User:Tintin1107/Hirwani

Narenda Deepchand Hirwani (born October 18, 1968 in Gorakhpur, Madhya Pradesh) was a leg spin bowler who played for India. He is mainly remembered for his outstanding success on his Test debut.

Early days
In order to improve his cricket, Hirwani left his home in his teenage and went to Indore. There he stayed alone in a room near the ground.

He made his first class debut for Madhya Pradesh at the age of 16. He took five wickets on his debut. He did much better in the following seasons and took 23 wickets in an under-19 three Test series against Australia.

His big break came for for India U-25 against the touring West Indians in 1987-88. He was hammered around like every other bowler in the first innings but took all the six wickets to fall in the second. This got him selected to the Test team.

Success in Tests
Hirwani's debut was in the final Test of the series at Madras. The wicket was underprepared. India won an important toss and made 382. Hirwani took three of the five West Indian wickets to fall on the second day. Whether West Indies would avoid the follow on depended on the Vivian Richards, the overnight batsman. Hirwani clean-bowled him early on the third day with a [[googly] which the great batsman failed to pick. He then went to dismiss the remaining four batsmen to finish with 8 for 61. This made him only the fourth bowler to took eight wickets in an innings on debut.

Things were easier in the second innings. Set 416 to win, West Indies did not even bother to try. Every batsman tried to hit out, the result was five stumpings for the wicket-keeper Kiran More. Hirwani took 8 for 75, for match figures of 16 for 136. This bettered the record of Bob Massie who had taken 16 for 137 on his debut in 1972. Hirwani won the man of the series in a three nation tournament in Sharjah, capturing 10 wickets in three matches.

More success followed in the home series against New Zealand the next year. The pitches afforded spin; Hirwani took 20 wickets in three Tests, and his partner Arshad Ayub 21. In his first four Tests he had taken 36 wickets, the most by any bowler at this stage of their career. 

Later career
The bubble finally burst in the tour of West Indies in 1989-90. The batsmen deliberately went after Hirwani. Even at Port of Spain where the wicket was a turner, he could do little.

Thereafter he had little success in his international career. Hirwani was too slow in the air to cause trouble, except on wickets which turned sharply. One of the few memorable performances was in the last league match of the 1991-92 World Series Cup. India needed to beat West Indies to qualify for the final. Picked unexpectedly, Hirwani played an important part with a spell in which he had Brian Lara stumped off a flipper and Richie Richardson leg before wicket on the backfoot with a leg break. This was not sufficient to find him a place in the team for the World Cup that followed.

His next chance came in a Test against New Zealand four years later. On a rain affected match, he took 6 for 59. He toured England in 1996 and played two more Tests against South Africa. In 2001, he was unexpectedly picked in the fourteen for play Australia at home, but he never made the final eleven. By this time, he had put on a lot of fat around his waste and hardly looked an athlete. After the series, he went to the press cricticising Indian captain Saurav Ganguly for not choosing him. That killed whatever little he had to making the team again.

Narendra Hirwani continues to be an effective bowler in domestic cricket. He has taken over 400 wickets for Madhya Pradesh in Ranji trophy.