Shahid Akbar - Hyderabad's Elegant Batsman Is No More

There are some - a rare few - cricketers who bring a sense of awe into the room when their name is mentioned. They command a respect - unconditionally, unequivocally and spontaneously - from everyone around. Their talent shines so bright that no one can ever question their genius, and their personalities are so large that even when they stay within themselves, they occupy a large space outside. People travel long distances to see such players play and pray that these players perform more and more so that we mortals are raised from a platform of the normal, average and mediocre, to the level of artistry and genius. These players bring a soft magic into our lives that remains with us deep within, like a sigh of longing.

Shahid Akbar was one such. He died yesterday after a long illness.

Shahid was a stylish left-handed batsman who played for Hyderabad and for State Bank of India. Handsome, enigmatic, polished, cultured, mercurial, graceful and much more, Shahid wielded the bat with as much elegance as any left-hander could, and was fully capable of tearing apart any bowling side on his day. I was a schoolboy when I first played against him but as I knew him over the years, I always knew that there was something about this quiet, wound-up, brooding man that marked him as different. Not just as a cricketer but as a a person. You could not ignore people like him. Such was the strength of his dark, melancholic personality.

I'd heard much about the legend that was Shahid from many sources before I actually saw him or met him. i had heard about his talent, his batting and about himself. I never saw him play a big innings unfortunately, perhaps one 50 against us, which showed glimpses of his footwork, eye and timing. He was a busy player and a hard hitter as well working the ball away on the on side, unleashing straight drives and cover drives in an explosion of energy. His team SBI was probably the strongest batting side in our leagues in the mid-eighties. Their batting order started with Abdul Azeem and Shahid, two of the most destructive openers we had in Hyderabad those days, followed by test cricketer Azhar, Azmath, Khalid Abdul Quayyum, Arun Paul and Kamaraju. That batting order was enough to give any bowling side the creeps.We played against them many times but one particular match that I remember was in 1985 or so, when I was playing for MCC and we put SBI in to bat on a drying wicket at Gymkhana. We got this superb batting outfit for 202 and I got Shahid, Azmath and Khalid out that day. Azhar got a masterful 86 else we would have got them for much lesser. But I was and still am proud of the fact that I got Shahid out that day, caught at short mid wicket by Sanjay.

An excellent fielder who prowled like a leopard on the field, specially the covers, Shahid was polite and cordial and always had a good word for me. One other game when I was trying to bowl faster than what I was capable of at the RRC, I remember Shahid telling me from the non-striker end - 'What Hari, you're bowling like Joel Garner today?'. He would congratulate me on good performances in other games, had a smile (that famous crooked smile of his which was very warm) and a kind word and you never expected anything more from a senior player those days. I'd always seek him out and say Hello to him in our games, something that I did not do with many others.

After those playing days in the eighties I lost touch with Shahid. I heard from others that he had quit the SBI job, that he had become a recluse and had some health issues. I remember Vidyuth telling me that every year Shahid would call the Jaisimha residence on New Year to wish them a Happy New Year, right till the end. After all Vidyuth's father, the late M.L. Jaisimha, was Shahid's first Ranji captain. More recently I heard that he had fallen seriously ill and was in coma. My colleague Riaz told me that Shahid was not in good shape. From whatever I heard, it did not sound good. He was alone more or less in those last days - out of choice they say. I believe the Hyderabad Cricket Association helped out with the medical bills which was a fine gesture on its part.

Yesterday we heard the news that he had passed away. Sometime before he passed away, at the Uppal ground, Hyderabad's Ranji team completed the formalities against the much fancied Mumbai. I am sure that Shahid would have been pleased with the way the young Hyderabad side played against Mumbai under pressure.

Shahid Akbar moves on, leaving behind those fine memories, and some magic to cling on to. May his soul rest in peace.