When Abey Kuruvilla reached for the sky

[Trichromatic]

Quote

Whose international career amounted to ten Tests and 25 one-day internationals - all in the same calendar year? asked David Howe from New Zealand
The man with this brief but busy international career was the tall Indian fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla, who played 35 separate international matches in 1997, ten of them Tests, starting on March 6 and finishing on December 14. He took 50 wickets in all, 25 in each format. However, the rise of Ajit Agarkar meant Kuruvilla was jettisoned, never to return. For a recent Cricket Monthly article which explored Kuruvilla's strange experience, click here.

Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team has unearthed some other players with single-year careers but several international appearances: The old Australian fast bowler Ted McDonald played all his 11 Tests in 1921 (no ODIs back then). The flame-haired Kevin Wright kept wicket for Australia in ten Tests and five ODIs, all in 1979. And two England wicketkeepers had concentrated one-day careers: Ian Gould played 18 ODIs in 1983, including several in that year's World Cup, while Paul Nixon played 19 (and one T20 international), all in just four months in 2007, a spell that also included a World Cup.

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/29889780/who-holds-record-most-runs-tests-being-dismissed

 

 

https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1229305/when-abey-kuruvilla-reached-for-the-sky

 

 

[gattaca]

He was like pankaj Singh from Rajasthan. Ungainly action not much impact from bowling. Those were awful days of Indian cricket we used to struggle to get saaed anwar , jayasuriya and Gary Kirsten out. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by gattaca

[BacktoCricaddict]

20 minutes ago, gattaca said:

He was like pankaj Singh from Rajasthan. Ungainly action not much impact from bowling. Those were awful days of Indian cricket we used to struggle to get saaed anwar , jayasuriya and Gary Kirsten out. 

Sometimes, I wonder if we were so desperate for a fast bowler in those days that anyone who was tall and well-built was expected to be a tearaway badass.  And when they turned out to be more medium than fast, we were ready to dump them because they didn't meet that expectation.  With some good coaching, the talent of someone like Kuruvilla could've been utilized well.  Maybe. 

[Rightarmfast]

During those years, I tried doing a lot of research on Abbey, And what I found out that he was actually sharp during his younger years. By the time he got his chance, he had already lost it. I believe that, though.

[BacktoCricaddict]

2 hours ago, Rightarmfast said:

During those years, I tried doing a lot of research on Abbey, And what I found out that he was actually sharp during his younger years. By the time he got his chance, he had already lost it. I believe that, though.

True.  I think he was at his peak in the early '90s but did not debut until 1997.  And it's not like the pace cupboard was overflowing with talent in those days ... oh well.

[rkt.india]

3 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

True.  I think he was at his peak in the early '90s but did not debut until 1997.  And it's not like the pace cupboard was overflowing with talent in those days ... oh well.

Don't believe in these tales. He was 28 when he debuted. Those are peak years for a pacer pace wise. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

2 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Don't believe in these tales. He was 28 when he debuted. Those are peak years for a pacer pace wise. 

You know a lot more than I do about fast bowling, so I don't mean to argue:  But what about things like loss of confidence, years of toiling in domestics without any reward?  I wonder how those things factor in.  I can see how, if someone debuts at 23 or 24 and plays int'l cricket for 3-4 yrs can peak at 28, but if you are debuting at 28, you've lost those years of developing at the highest level.      

[rkt.india]

11 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

You know a lot more than I do about fast bowling, so I don't mean to argue:  But what about things like loss of confidence, years of toiling in domestics without any reward?  I wonder how those things factor in.  I can see how, if someone debuts at 23 or 24 and plays int'l cricket for 3-4 yrs can peak at 28, but if you are debuting at 28, you've lost those years of developing at the highest level.      

Yes, it's quite possible if injuries happen.  No one on this forum can be sure in his case until we have videos of his younger days.

 

Recently, a poster was saying Brett Schultz was express but videos available of his early years don't suggest that.

 

BTW, Saini debuted at 27 for India, toiled 7 years in domestic. There is a guy Gourav Yadav who is 28 plays for MP and is probably as quick as any I have seen in Indian cricket.

Edited September 26, 2020 by rkt.india

[Cricketics]

There are not many clips of Kuruvila on internet. Here is one I uploaded 13 years ago.

 

 

[Sooda]

I remember him going on tour to WI, and even doing well maybe a 5-fer. But yes those were desperate times the mid to late 90's.

[cricketfan28]

Those days were not so great.

[rageaddict]

Man I still remember those days of Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Thiru Kumaran and Doda Ganesh.

[The Realist]

45 minutes ago, rageaddict said:

Man I still remember those days of Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Thiru Kumaran and Doda Ganesh.

Don't forget the swinging skills of Deba Mohanty and other legends such as Paras Mhambrey and David Johnson

[cricketfan28]

4 minutes ago, The Realist said:

Don't forget the swinging skills of Deba Mohanty and other legends such as Paras Mhambrey and David Johnson

Deba was good in parts .. did well in 1999 worldcup against england in a  do or die match.

Edited September 26, 2020 by cricketfan28

[rkt.india]

5 hours ago, rageaddict said:

Man I still remember those days of Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Thiru Kumaran and Doda Ganesh.

Harvinder wasnt bad. Had good pace too, was discarded too soon. Kumaran was all about accuracy. Remember him being very miserly in his early ODIs.

[Mosher]

20 hours ago, rageaddict said:

Man I still remember those days of Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Thiru Kumaran and Doda Ganesh.

Tini Yohanan was one more. Tall well built guy from Kerala but a trundler. Amit Bandari was another one. 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Mosher

[putrevus]

It is not just about pace which Indian fast bowler lacked in 90s, they lacked that killer instinct also.Even Srinath with his pace was very meek for a fast bowler.

[Vilander]

On 9/28/2020 at 8:49 AM, putrevus said:

It is not just about pace which Indian fast bowler lacked in 90s, they lacked that killer instinct also.Even Srinath with his pace was very meek for a fast bowler.

 

Kuruvilla was such a mountain of a man - > i mean there are other built players from India but this guy was broad like a tree trunk ( only pankaj singh comes close but shorter) he could have easily been aggressive if he wanted to 

[neel roy]

Problem with Kuruvilla was not his bowling but the performance of Indian team. If India chased that target of 110 in Barbados he would have been hailed as a hero till date ( ala agarkar adelaide)  as it would have won us the series in Windies after 26 yrs and maybe Tendulkar would still be captain. He bowled really well in that match and picked up 5/68 in second innings...those 22 runs not scored may have changed the course of Indian cricket .. for good .. as Tendulkar resigned Azhar became captain again.. match fixing followed .. Ganguly captain.. groomed youngsters like Viru zak yuvi n gave chance to dhoni..butterfly effect

Edited October 1, 2020 by neel roy

[rkt.india]

On 9/30/2020 at 8:06 AM, Vilander said:

 

Kuruvilla was such a mountain of a man - > i mean there are other built players from India but this guy was broad like a tree trunk ( only pankaj singh comes close but shorter) he could have easily been aggressive if he wanted to 

Pankaj is 6'5. Kuruvilla was same.

On 9/28/2020 at 12:00 AM, Mosher said:

Tini Yohanan was one more. Tall well built guy from Kerala but a trundler. Amit Bandari was another one. 

Bhandari wasn't a trundler. He did hit 140 in 2003. He was fast medium.