Narendra Hirwani

Narendra Deepchand Hirwani pronunciation (born October 18, 1968 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh) is a leg spin bowler who played for India.

He is mainly remembered for his outstanding success on his Test debut.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 and trained under the guidance of the Madhya Pradesh cricketer Sanjay Jagdale.

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.

Set 416 to win in the second innings West Indies were dismissed in about 40 overs. The batsmen tried to hit out, the result of which was five stumpings for the wicket-keeper Kiran More. Hirwani took 8 for 75, for match figures of 16 for 136. This bettered the record of Bob Massie who had taken 16 for 137 on his debut in 1972, and is still a record as of 2010. Hirwani won the man of the series in a three nation tournament in Sharjah a few months later, capturing 10 wickets in three matches.

More success followed in the home series against New Zealand the next year. The pitches afforded spin; Hirwani took 20 wickets in three Tests, and his partner Arshad Ayub 21. In his first four Tests he had taken 36 wickets, the most by any bowler at this stage of their career.

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.