The meteoric rise of Narendra Hirwani, who shone through with his 1988 debut against West Indies that secured India a win, made him an instant star. Nevertheless, it was Hirwani’s return to Test cricket, on this very day in 1995, which enhanced his popularity even more.
Incredible Debut followed by a five-year break
On this day in 1995, Indian leg spinner Narendra Hirwani lost no time in making a great comeback to international cricket. Delivering an enchanting spell, he slapped New Zealand all by himself to claim the Player of the Match title.
Narendra Hirwani was the one who made leg-spin a craze, not waiting for Shane Warne to come. Post his impressive debut in 1988, it was not easy for him to get success outside of India and it was nothing less than a miracle for a 19-year-old to take 16 wickets for just 136 runs against the West Indies and that too at 19.
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But with the rise of many spinners like Anil Kumble, Venkatapati Raju, and Rajesh Chauhan, Hirwani slowly slipped out of the spotlight.
After his underwhelming performances overseas during the West Indies and New Zealand tours, many deemed the 1990 Chandigarh Test as Hirwani’s last Test for India. But fate held a surprise in store for him.
Hirwani’s extraordinary performance in the domestic circuit led him to be recalled to Test cricket after a gap of five years. The Test series with New Zealand started in October 1995 with the first match being held in Bangalore. India easily won the match and Kumble celebrated with the 100th Test wicket of his career.
Chennai Test suffered from poor weather and only 71.1 overs were played. New Zealand did not allow Roger Twose, the debutant, to bat.
Hirwani’s spin magic in Cuttack
In the 3rd Test, India dropped Raju and Chauhan, and then Hirwani returned to the Indian cricket team after a break of around five years. India used two leg-spinners and an off-spinner to finish the spin attack- Hirwani, Kumble, and Ashish Kapoor.
The Cuttack Test was similar to the Chennai match in terms of conditions. The first day’s session was completely lost and play was stopped early due to bad light, India made a meager 120/3. Days 2 and 3 were completely lost. On day 4 with the useful contributions of Ajay Jadeja (45), Nayan Mongia (45*), Ashish Kapoor (42), and Navjot Singh Sidhu (41) India reached 296/8.
The fifth and last day brought with it clear skies, which meant a full day of play. India declared first innings in the morning, and finally, Roger Twose came to bat after 10 days of debut.
Twose and Mark Greatbatch added 86 runs for the first wicket before Hirwani began to get some grip and looked as dangerous as he had been in his early days. He split the partnership by getting Greatbatch out for 50 and took his first wicket.
Twose was the second wicket of Hirwani, and that was the end of it. Hirwani would not stop. He went on to trouble the New Zealand batters and picked up wickets at regular intervals.
In the end, he got rid of all the five top-order New Zealand batters and his figures read as 6 for 59 in 31 overs, which was quite impressive. The day as well as the match concluded with New Zealand scoring 175 runs for 8 wickets in the second innings, but Hirwani was the one who got the player of the match award in a great comeback.
