Farokh Engineer

Former Indian cricketer Farokh Engineer has enjoyed a successful career for both India and Bombay cricket teams. Embarking on his professional career in the early 1960s, Farokh represented his country for almost 15 years. Now almost 80 years old, Farokh still has a keen interest in cricket and continues to work as a sports speaker and his involvement with the Indian Premier League Cricket. Farokh’s speciality was wicket-keeping, and his speciality was founded when playing in the Dadar Parsi Colony team. 1958 brought Farokh’s debut first-class match, playing for the Combined Universities side against the touring West Indies. Only two years later, Farokh found himself making his Test debut, playing against England in Mumbai in 1960. However, after an accident during practice, he was unfortunately ruled out due to injury. He did, however, recover in time for the second Test match, scoring 33 which saw him compete for the rest of the series.

His team later toured the West Indies and Farokh was the first-choice wicketkeeper, playing in three matches before he was again ruled out for injury. Farokh’s next big game came in 1965 when New Zealand toured India. In this tour, he took on the role of opening the innings as well as keeping the wickets, which lead to him being recognised as an opening batsman. Farokh continued to represent his team in a number of other matches. By the end of his career Farokh has played an impressive 46 Test matches, 5 One Day International matches, 335 First-Class matches and 160 Limited Overs matches.

Farokh was considered as India’s go-to wicketkeeper from 1961 all the way to 1975, landing him as a firm favourite with the public and press alike. He was best known for his stylish yet aggressive batting style along with his leg break bowling style. Farokh retired in the 1970s and has since gone on to work as a cricket speaker in both England and India. After playing for both Bombay and Lancashire as part of his domestic career, Farokh continues to work as a cricket speaker for both domestic clubs. He is often seen attending after-dinner speaker events, fundraisers and publicity events in both England and India. With his prolific history in the sport, Farokh is the perfect addition to any event with both the knowledge and experience first-hand of the sport.