Former cricketer on BCCI's honour list

ALLAHABAD: The Sangam City is blessed with accomplished sportsmen since the last two years with Asiad and Commonwealth Games silver medallist gymnast Ashish Kumar and Indian hockey star Danish Mujtaba being the main. But the golden moment which would remain etched in the minds of sports lovers is the felicitation of local cricketing legend and veteran Ranji allrounder S Hyder Ali, which would coincide with the final of mega cricketing carnival IPL 5 on Sunday night.
Sharing his emotion with TOI before departing for Chennai, Hyder Bhai, as the cricketer is popularly known as, said: "Railway ke Ranji khiladiyon ke itihaas mein yeh pal 28 saal baad aa raha hai jab ki unkey hunar aur kabiliyat ko desh ki Janata ke beech saraha jaa raha hai. Aaj se theek 28 saal pehle 1984 mein Hindustan aur Pakistan ke naami girami khiladi, Madan Mohan Malviya (MMM) stadium mein mere dost aur Railway ke Ranji khiladi William Ghosh ke liye benefit match yahan khelne aaye they (This is a glorious moment for players representing Indian Railways in the Ranji trophy given the fact that it was in 1984 that international cricketers descended on the Sangam City to play a benefit tie for my contemporary William Ghosh)."
He recalled that it was the moment when Pakistani cricketing legend Imran Khan while leading the local Geep XI in the William Ghosh benefit tie, had dropped in just for a few hours and played an innings which Allahabadis would never forget. His sixes had dwarfed the size of MMM Stadium with the ball landing outside on each occasion.
Hyder Ali was also a key member of the Geep XI which was led by Khan who relied heavily on former's presence and experience. But cricket in the Sangam City faded away with the passage of time, rues Ali, who feels that tournaments like annual Lal Bahadur Shastri Cricket tourney provided a perfect springboard for cricketing talents from North India, who, thereafter graduated as national cricketers, playing in Ranji and other competitions.
On being asked about the feeling in the backdrop of honour being bestowed by the highest cricketing body of the country, Hyder, sounding nostalgic, said: "Yehi to mauka hai ki kuch purane yaaron aur doston ke saath kuch guzre huye pal yaad karne ka. Haan yeh zaroor kahunga ki Bne yeh ek achcha kadam uthaya hai kyunki hamare samay mein khiladi naam shohrat aur sab kuch kama leta tha siwaye paise ke (This is the occasion when we would get a chance to recollect and share some fond memories of yesteryears. I would thank the BCCI for the supportive gesture in the light of the fact that in my times, the cricketers earned everything, including name and fame, except money).
Hyder played first class cricket for 25 years from 1963 to 1987-88, during which he represented Uttar Pradesh, Railways and Bengal in Ranji and other premier tournaments like Duleep trophy. He scored more than 3,000 runs and took 366 wickets in first class cricket.
The only regret which the veteran has during this long and cherished career is missing the national cricketing squad by a whisker, given his failure to score a ton against Bill Lawry's Australian side while playing for North zone in 1969 and getting out scoring 54, laments Hyder.