His first-class debut came at 15, against Assam. His farewell game happened against the same opponent 18 seasons later. He went on his first tour with India in 1989 to the West Indies but waited eight more years before playing his first ODI. And then three more years to earn a Test cap. Within months of playing a Test, at 33, Saba Karim bowed out of the game, an injury to his right eye cutting short his career.
The eye injury was a freak incident at Dhaka during the Asia Cup in 2000. It was India’s first match of the tournament and Karim was keeping to Anil Kumble, an exercise he was not familiar with. Kumble was giving a tough time to the batsmen, bowling quicker, and this particular delivery kissed the flap of the batsman’s pad and Karim had no time to avoid the path of the ball. “It slammed into the socket of my right eye,” recalled Karim.
His world seemed to have crashed in that heart-breaking moment “My vision was blurred and I thought I had lost my vision. It was indeed a hard time,” said Karim. He received treatment at the Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai and recovered to get back to the Indian team for the one-off Test against Bangladesh. The team captain, Sourav Ganguly, was willing to back him. So were the National selectors.
Karim prepared for the Test by playing some club matches in Mumbai. “My vision had improved and I thought I was ready,” he remembered. But obviously he was not. “When the game started I realised I couldn’t cope with the speed of the delivery. And then I was having problems with the sweat coming into my eyes.” He played the Test but not in ideal conditions even though India beat Bangladesh in the latter’s debut as a Test nation.
He developed a love for cricket when studying at St. Xavier’s and later at St. Michael’s in Patna. The facilities were hardly encouraging but Karim made steady progress, taking to wicket-keeping on the advice of Sudhir Das, a former state and zone medium-pacer. He went on his first international tour as part of the Indian Schools squad to the West Indies in 1982. The same year he was included in the East Zone team for the Deodhar Trophy before making it to the Bihar squad for the Ranji Trophy.
Within a season of making his mark at the first-class level, Karim shot into national reckoning as a wicketkeeper-batsman of quality. He was still playing school cricket when the zonal selectors picked him for the tour match against Clive Lloyd’s West Indians at Cuttack in 1983. Two catches and a stumping in the only innings that West Indies batted was a “huge inspiration” for Karim, who now nurtured dreams of making it big.
The tour to the West Indies in 1989 paved the way for Karim to showcase his talent but the opportunities were sparse. “The tour was an eye-opener. I knew little about international cricket and I tried to absorb as much as possible. It was a huge experience,” Karim noted. All he played were three side games. On return, he did not get a look in. “The selectors had forgotten me,” he smiled. And then churning started and in his words his career stood “rejuvenated.”
Help for Karim came from seniors like Hari Gidwani and Arun Lal. “I gained in values and improved my temperament.” Seven years of toil helped Karim stage a comeback when he was picked to go to South Africa in 1996-97. He had shifted to Bengal from Bihar in 1994-95. “I made the move at the right stage. I was not getting opportunities beyond my zone. When Tata Steel transferred me to Calcutta I made my shift too. It is true that your performances don’t get to be noticed when you play for emerging teams.”
In Bengal, Karim made rapid progress. “The facilities were amazing. Lots of clubs matches and the league for well organised too. The practice facilities for the Ranji team were excellent. Most important was that I was never made to feel like an outsider.”
Karim was making waves. He figured in two tour matches against visiting Australian and South African teams in 1996-97. Interestingly, his debut came at Bloemfontein in early 1997. “Nayan (Mongia) injured his finger and indicated to me. (Coach) Madan Lal told me I was in the playing XI and that was one of my most unforgettable days.” Karim played six ODIs in that tri-series and figured in 19 more ODIs before the year ended. Only one ODI each in 1998 and 1999 and another seven in 2000 was all that Karim could add to his career.
Among his memorable moments on the cricket field was pulling off a sensational victory against Pakistan at Karachi in 1997. He contributed a priceless 26 before Rajesh Chauhan sealed it with a six off Saqlain Mushtaq. “I can never forget the stone pelting from the crowd,’ he recalled. A commerce graduate from Hindu College, Karim, like Sunil Gavaskar, is a voracious reader with “Love In The Times Of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez his favourite book. The 47-year-old Karim, who played two first-class matches following his Test debut before calling it a day, is currently a National selector and lives in Noida with (wife) Rashmi and (son) Fidel, an avid footballer.
(Saba Karim played 1 Test (15 runs); 34 ODIs (362 runs, 1 fifty, 27 catches, 3 stumpings); 120 first Class Matches (7310 runs, 22 centuries, 33 fifties); Career span: 1982-83 to 2000-01.
Published - April 19, 2015 03:12 pm IST
