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New Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Cricketer Syed Kirmani reasserts Hyderabadi roots during book launch
HYDERABAD: Former Indian cricketer Syed Kirmani said his roots are in Hyderabad. 'I am proud to be Hyderabadi. My roots are there in Hyderabad. I studied at All Saints' School in the city. VVS Laxman also studied in the same school,' he said. On Sunday, Labour Minister G Vivek Venkatswamy launched Stumped, a book authored by Kirmani. Recalling a moment from the 1983 World Cup final, Kirmani said: 'Balwinder Singh joined me in the last-wicket partnership. In those days, there were no proper helmets. A bouncer hit him on the helmet. He moved away from the stumps, rubbing his helmet. I asked why. He paused, said, 'Ah! Am I rubbing my helmet?' and took it off.' Addressing the gathering, Vivek said Kirmani had brought respect to the Indian cricket team on the international stage. He said the Telangana government was encouraging sports and sportspersons, recalling that it had given cash rewards and housing sites to athletes.
NDTV
a day ago
- Sport
- NDTV
"Number One Wicketkeeper In The World": Azharuddin Hails Kirmani On Launch Of His Autobiography
Former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin hailed the World Cup-winning wicketkeeper-batter Syed Kirmani as the "number one wicketkeeper in the world", pointing out his vital contributions in the 1983 World Cup win and his ability behind the stumps against spinners. Azharuddin, who played 99 Tests and 334 ODIs for India from 1984-2000, was speaking to ANI at the launch of Kirmani's autobiography, titled Stumped, in Telangana. Speaking to ANI, Azhar said, "He is the number one wicket-keeper in the world. Such a wicket-keeper was never born. It was not easy for him to do wicketkeeping with four spinners. He took many good catches in the World Cup in 1983." "Even in the match when Kapil (Dev) scored 175 runs (against Zimbabwe), he scored crucial 24 runs. I am very happy to attend this event today. May god give him a long life. People should also read this book and enjoy, and I hope it is successful," he added. Kirmani represented India from 1976-86 in 88 Tests and 49 ODIs. In Tests, he scored 2,759 runs in 124 innings at an average of 27.04, with two centuries and 12 fifties. He also took 160 catches and delivered 38 brilliant stumpings. In 49 ODIs, he scored 373 runs in 31 innings at an average of 20.72, with a best score of 48*. He also took 27 catches and performed nine stumpings in the 50-over format. With 14 dismissals in 1983 WC, including 12 catches and two stumpings, he was the second-best wicketkeeper in the tournament, below West Indies' Jeff Dujon, who had a total of 16 (15 catches and a stumping). His tidy glove work earned him acclaim, and with 234 dismissals, he is the fourth-best wicketkeeper in India's all-time list statistically. Above him are a swashbuckling Rishabh Pant (244 dismissals), Nayan Mongia (261 dismissals) and iconic WC-winning captain MS Dhoni (829 dismissals). Azharuddin said that the new players, who want to take up wicketkeeping and are playing for India, can learn a lot from Kirmani. The batting legend also hailed fellow Hyderabadi Mohammed Siraj for his fantastic performance in the India's tour to England, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Siraj was the top wicket-taker with 23 scalps at an average of over 32, with two five-wicket hauls, including a comeback spell at The Oval in the fifth Test, which reduced England from 301/3 to 367 all out while chasing 374 runs. "I also got a chance to meet Siraj. He bowled very well today. I would like to congratulate him as well. I hope he continues to grow and perform well," he concluded.
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Can England's Lauren Filer beat Shabnim Ismail to breach 80mph in international cricket and become the fastest woman bowler?
South Africa's 36-year-old Shabnim Ismail, who started off playing street cricket with Vernon Philander, holds the record for the fastest delivery in women's international cricket – 128 kmph (79.54 mph) against West Indies in 2016. Last year, she hit 82.08mph in a game at WPL in Delhi, nine months after she retired from international cricket. Now, England's 24-year-old Lauren Filer, who played in the just-concluded T20 series against India and will feature in the upcoming ODI series between the two countries, aims to breach 80mph in international cricket. Filer averaged 76mph in bowling, the fastest recorded over in women's cricket during the third T20I against India. She was twice clocked at 79mph in her fourth over and later said she has her sights on that magical 80mph mark. 'Not to sound cocky, but I think I knew that I'd be able to push close to 80,' Filer said about that over. 'I sort of touched on 78 every so often over the last year and, for me on Friday, the great thing about it was the fact that it was more consistent, that's what I've been trying to do. 'That's what I'm trying to aim for and hopefully again I can hit that 80 number. I'm just going to try and keep consistently bowling in the mid-70s and in the women's game that's not heard of very often, so that's my aim,' Filer said. Pace and bounce personified ✨ Lauren Filer. — England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 1, 2025 She said she wanted to breach that barrier to showcase and inspire women's cricket. 'That's probably the reason why I want to hit it. It's not necessarily a personal milestone in myself, but actually proving that women can get to that milestone and hopefully others can follow as well. I don't want it just to be one or two people. We want loads of women to be able to be bowling at that speed. After Friday people are probably talking about it more than they were and hopefully if I can hit it then it encourages other people to try and aim for that and actually make the game even more exciting than it already is,' Filer said. She will have to go past the now-retired Shabnim Ismail, who was consistently fast for South Africa. Shabnim had started off as a football player, turning to cricket when she was 12-13, initially as a batter. 'I hated bowling as I felt I was wasting a lot of energy, At 15-16, I thought let me try bowling,' Shabnim once told a BBC podcast 'Stumped'. Shabnim had a lovely nickname too: Demon, ala Australia's legendary Fred Spofforth, and she had a nice story to tell behind that moniker. 'When I was 16, I broke the stumps, bails, and bowl bouncers. After one of the games, a player went to my coach and said, 'she is actually a demon, I don't want to face her anymore!'' That's how the 'demon' tag stuck to her. She spoke about her upbringing and her idol. 'I started off playing in the streets with Vernon Philander and Beuran Hendricks . Used to play a lot with the boys. Dale Steyn is my idol … I wish I was a little bit taller [she is five-foot five], and had a little bigger shoulders! … I like fast cars as well. Everything happens fast in my lifestyle.' Now, Filler has those traits – she is taller and has broader shoulders and she is gunning for that 80mph.
Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
AB de Villiers proposes World Cup-style 4-year cycle for WTC: ‘We've done that with ODIs, why not with Tests?'
AB de Villiers was among the many South African legends at Lord's when the Proteas ended their nearly three-decade long wait for a major title by winning the World Test Championship. While their six-wicket win over Australia in the marquee Test match has led to an outpouring of joy and emotion, there have also been a lot of voices questioning the legitimacy of of their status at Test world champions considering the significantly fewer Test matches that South Africa played against the top teams compared to Australia. De Villiers said that the value of South Africa's win can never be diminished but something needs to be done to make the WTC cycle fairer for all Test playing nations. 'We've had some very disappointing and sad ends to a lot of campaigns, especially the World Cups, but now it's time to start believing that we can do this more often,' he told BBC World Service's Stumped podcast. '[This moment] won't be lost. It was too big and too special for all South Africans – it was a Test match no one will ever forget. But yes, to a certain extent, something needs to be done.' De Villiers said that while the next WTC schedule shows some improvement, an increased length for the whole cycle might help everyone. 'I saw the schedule that came out for the next cycle of the WTC and there is an improvement, but I still feel there's work that needs to be done there to just to get it as consistent as possible and as fair as possible for all for all Test-playing nations.' 'You want to get to that final feeling like you've played against all these nations,' De Villiers added. 'Maybe a four-year cycle would be nice. We've done that in the past with one-day internationals, so why not in Test cricket? It would make sense and it would give the organisers just so much more time to get a really fair, well-balanced system out there.' Conversely, the phenomenon is only part of a larger problem in world cricket where countries outside of India, Australia and England have complained about lack of chances to play as many Test matches as possible. South Africa themselves don't host a Test match until October 2026, almost a year and four months after their WTC victory. The win also comes amidst concerns over the health of the longest format of the game in South Africa but De Villiers said that this achievement will increase anticipation in his country for the next encounter. 'It's a long time until our next Test match, but there's no doubt it won't be forgotten. I've absolutely no doubt the Proteas have sort of stirred the emotions of the South African cricketing fans and they will patiently wait for that next encounter,' he said.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Reviews of Mohinder Amarnath's Fearless and Syed Kirmani's Stumped
Athletes are image conscious, both during their playing days and long after. Some may want to be remembered for their high skill and art, some for their nature, both pleasing and rebellious, and some for the legacy they leave behind and the many lives they touch and careers they inspire. And when athletes write memoirs, it is often a careful extension of this very image. They may be honest and forthright in their assessments of their own selves and the eras they played in and lived through, but all of it is bound by the persona that the sportspersons want to project. Two recent books by Indian cricketing legends — Fearless by Mohinder Amarnath (with Rajender Amarnath) and Stumped by Syed Kirmani (with Debashish Sengupta and Dakshesh Pathak) — lend credence to this argument. The stories, in fact, flow from the cover images. Amarnath's is of him executing the pull without the protection of a helmet, a shot synonymous with the batter and considered among the most daring strokes. The overarching theme in the book is of his many pitched battles against deadly fast bowlers like Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Imran Khan, his many selection controversies, the machinations of the higher-ups and his multiple comebacks. Kirmani's is a rather sedate and inexpressive photograph of him staidly waiting for the red cherry to nestle in his gloves. It seems like an ode to the book title, the tagline (Life Behind and Beyond the Twenty-Two Yards), and the sad fact that the great wicket-keeper's time in Test whites ended two shy of 200 dismissals. Defining moments It helps that the defining moment in Amarnath's and Kirmani's careers is also the defining moment in India's cricket history — the 1983 World Cup triumph. Both men capture in rich detail the victory of Kapil Dev and his band of merry men over the marauding and all-conquering West Indian side led by Clive Lloyd. But where the works diverge is in how they lead up to the success. Amarnath, admittedly, had a storied upbringing, for he was the son of independent India's first Test captain Lala Amarnath. Fearless recounts vividly the growing up days of Amarnath junior and his two brothers (Surinder, an international cricketer, and Rajender, a First Class player) under the giant shadow of their father and his steadfast goal to make Test cricketers out of all three. Amarnath's journey is laid out meticulously and chronologically, chapter by chapter, from tour to tour. There are also charming anecdotes from his childhood and school-cricket days that bring more than a chuckle, including the one where he escapes to Delhi from his boarding school in Jalandhar in a crowded train, hungry and with little money. Kirmani's, in contrast, zooms. Where it takes Amarnath 254 pages to reach the seminal point of his cricketing life (the 1983 win), Kirmani arrives in 35. This is, in fact, the biggest quibble one can have with the book — along with multiple factual inaccuracies, a feature, to a lesser degree, of Fearless too — for it limits Kirmani's retelling of his entire career to just 74 pages! The 90-odd sheets that follow are biographical accounts of the man. Surely, someone who played 88 Tests — 19 more than Amarnath — in a short span of just 10 years had more to tell? A glaring miss But history informs us that as much as memoirs are dressed up and promoted as 'tell-alls', they are also conspicuous by their many silences. What both books lack is a compelling picture of the eras Amarnath and Kirmani played their cricket in. While the volumes are no doubt windows into their respective sporting lives, they could have also shed more light on the culture of the sport back in the day. In the aftermath of India's 1983 World Cup win, the West Indies landed in India and blanked the hosts 3-0 in Tests (six-match series) and 5-0 in One Day Internationals as Marshall and Holding ran riot. In his six visits to the crease in Tests, Amarnath, a hero of the tour to the West Indies earlier in 1983, bagged five ducks. Lloyd's men were in India for nearly three months. Amarnath has given it the short shrift and dedicated all of four pages out of 428. Another jarring note, quite at odds with the title of the book, is his reluctance to name players and officials whose many acts and deeds he didn't approve of. Memoirs can also be for reflection and catharsis, and used as a tool to eventually make peace with all that happened. But Fearless and Stumped don't necessarily offer a sense of closure, both for Amarnath and Kirmani, and the reader. Fearless Mohinder Amarnath with Rajender Amarnath Harper Collins India ₹799 Stumped Syed Kirmani with Debashish Sengupta and Dakshesh Pathak Penguin India ₹499
