Former Indian cricket star Salim Durani passed away after a prolonged illness on Sunday morning. He was 88.
Born on December 11, 1934 in Kabul, Afghanistan, his family shifted to Karachi when he was just eight months old. After partition his family came and settled in India.
Durani was popular during 1960-70 for his all-round performance. He started his career as an Indian cricketer against Australia in 1960 in Mumbai. He was known a hard-hitting batsman and an alert close-in fielder. He also captured 75 wickets as left arm orthodox bowler. While playing 29 test matches for India he scored 1,202 runs, which includes one century and seven half centuries. He was the first Indian cricketer to be honoured with Arjuna Award.
Durani played for Gujarat, Rajasthan and Saurashtra in first class cricket. He scored 8,545 runs at an average of 33.37, which includes 14 hundreds.
He was the only Indian cricketer who was born in Afghanistan. He was present during the historic India-Afghanistan test match on June 14, 2018. He also acted in the film ‘Charitra’ against Parveen Babi.
Durani was honoured by BCCI by offering C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011
