77 year old Syed Abid Ali was a fighter to the core in his early years, playing days and is one even today.  His greatest traits as a player were his outstanding fielding, bold batting at any position and his intelligent medium pace bowling which included a good outswinger.  He could also keep wickets if  required.  He was a member of the first three Indian sides to win Test series abroad – 1968 in New Zealand, 1971 in the West Indies and 1971 in England.  I met Abid Ali in Hyderabad in early 2019 during a cricket match being played at the T.K.R. Engineering College campus  grounds and spoke to him about his career, cricket in general and cricketers  whom he had played with.

What made you such a good fielder?  
Actually from a very early age I liked being physically active.  In fact, as a youngster I used to play Hockey, Football and Cricket.  In Cricket, I  started as a wicket-keeper.  Moreover, I loved fielding and had a powerful arm and a safe pair of hands.

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How did your fielding help you to progress in your  career?  

Whenever there was one place available in the side it was my fielding that tilted the scales in my favour helping me to be selected.  This happened to me at all levels of my career.

How did you make your Ranji Trophy debut?
Just before the  start of the Ranji Trophy season in 1958-59, quite a few regular state players had to go for the All-India University tournament.  So there  were vacancies for new youngsters in the Hyderabad Ranji Trophy team. It was Noor Abassi, the Coordinator of the State Selection Committee, who pressed for my selection saying that my fielding alone would make a huge difference.  This was how I was selected to represent Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy.  I scored 55 on my Ranji debut against Andhra.

How did you make it to the Indian team for the tours of Australia and New Zealand in 1967-68?  
I had performed impressively for Hyderabad and the South Zone.  I was selected as a reserve for the Indian team that toured England in 1967.  So when the pacemen did not do well in England, I got my chance.

Please tell readers about your dream debut vs. Australia in the first Test at Adelaide. 
I am grateful to God that I had such a great debut.  On the opening day of the Test Australia scored 335 in its first innings.  I finished with figures of 6 for 55 on my debut for India as a medium pacer.  My wickets were those of Bob Simpson, Bill Lawry, Bob Cowper-Australia’s three top batsmen, Barry Jarman- the wicket-keeper, paceman Graham McKenzie and mystery spinner Gleeson.  Simpson got a leading edge to an outswinger on his leg stump and I took a caught and bowled.  Lawry and Cowper were both caught behind.  I also scored 33 in each innings of the Test as a middle-order batsman.

Which other Test in that series do you remember from the point of view of your contributions?
Without doubt it was the fourth and final Test at Sydney.  In that Test I scored 78 in 124 minutes off 123 balls  in the first innings and 81 in 164 minutes off 165  balls in the second innings.  In the second innings after a fine opening stand of 83 between Engineer and myself India was bundled out for 197.

Surely you could have got a Test hundred in this game.  What went wrong?  
Instead of being encouraged to play my normal attacking style when I was on top of the bowling, I was told by a few seniors to play solidly so as to preserve my wicket.  This attitude resulted in my dismissals.

Please mention some other great memories of that Indian tour of Australia.
One can never forget the two great innings played by our captain Nawab of Pataudi (Jr.) in the second Test at Melbourne despite his leg being in terrible pain.  With one eye and one leg as it were our skipper played two superb knocks of 75 and 85.  Again,   the two innings played by Jaisimha in the third Test at Brisbane will never be forgotten by me. Jaisimha had arrived in Australia the day before the Test.  Despite that he played two masterly innings of 74 and 101.

Please tell readers about your outstanding bowling efforts vs. New Zealand in the first Test at Dunedin.
Everything clicked for me as a bowler in that Test.  In the first innings I got four wickets – Graham Dowling, Vic Pollard, Bruce Taylor and Alabaster.  I had figures of 15-6-26-4 in that innings.  In the second innings my figures were 19-9-22-0.

The Indian side defeated New Zealand 3-1 in the 4-Test series in 1968.  What brought about the win?  
First and foremost credit should go to our captain Nawab of Pataudi (Jr.) who made us realize that we were playing for India and were one team.  He also gave huge importance to fielding.  The batsmen chipped in and the bowlers – spinners in particular – were outstanding.  The close-in cordon was really good and that added to the sharpness of our spinners.

You were a member of the Indian side that defeated the West Indies for the first time in 1971 in the Caribbean.  How was the victory achieved?  
At the outset I must say that the West Indies bowling attack was not as fearsome as it usually is.  On the other hand, we had an experienced side with a few talented youngsters-one of whom, Sunil Gavaskar, proved to be exceptional.  Couple of our batsmen made a lot of runs and others whether as batsmen, bowlers or fielders ensured that we remained ahead of the West Indies.

The first Test of a series is usually a crucial one.  How did India take full advantage of the first Test in Jamaica?
After the first day’s play was washed out by rain, our team was put into bat.  We were 75 for 5 when Solkar joined Sardesai.  Sardesai (212) and Solkar (61) put on 137 for the sixth wicket.  Later Sardesai and Prasanna (25) put on 122 for the ninth wicket and we made a huge recovery by reaching 387 all out.  The West Indies were made to follow on but they batted well in the second innings to draw the Test.  This Test was very significant for India as it was the first time India made the West Indies follow on in a Test.  Readers will not believe that before this Test India had never taken the first innings lead against the West Indies in a Test.

Apart from debutant Sunil Gavaskar who scored 774 runs in four Tests who were the other Indian players who mainly contributed to our series win?
The team as a whole played well but apart from Sunil Gavaskar there were a few other players who ensured our Test series win.  Dilip Sardesai was the rock on which our batting was built.  He scored 642 runs in all and sharing in two crucial match-saving  partnerships.  The first one was in the first Test at Jamaica and the second was in the fourth Test at Barbados.  In the fourth Test, facing a mammoth West Indies score of  501 for 5 dec.  India was 70 for 6 and in danger of following on.  Sardesai (150) and Solkar (65) then put on 186 for the seventh wicket.  Later Sardesai and Bedi (20 not out) added 62 for the last wicket to help India reach 347 all out and easily avoid the follow on.  Finally, Jaisimha and Salim Durani.  In the second Test at Trinidad which we won it was Jaisimha, a reserve for that Test, who went with the drinks instead of Govindraj,  and told Wadekar the captain to bring on Salim Durani to bowl when the dangerous Sobers and Lloyd were batting.  Durani brought the match to India’s favour by first of all bowling Sobers for 0 and having Lloyd caught by Wadekar at a deeper position than usual  for 15.  Durani also insisted on Wadekar standing at a deeper position for Lloyd.  Ofcourse all the other members of the team contributed in some way or the other to our success-our spinners and myself too as a medium pacer doing very useful jobs.

When we talk about our first series win against England in England one automatically remembers the great spell of Chandra in the third Test at The Oval which not only helped India to win the Test but also the series. Please tell readers about it.

When Chandra’s first ball is on the spot then only God can help the batsmen. In England’s second innings of that Test, Chandra was at his best and was unplayable.  He finished with 6 for 38 and England was bowled out  for 101.  We achieved the target of 173 losing 6 wickets in the process.  I was with Engineer when we won the game and the series.  Even in the West Indies in the second Test at Trinidad I was with Gavaskar when we won the Test which helped us to win the series.

Are there any other playing moments of yours in Test cricket that come to mind?
Yes.  The first Test at Manchester in the 1974  series vs. England. England had declared its first innings at 328 for 9.  We were 143 for 7 when I joined Sunil Gavaskar. Only Vishwanath had scored 40 till then.  The two of us put on 85 runs for the eighth wicket when Sunil got run out for 101.  Had that not happened and Sunil had continued batting in the brilliant manner he was I might have also got a hundred that day.  The Indian score could have finished closer to England’s score.  Ultimately I was last out for 71 with India’s score at 248.

Another was my taking four of the top five English first innings wickets in the second Test in 1971 at Manchester. The batsmen I dismissed were Jameson, John Edrich, Fletcher and D’Oliveira.

You represented India in the 1975 Prudential World Cup in England.  How did you fare?
Our team was inexperienced and so we did not perform well.  Personally, I scored 70 in the match vs. New Zealand at Manchester sharing in partnerships of 55 for the seventh wicket with Madan Lal and 60 for the ninth wicket with skipper Venkataraghavan.  With the ball I took two wickets in each of the games – vs. England, East Africa and New Zealand.

Finally what does it take to become a reasonably successful Test player?  
Hard work and self belief will go a long way to make one a reasonably successful Test player.