Popularly known as 'Kiri', Syed Kirmani is generally regarded as the finest wicket keeper to play for India. Replacing the effervescent Farokh Engineer, Kirmani quickness and spunky keeping caught one's eyes. Kirmani can be ideally said to be the bridge between the spin quartet and the emergence of pace brigade led by Kapil Dev. Kirmani was proficient under both generations with his astute sense of keeping skills.

Starting as an understudy to Engineer, Kirmani made his debut against New Zealand and in the second test equalled the world record of six victims in an innings. His form though dropped considerably and Kirmani was left out of the squad for the 1979 WC held in England. Though Kirmani was dropped ostensibly for performance, there was a rumour that the real reason was that both he and Gavaskar had been approached by the organisers of the Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.

He made a comeback into the Indian team against Australia and shone with both bat and gloves. This was followed by a splendid series against Pakistan when he equalled Naren Tamhane's Indian record for most dismissals in a single series. Kirmani had 17 catches and 2 stumpings in the series. He followed it up with a flawless performance against Englad in 1981-82. The visitors scored 1964 runs in the 3-Test series and Kirmani did not concede a single bye.

Kirmani's batting was dogged yet effective. He partnered Sunil Gavaskar in a record 9th wicket partnership against West Indies in 1983 at Chennai. He is always remembered for his 126 run 8th wicket stand with Kapil Dev during the 1983 WC which spared India the blushes.

Kirmani's form dipped with age and was replaced by younger keepers such as Sadanand Vishwanath, Kiran More and Chandrakanth Pandit. A leg injury sustained during the World series cup in 1985-86 effectively ended a superb career.

Kirmani was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982 for his contribution to Indian cricket.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy