Narendra Hirwani

Narendra Deepchand Hirwani  pronunciation  (born 18 October 1968) is a leg spin bowler who played for India. He is mainly remembered for his success on his Test debut.

Early days

Hirwani came from a well-off family in Gorakhpur. His father owned a brick factory. Hirwani moved to Indore in his teenage where he stayed in a room near the ground under the guidance of the Madhya Pradesh cricketer Sanjay Jagdale.

Hirwani made his first class debut for Madhya Pradesh at the age of 16 and took five wickets on his debut. He did much better in the following seasons and took 23 wickets in an under-19 three Test series against Australia.

His big break came for India U-25 against the touring West Indians in 1987–88. He failed in the first innings but took all the six wickets to fall in the second. This got him selected to the Test team.

Success in tests

Hirwani's debut was in the final Test of the series at Madras. The wicket was underprepared. India won an important toss and made 382. Hirwani took three of the five West Indian wickets to fall on the second day. On the third morning, Hirwani clean-bowled Vivian Richards with a googly which the batsman failed to pick, and dismissed the remaining four batsmen to finish with 8 for 61. This made him only the fourth bowler to take eight wickets in an innings on debut.