Nari Contractor

Nariman Jamshedji "Nari" Contractor (7 March 1934 Godhra, Gujarat) is a former cricket player. He was left-handed opening batsman whose international career was ended abruptly by a serious injury.

He had a fortuitous beginning to his first-class career, when he was called up to replace the Gujarat captain who got injured on the morning of the match. Contractor scored hundreds in both innings of his debut, becoming the second man after Arthur Morris to do so.

At Lord's in 1959, he had two ribs broken early in the first innings by Brian Statham, despite which he scored 81. Later in the year, his 74 in the second innings at Kanpur was crucial in India winning its first Test against Australia. This innings ended when he pulled Alan Davidson who was bowling left arm spin at the time. Neil Harvey at short leg ducked and turned, but the ball got stuck between his legs.

Contractor led India to a series win against England in 1961-62 and captained the side to West Indies the same season. There, in the match against Barbados, he ducked to a short ball from Charlie Griffith which failed to come up. Contractor took a blow at the back of his skull and was unconscious for six days. That ended his international career. In a recent interview, he mentioned it as his only regret that he wanted play just one Test after the injury, but people didn't want him to.

Contractor now lives in Mumbai where he coaches at the Cricket Club of India Academy. He is a Parsi-Zoroastrian.

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