Hyderabad’s legendary India Cricket all-rounder Syed Abid Ali passes away at 83

The determined all-rounder, who was part of India's historic Test victory at The Oval in 1971 and had the honor of scoring the winning runs, claimed 47 wickets with his medium-pace bowling across 29 Test matches.

Hyderabad: One of the finest cricketers from Hyderabad and former India all-rounder Syed Abid Ali passed away in the US on Wednesday. He was 83.

The gritty all-rounder, who was a member of the Indian team which won the historic Test match at The Oval in 1971 and had the privilege of scoring the winning runs, took 47 wickets with his medium-pace in 29 Tests.

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A brilliant fielder and known for his lightning running between the wickets, Abid Ali had a dream start to his Test career with an impressive six for 55 against Australia in Brisbane in 1967-68. A feat which was admired by the legendary Frank Tyson. He also scored an impressive 78 and 81 in the Sydney Test in the same series.

Ironically, Abid, also known as ‘Chiccha’ had the ignominy of reading his own obituary in early 90s due to a faux pas by a reporter.

The famous Hyderabadi had coaching stints with Maldives and UAE, Andhra Ranji teams. His son Faqeer Ali is married to former India stumper Syed Kirmani’s daughter. Abid owed his cricketing career to late M L Jaisimha whom he always considered his ‘guru’.

For some inexplicable reasons, Abid always got the rough end of treatment in the Hyderabad Cricket Association.