In this article, we will discuss On This Day | Former India player Farokh Engineer has turned 86 today. He is one of the veterans who played a vital role in the emergence of Indian cricket in the 60s and 70s. Engineer was a wicketkeeper-batsman and he was among the best in both skills. He was an important part of the Indian batting unit when the team was trying to challenge the more established teams like England and Australia.
The Bombay-born made his international debut for India in 1961 against England at Kanpur. He made a very crucial contribution in the lower order in his first Test match and helped India post a challenging total in the first innings of the match. Soon the wicketkeeper-batter cemented his place in the team. In the later part of his international career, he also represented India in ODI cricket. But his ODI career was short-lived as he was already in the twilight phase of his career. Engineer could only play 5 ODI matches for India where he scored 114 runs at an average of 38.
Another fine Bombay cricketer
Bombay was one of the hotbeds of Indian cricket in those days, it still continues to be but the influence in that generation was unmatched. Farokh Engineer was one of the products of the ‘Khadoos’ school of batting in Bombay. He had a long international career where he played close to 50 Test matches for India, 46 to be precise. In those matches, he scored 2611 runs at an average of 31.08. The best knock in his Test career came in 1973 when he smashed 121 runs against England at Brabourne Stadium, his home ground.
The veteran wicketkeeper-batter played his last Test match in 1975 against West Indies at Wankhede. In June month of the same year, he bid farewell to international cricket by playing his last ODI against New Zealand at Manchester. Farokh Engineer will be remembered as one of the central figures in the emergence of Indian cricket in the early 70s.