Syed Kirmani (India) – 101* v Australia, 1979:

India had lost Sunil Gavaskar late on day one of the sixth Test against Australia in Mumbai in 1979. The great wicketkeeper batsman Syed Kirmani was sent in to bat and he held on as India finished the day on 231/3. The next day, he worked his way to his first Test ton, scoring 101*. India won the match by an innings and 100 runs and also the series by 2-0.

Syed Kirmani, kept wickets for legendary Indian spin quartet of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna ,Venkat Raghavan and Bhagavat Chandrasekar in the 70s and 80s. He displayed all his glowing virtue and made wicket keeping, a difficult, demanding and complex job appear effortles.

Once Kapil Dev arrived the scene in the late 70s, Kirmani proved he can be an outstanding keeper against seam and swing bowling too. Some of his gravity-defying catches on either side of the wickets will be hard to forget.

As a batsman he is as stubborn as any batsman,  he never throw his wicket away. Only Indian to score 2 test centuries batting as night watchman. His biggest contribution with the bat was in the company of his captain Kapil Dev in that famous match against Zimbabwe 1983 World Cup. Kirmani made only 24 in that partnership of 126 but those runs worth real gold in Indian cricket history. If Rahul Dravid is a Wall at top order, Syed Kirmani definitely was wall at lower order in Indian cricket.