HYDERABAD: It is down the memory lane. Remember Shahid S Akbar of the 70s and 80s. He was an aggressive left-handed batsman. He promised much but ended up in playing in only 31 Ranji matches with a poor average of 27.
It was not a true reflection of his abundant talent he showed when he started his Ranji career in teens. Considered a Test prospect, he lost his way and a promising career was nipped in the bud.
Handsome and lanky, he was a batsman with a sound technique. He was flashy, strokeful and attractive to watch. “I loved the cover drives.’’ Sport, and in particular cricket, was in his blood. His grandfather SM Hadi was a double international, who represented India in Davis Cup and also played Test cricket. “He was my maternal grandfather,’’ says Akbar, who stays in a flat near the Income Tax Towers at Masab Tank.
Akbar, who was brilliant fielder in covers and short fine-leg, is a forgotten cricketer.
But he is excited about the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s planned Platinum Jubilee function that is scheduled to take place on April 26 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
“I will be there (if invited) to meet some of the teammates,” says Akbar, who turned 50 recently.
He is nostalgic about his playing days. “I held a bat at the age of eight. My mother told me to bat left-handed but father said I should be a right hander. But I was more comfortable as a left-hander. Nobody told me how to bat. It came naturally to me. It was unorthodox.
My mom was the coach till I joined the Hyderabad team,’’ he says proudly.
Success came very early in this flashy lefthander’s career. He was outstanding in the leagues. He made his Ranji debut in 1976-77 season at the age of 18. The stylish left-hander was equally good against the pace bowlers and the spinners. His best knock came against Karnataka on a turning wicket at Bangalore. “Prasanna, one of the game’s greatest off-spinner, was unplayable. I made 63 in Hyderabad’s team total of 145 and 64 in the second innings. It was one of the best knocks of my career,” recalls Akbar.
He never scored a century and his highest was 97 against Tamil Nadu. He says it was the worst knocks of his career. “I was dropped three times.’’ He was selected for South Zone when only 20 years to play against the Alan Border-led Australian team.
But he failed in that match. It was one of the disappointing moments of his career. He was one of the favourites of late Ghulam Ahmed and ML Jaisimha. “They liked me a lot. So did Man Singh and Shivlal Yadav,” he said.
Although he says he has no regrets, he was dropped for the first time for no fault of his.
“I scored 31 when other batsman failed to score. It was a big blow. I was looking forward to the Subbaiah Pillay one-day tournament.
But it was not to happen.’’ Akbar wanted to prove his critics wrong.
He made his comeback to the Hyderabad Ranji team with big scores in the Middlesex League. He scored 45 in his last match against Haryana in 1983-84 season.
The left-hander, who adored the English left-hander David Gower, scored three successive centuries, which is a record, in the inter-universities cricket tournament. That is all history now.