Syed Haider Ali, 'Godfather' of Railways cricket, passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Syed Haider Ali, a domestic cricket stalwart, and one of the finest left-arm spinners who never played for India, has passed away after battling prolonged illness.
Haider died in Prayagraj on Saturday. He was 79. Haider is survived by two sons Syed Sher Ali and Raza Ali.
"He was suffering from chest congestion for some time now. After a routine check-up with his doctor, we were returning home, when he suddenly collapsed. He passed away around 1.30 pm on Saturday," Raza, a former first-class cricketer, told PTI.
Haider made his first-class debut for the Railways in the 1963-64 season and went on to play for his side with distinction for close to 25 years.
A classical left-arm orthodox spinner, who honed his skills on docile tracks around the country in the 1960s and 1970s, Haider bamboozled batters through guile and deception.
By the time he hung his boots in 1988, Haider was by far the most celebrated cricketer for the Railways.
He finished with 366 wickets in 113 first-class games, scalping three 10-wicket hauls and 25 five-wicket hauls, at an impressive average of 19.71.
Not only he accomplished much as a spinner, Haider was equally skilful with the bat, making invaluable contributions batting at No.7.
"He scored 120 against Vidarbha in Nagpur in a Ranji Trophy match in 1984-85 season. I remember we had lost seven wickets and were staring at an innings defeat. We would have lost that game without him," former Railways coach Vinod Sharma told PTI.
Notching up 3,125 runs, including three centuries and 10 half-centuries from 158 innings, is a testimony to his achievements as a batter.
Not many know that Haider began his first-class career as a tearaway left-arm pacer. It was on the insistence of former Railways captain William Ghosh that he switched to left-arm spin.
After retirement, he took on the mantle of the chief selector for the Railways.
"He was our selector, when Railways won the Ranji Trophy titles during 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons respectively," Sharma recollected.
As news of Haider's demise began to trickle in, the Railways' cricketing fraternity was in a state of shock.
Sanjay Bangar, the former Indian all-rounder, who played for the Railways in the 90s, remembered Haider as a stalwart and a well-respected individual.
"Very unfortunate to hear the tragic news. I never got a chance to play alongside him, but I played when he was the chief selector of the Railways team. He was a stalwart. A soft-spoken and a well-respected individual, Bangar told PTI.
"It's a huge loss for us. I cannot even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. He made Railways cricket a force to be reckoned with. He was our Godfather," Sharma explained.
Despite being such an irresistible force on the domestic circuit, Haider never made the transition to international cricket.
In a sense, he was very much an unsung hero, having plied his trade at a time when India boasted of the famous quartet of spinners, namely Bishen Singh Bedi, Erappali Prasanna, Shrinivas Venkatraghavan and Bhagwath Chandrashekar.
Haider, however, never harboured resentment for not having made it to the Indian national team.
"He would always say that Bedi was India's No.1 spinner, followed by Padmakar Shivalkar and Rajinder Goel," Sharma noted.
"Take my name only after these three cricketers," he added.
The Railways and the Jammu & Kashmir team, who are playing a warm-up fixture at the Karnail Singh Stadium here in the national capital on Sunday, observed a two-minute silence before the game, in Haider's honour.
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Motivational speaker Sonu Sharma slams govt, Supreme Court over Aravalli Hills order
Says If Aravalli falls, our future falls
New Delhi: Motivational speaker and life coach Sonu Sharma has strongly criticised the Narendra Modi-led central government and the Supreme Court over recent developments related to the Aravalli Hills, warning that the decisions could have long-term consequences for North India’s environment and air quality.
In a video posted on social media, Sharma questioned the logic behind treating parts of the Aravalli range measuring less than 100 metres in height as non-mountains, a position that has emerged from recent legal interpretations. Without naming specific judgments, Sharma said such reasoning effectively strips large portions of the ancient mountain range of legal protection and opens the door for large-scale mining.
The Aravalli range, considered one of the oldest mountain systems in the world, plays a crucial role in checking desertification, regulating climate and acting as a natural barrier against dust storms from the Thar desert. Environmentalists have long warned that continued degradation of the Aravallis could worsen air pollution in cities such as Delhi and accelerate ecological damage across Rajasthan, Haryana and the National Capital Region.
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In the video, Sharma argued that redefining mountains based on arbitrary height criteria amounts to legitimising environmental destruction. He compared it to denying basic human identity based on physical attributes, calling the approach illogical and dangerous. He claimed that in Rajasthan alone, nearly 12,000 peaks are part of the Aravalli system, and that only around 1,000 of them exceed 100 metres, leaving the vast majority vulnerable to legal mining activity.
Sharma also took aim at a televised statement by senior news anchor Rajat Sharma, who had said that Delhi’s pollution gets trapped because the city is shaped like a bowl surrounded by the Aravalli Hills. Sharma rejected the argument that the Aravallis are responsible for pollution, instead describing them as the “lungs of North India” whose destruction is aggravating the crisis.
Without directly naming the court, Sharma said institutions were issuing orders without understanding environmental realities. His remarks have been widely interpreted as a criticism of the Supreme Court’s recent stance on the Aravalli Hills, which has drawn concern from environmental groups who fear it may weaken safeguards against mining.
The video has gained significant traction online, given Sharma’s large following of over five million followers on Instagram and more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube. Many users echoed his concerns, saying unchecked mining and construction in the Aravallis would worsen water scarcity, air pollution and desertification.
Sharma ended his message with a call to protect the Aravalli range, warning that continued neglect would have irreversible consequences. “If the Aravalli falls, our future will also fall,” he said, urging citizens to speak up against policies and orders that, in his view, prioritise development over environmental survival.
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