Durrani receives CK Nayudu Award for lifetime achievement

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

New Delhi: SALIM Aziz Durrani’s selection for the CK Nayudu Award, the highest cricketing accolade of India, has made him nostalgic and brought back memories of his childhood.

As a child, he was attached to the man after whom the award is named — also India’s first Test captain — and used to respectfully call him nana abba ( maternal grandfather). Both families had a close bonding and it continued on Tuesday when Nayudu’s daughter Chandra met up with Durrani.

So, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) selected the former swashbuckling Test batsman for the 2010 awards last week, Durrani, 76, was simply thrilled as it brought him twin joy.

“The biggest thing for me is that our families had very close ties. My father, Abdul Aziz, played two unofficial ‘ Test’ matches under Nayudu,” Durrani told Mail Today hours before he received the trophy and the ` 15 lakh prize money on Tuesday at the BCCI’s annual awards function in Mumbai.

“I was very young when he [ Nayudu] used to visit us in Jamnagar and I used to call him ‘nana abba’. Some of his family members are still based in Indore and we often meet to continue our family ties,” said the hard- hitting batsman known for hitting sixes on demand of spectators.

Durrani, who played 29 Tests between 1960 and 1973, was the original heartthrob of the masses and he executed those big hits with bats, especially those made in India, that were not of a high quality.

But the Kabul- born batsman tried to play down his achievement. “Everything comes into play — new bats and new talent. In the present team, Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli, for instance, are very talented. We did not have high quality bats produced in India. At times, we used to get bats from England. The bat does make a difference. I played my first Test with a bat made by Mehtab Sports, which used to supply sports equipment to my school,” he recalled.

Times have changed and third generation Durrani, his grandson Yaseen, now wields bats made with the latest technology.

“He is more interested in academics and is also very good at cricket. Education is very important. If you see, all members of the Indian team are graduates. I have been guiding him and he’s now 18. Hope he also makes a name for himself,” Durrani added. “But it will be his individual decision. I will never impose my choice on him.” Yaseen, son of his Durrani’s niece Fouzia, is a second year Bachelor of Arts student at Ferguson College in Pune.

“He ( Durrani) hopes that Yaseen does something in cricket. My goal is also the same for him, along with excelling in academies,” said Fouzia, who teaches at St. Ann’s Convent in Jamnagar.

Fouzia who, along with Yaseen, attended the function, was thrilled at her uncle getting the award. “It’s nostalgic. It’s a great feeling when a player in his 70s once again comes into the limelight. His grandchild is also attending the function. It’s a wonderful feeling,” she said.

Durrani is living a retired life to the fullest and is content too. He is based in Jamnagar and travels as and when required. He is on the advisory committee of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, which he represented besides Saurashtra and Gujarat in Ranji Trophy.

Bishan Singh Bedi recalled his long association with his senior as well as Indian team rival as both bowled left- arm spin. “ He was quite a genius and I admire his cricketing ability. I always call him uncle and he treated me like his nephew,” he said. “ I met his father in Pakistan when toured in 1978- 79. We called him ‘ masterji’; he opted for Pakistan and coached Javed Miandad.”

(This story first appeared in Mail Today newspaper, New Delhi, on June 1, 2011)