Wazir Ali

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Wazir Ali
Sind, Pakistan
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleAll-rounder
Relations (son)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 11)25 June 1932 v England
Last Test15 August 1936 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 7 121
Runs scored 237 7,212
Batting average 16.92 38.77
100s/50s 0/0 22/21
Top score 42 268*
Balls bowled 30 2,308
Wickets 0 34
Bowling average 30.67
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 5/22
Catches/stumpings 1/– 59/–
Source: CricInfo, 10 May 2020

Syed Wazir Ali (pronunciation; 15 September 1903 – 17 June 1950) was a prominent figure in early Indian cricket. He was a right-handed batsman and a medium pace bowler.[1]

Early life

K. S. Limbdi (Vice-captain) and Nazir Ali
, his brother.

Wazir played in all the Tests that India played before the second world war. In the

Manchester
.

First class cricket

Wazir was educated at Aligarh Muslim University. He made his first-class debut, aged 19, for Muslims against Sikhs at Lawrence Gardens (now Bagh-e-Jinnah), Lahore in the 1922-23 Lahore Tournament.[2] For most of his

Bombay Pentangular. His unbeaten 222 in the 1938/39 Ranji final against Bengal was then the highest in the tournament.[citation needed] Bengal had earlier been all out for 222, but Southern Punjab still ended up in the losing side. His career best score of 268 not out for Indian University Occasionals in 1935 was the highest score in Indian first class cricket. Both records were beaten by Vijay Hazare's undefeated 316 in 1939/40.[citation needed
]

As a cricketing figure, Wazir Ali was second only to

C.K. Nayudu among his contemporary Indian cricketers but he apparently resented it having to play second fiddle to Nayudu.[3] Nayudu had many rivals and Wazir was often a stalking-horse for them.[4] Mihir Bose contrasted the two: "To an extent Nayudu and Wazir Ali were natural rivals. Wazir, like Nayudu, was a powerful right-hand bat who could play some very elegant strokes including a charming cover drive, and he was also a more than useful medium-pace change bowler. Like Nayudu he played in only seven Tests, all against England, and did not have the opportunity to demonstrate his class or his ability to its full extent. What set the two men apart was that Wazir, eight years younger than Nayudu, did not possess the older man's determination and his obsession with the game. Nayudu was, undoubtedly the greater cricketer, and he left a deeper impression on the game … Wazir in contrast, died at the age of forty-six after an operation for appendicitis just three years after Pakistan was created, and he had little chance to impose his personality of the post-war game in that country.[5]

Wazir captained India in two unofficial Tests against an Australian XI in 1935/36. Nayudu had captained the side in the first two matches of the series and dropped out of the matches in which Wazir captained the side. "Wazir went to his grave nursing a deep grievance against Nayudu",[6] though it seems that Nayudu was genuinely unable to play.

Later life

After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Wazir migrated to Pakistan and ended his life in poverty. Cashman quotes a Pakistani official that "during his last days, Wazir lived precariously on his own meagre savings in a small quarters in Soldiers Bazar where he struggled against poverty and disease".[7]

His son

Pakistan in 1954.[8] Wazir was the elder brother of Nazir Ali
.

References

  1. ^ "Wazir Ali". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  2. ^ Parvez, Salim; August 2020, Cricket World Monday 24. "Syed Wazir Ali - A champion Muslim cricketer". Cricket World. Retrieved 17 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Bose, p. 71
  4. ^ Bose, pp. 76–77
  5. ^ Bose, p. 76
  6. ^ Bose, p. 99
  7. ^ Richard Cashman (1980) Patrons, Players and the Crowd, Orient Longman.
  8. ^ "Khalid Wazir". ESPNcricinfo.com.

Cited sources

  • Mihir Bose (1990) A History of Indian Cricket, Andre Deutsch,

External links