of hitting every ball over the boundary except Sir Gary Sobers who was the first to hit all six balls to a six,” Durani added.
Durani however, said he would have done wonders in the limited-over cricket with his wide array of strokes and would have entertained the crowd.
“I played my cricket when it was a religion to many. Now the world of cricket has changed with various formats and tones of money. Often my old fans tell me that I was born too early and had I been playing today, I would have been the king of the one-day limited overs cricket. The flush of funds and the millions that today’s cricketers make are all god sent. I am not envious of those who are making millions. It’s their era and I had my era,” Salim had said, philosophically.
Salim said he belonged to an Afghan Pathan family and his father Aziz Durani learnt his cricket in Karachi where he used to work with his brother in a motor garage. Later his father shifted to Jamnagar after he was hired by the ruler to play for his team.
“I learnt my cricket from my father as a toddler. My father was a cricketer and he was hired by Maharaja Ranjit Singh “Ranji” of Nawanagar to play for his team as a wicket keeper and was given the job of a policeman. We moved to Jamnagar where my father was employed as a policeman. My first love was tennis and my brother Jehangir used to play hockey,” he said.
In his early days, he used to play with the great Vinoo Mankad and he made his debut for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy in 1953.
Salim could not succeed in his debut Test, but Raj Singh Dungarpur helped him a lot by building his confidence and soon he was found excelling in domestic cricket. A good performance in the Ranji Trophy both with bat and ball helped him find a place against the touring England team under Ted Dexter.
Durani’s greatest moment came in the 1961-62 series against England when in the Calcutta Test, his eight-wicket match haul helped India beat Ted Dexter’s team. Prior to his playing for the Rajasthan XI at Jaipur on a matting wicket Durani smashed century against the MCC.
Later, at Chepauk in Chennai, his 10-wicket match haul enabled India to beat England. This was enough for Salim to find a place in the Indian team’s tour of West Indies in 1962 under Nari Contractor.
‘Prince of Cricket’ Salim Durani.
This was the era when West Indies thrived on the fiery pace of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith. But Salim stood like Rock Of Gibraltar in the Port of Spain Test of 1962 to score 104 runs, his only Test century.
Not many people know that Salim desired to become an actor in Bollywood and when K Asif was planning to make Mughal –E- Azam, Salim was among the youth who was shortlisted by Asif. But the role eventually went to Dilip Kumar.
Salim however fulfilled his dream of acting in a film when late B R Ishara cast him in the lead role opposite Parveen Babi in ‘Charitra’. It’s a known fact that Parveen Babi fell in love with Salim, who was already a married man with a daughter. Salim also appeared in another film ‘Akhri Din, Pahli Raat,’ which remains unfinished. This film was written by Meena Kumari, who was Salim’s fan.
He lived with his nephews and niece in a flat after selling the ancestral house. He would live on the monthly Rs 60,000 pension that he received. He was happy that the Rajasthan government named the sports school after him.
Salim lived the life of a Shahzada who was a pauper, but had a great heart. There would never be another Salim.
‘Prince of Cricket’ Salim Durani.
