Though he grew in stature some years later, after representing India in 1960, the all-rounder from Afghanistan all the time had a definite vibe about him that separated him from others. Those who’ve observed him from the shut quarters within the home circuit inform that if on one facet he was once a hero-like determine, he was once a threat at the different.
Former Rajasthan participant Sharad Joshi stated, “I used to be handiest 17 once I made my top quality debut and by chance Durani bhai was once additionally round at the moment. As I walked into the Chaugan Stadium, he referred to as me and stated ‘do not put your self under-pressure, in a different way you will not be able to bowl. Think as if you’re enjoying gully cricket. And should you face any drawback, do come to me’. His phrases helped me and I took 4 wickets. He appreciated backing children and I used to be privileged and commemorated to percentage the dressing room with him.”
Durani made it a point to sit with the new players to ensure they didn’t fear the big stage. Joshi recalled how on one occasion he and three other youngsters enjoyed the ‘privilege’ of being with Durani ‘the star’. “There was a match in Birsinghpur near Gwalior and because of some confusion, we reached a day late. Durani bhai was standing at the guest house’s gate and said that today’s match is over. Should we go for the Piya Ka Ghar movie? You won’t believe, we were 20 minutes late for the show and Durani went to the manager of the theater and told him that we have to watch the movie, otherwise Jaya Bachchan would be offended. To our amazement, the movie was started all over again to ensure Durani doesn’t miss out on any scene.” It is a well known incontrovertible fact that Durani was once pals with many in Bollywood.
Another former state participant Vinod Mathur too shared the similar sentiment whilst speaking about Durani’s way against the kids within the group. “I made my debut in 1974 and performed with Durani bhai for 4 years in Rajasthan. He all the time ensured new gamers have been relaxed of their roles. When I bowled, he used to transport out of the slip cordon and guided me from the mid-on area. He all the time advised us ‘Salim box ke bahar kya karta hain uss pe dhayan matt dena, Salim box pe kya karta hain uss pe dhyan dena (don’t center of attention on what Salim does off the sphere, center of attention on what Salim does throughout the box). “
While for his contemporaries he became the gold standard in the way he went about his game and style, for his juniors he was like a big brother. Durani’s capricious ways of leading the life was one major factor as to why he never took up coaching roles. Anant Vyas, who is the former CEO of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), shared, “In 1983-84 Kishan Rungta ji offered him a coaching job at RCA and proposed to pay 50,000, but he refused because he never stayed at one place and was a very moody kind of person who lived life on his own terms.”
When cricket shifted from Udaipur to Jaipur, the flowery allrounder stayed at Rungta’s position, the previous nationwide selector who ran cricket in Rajasthan for greater than 30 years.
One of the widely-circulated tales about him is that of hanging his package at the hearth an afternoon sooner than a Ranji Trophy recreation. “In the Seventies sooner than a Ranji Trophy fit he was once dissatisfied about one thing and he burnt his attire. Bhagwat Singh Mewar made certain Durani ji had his matching attire and gear on time,” Vyas added.
A person of many characters, Durani is respected within the state and there is not any larger testomony of this than the Rajasthan govt pronouncing on this yr’s price range to spend 105 crore to construct Salim Durani Residential Sports Schools at every divisional headquarters.