At 60, the exuberance and the unbridled enthusiasm of Abdul Bari Wahab for the game might well shock even the best of the under-19 talent. For this former Hyderabad left-arm fast bowling all-rounder who made his debut under M.L. Jaisimha not a day passes without going to Gymkhana, where he continues to mentor women's cricketers.
Wahab feels that there is a general decline in the standard of the game, because of the poor quality of cricket played in the leagues. “Now, you struggle to find batsmen who stay there for even 20 overs. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Even in bowling, neither the pacers nor the spinners are willing to experiment and purchase wickets,” he points out. “Being a fast bowler myself, I can vouch that only if you are a quality swing bowler you will be successful now; otherwise you can be hit anywhere. Look at what happened to Dale Steyn in the IPL,” he explains.
Suggesting a remedy, he says, “The onus is on everyone – the players, officials, coaches and curators. The only way is to have sporting wickets which test the skills of both the batsmen and bowlers,” feels Wahab adding that you need dedicated coaches too. “I remember my days, and how Bhupathi Sir (A.R. Bhupathi) used to bring lunch for us after hours of training. Such was the care and passion of those coaches,” he recalls.
ADVERTISEMENT
Looking back at his Ranji career spanning between 1976-83 when he played under Jaisimha and M.V. Narasimha Rao (popular as Bobjee), the affable Wahab feels he is lucky to have shared the new ball with someone like Jyothi Prasad. “He was a class act and a great swing bowler. This is what I say. You need quality players in the side to keep improving,” he added.
Wahab is the first Hyderabadi to make a hat-trick playing for Hyderabad against State Bank of India at LB Stadium in 1976. And the victims were former India captain and southpaw Ajit Wadekar, Amber Roy and Hanumanth Singh – all who played for India then. “That is the finest moment of my career which helped me get the Ranji cap that season.”
Those were the days when many felt that Wahab had the potential to don the India colours. “Yes, I remember many India players telling me that I will play for India. Those words lifted my spirits and I continued to put in great efforts. But, I must say that I was shabbily treated – often getting just one Ranji game a season for reasons beyond my control,” mulls the gentleman cricketer, who has the rare distinction of picking all 10 wickets in an innings for Hyderabad against Karnataka in the Ghulam Ahmed Trophy under-19 game once (he had a 15-wicket match haul in that game).
ADVERTISEMENT
Since 2008, Wahab has been the guiding force for Hyderabad women's cricket, a job he does with great passion. “Yes, I take pride in informing that five of my wards — Shravanthi Naidu, Diana David, Gouher Sultana, Mamata Kanojia and Sunita Anand — played for India and Hyderabad was unbeaten for five years in the 90 and 50 overs formats in the Zonals during one phase,” he says.
“I sincerely hope that cricketers now make optimum use of the vastly improved facilities to be better performers. They cannot complain on this front. For instance, Gymkhana Ground was never like this during our playing days, but still I invariably returned with 100-plus hauls in the Leagues for many seasons because I loved the game,” he says.
Even now Wahab continues to be a regular at Gymkhana, fine-tuning the skills of women's cricketers. Reason? “I can't think of life without cricket,” he signs off.