On This Day In 1988: Narendra Hirwani’s Historic Test Debut With 16-Wicket Feat

On This Day In 1988 Cricket: Indian cricket’s rich history is glittered with some of the world’s finest ever spinners, including Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandreshekhar, Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja. But, do you know, none of them holds the feat that former leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani still does.

Nearly four decades since his sensational beginnings, Hirwani keeps the feat of recording the finest ever match figures on debut in Test match cricket.

On January 15, 1988, 19-year-old Hirwani closed out his maiden Test outing for India against the West Indies with an astonishing match haul of 16 wickets. A classic leg-spinner, who gave the ball great revs in the air and got it to dip and turn

prodigiously, Hirwani proved to be a nightmare for the Calypso Kings.

He turned the Test match in Chennai into a one-sided affair, helping India clinch a memorable victory to end the four-match series with a respectable 1-1 draw against a strong visiting outfit.

Hirwani emerged as India’s trump card after Kapil Dev’s counterattacking 109 pushed the hosts to an imposing first-innings score of 382 on a dry and turning pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Introduced into the attack after skipper Ravi Shastri and the legendary Kapil dismissed West Indies’ dangerous opening pair of Desmond Haynes and Phil Simmons, Hirwani then ran through the opposition. He sent back the well-set duo of Richie Richardson (36) and the great Vivian Richards (68) on his way to ultimately bagging figures of 8 for 61 in just 18.3 overs.

Hirwani’s wonderful exhibition of leg-spin helped India skittle out the West Indies for 184, taking a huge lead of 198 runs.

In the third innings, India declared 217/8 and once again handed the ball to their first-innings hero in an effort to secure a morale-boosting win versus the all-conquering West Indies side.

Hirwani continued from where he left off and bowled with great control and skill to produce yet another eight-wicket haul, this time taking 8 for 75 in 15.2 overs. The spirited youngster’s promising display bundled the opposition out for just 160, giving the Indians a famed victory by a margin of 255 runs.

Sadly, though, Hirwani couldn’t quite replicate the magic of his debut in the remainder of his career. He played only another 16 Tests for India and finished with an overall tally of 66 wickets at an average of 30.14.