The only Test cricketer to be born in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The only Test cricketer to be born in Kabul, Afghanistan. I did not know the answer. In fact, Afghanistan has only recently started playing cricket and they do not really have a cricketing history. My guess was that since Afghanistan is in the North West Frontier, the cricketer in question might have played for Pakistan. The Afghans are well built, strong and have a lot of power. The Pathans are known for their aggressive instincts. So my bet was a Pakistani cricketer.

But to my surprise, the person we are talking about was an Indian who used to hit sixes on public demand. He was Salim Durani. Durani’s father, Aziz, was an ardent cricket fan who represented India in two unofficial Tests against Jack Ryder’s Australian side in 1935. Aziz came down to Khyber to play cricket. He couldn’t play an official Test for India. Aziz moved to Pakistan after partition and became a cricket coach. One of his star pupils was Pakistan batting legend Hanif Mohammad.

Aziz’s son Salim was a stylish left-hander who played 29 Tests for India. He was an aggressive batsman. He often played brisk knocks. But Durani failed to get more than one century in 50 Test innings. Durani had a great series against England in 1961-62 when he picked up eight and 10 wickets at Calcutta and Madras respectively. In 1971, against West Indies at the Port-of-Spain Test match, Durani picked up the wickets of Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd. Ajit Wadekar, the captain of the victorious Indian Test team against West Indies, said that there were rough patches around the left hander’s off-stump and he felt Durani could cause a bit of damage. Durani, a good-looking man, was quite popular man in the dressing room.

salim Durani