Kiran More's Birthday: Here are some lesser known facts about former wicketkeeper
Kiran More's Birthday: Here are some lesser known facts about former wicketkeeper
Whenever we list India’s top wicketkeeper, Kiran More’s name has to feature on that list. Kiran More’s career spaned from 1984-1993 during which he played 49 Test, and managed 130 dismissals (110 catch + 20 stumps) and cumulated 1285 runs which included 7 fifties. He also has 90 dismissals (63 catch + 27 stumps) in 94 ODIs he played.
Kiran More turned 53 today and here are some interesting facts about the cricketer.
1) West Indies Tour: Kiran More went to est Indies in 1982-83 tour as a back up to Syed Kirmani, but somehow the series remained non starter for him. He returned home without featuring in a single match.
2) Ranji Trophy 1983-84: The domestic championship was the turning point of Kiran More’s career. The cricketer played two huge innings 153* and 181* for Baroda and helped his team reach the semi-final.
3) 1986 Tour of England: More’s brillance behind the stumps and with the bat made him overnight star in this series against England. The concluded the series with 16 catches and cumulated 156 runs at an average of 52. His average was second best in the series.
4) First ODI Series and Drop: In his debut ODI series, he could not manage any dismissal and didn’t get any chance to bat either. Eventhough he was good with the gloves, yet he remained out of the ODI squad for more than a year.
5) World Record 1988: Kiran More created a world record when he stumped 6 batsmen in a Test match versus West Indies in Chennai.
6) Big Blunder: Kiran More is still remembered for dropping Graham Gooch’s catch during the Lord’s Test in 1990. The batsman edged a simple catch to More off Sanjeev Sharma’s delivery, but he put him down on 36. Later, the batsman slammed 333 against India in the first innings and 123 in the second innings leading England to 247 runs win.
7) Javed Miandad-Kiran More Saga: Frustrated with Kiran More’s constant appealing Pakistan’s Javed Miandad leaped up and down to taunt the wicketkeeper during the India-Pakistan match at 1992 World Cup. Since then, the image has become the face of the India Pakistan rivalry.
8) Sourav Ganguly’s Ouster: Following his retirement from all formats of the game, More was appointed Chairman of the BCCI selection committee from 2002-2006, at the time of Ganguly-Chappel controversy, his dicision to drop Ganguly from the team invited a lot of criticism from fans and media.
9) ICL Controversy: More invited a bigger controversy a year later. He joined the rebel Indian Cricket League as its executive director in 2007 following which BCCI banned him and Kapil Dev along with few others.