Contemplated retirement right after making Test debut, reveals Saba Karim
Former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim, whose career was tragically cut short by an eye injury, has revealed that he contemplated retirement the day he debuted in Tests, against Bangladesh in 2000. Karim revealed that his deteriorating eyesight did not allow him to continue playing the sport.
An agile wicket-keeper who was a run-machine in domestic cricket, Saba Karim debuted for India in 1997 as a 30-year-old. The presence of Nayan Mongia meant that Karim never really cemented his place in the side, but the wicket-keeper always kept himself in the loop and did end up playing a significant number of matches for the country between 1997 and 2000. However, a tragic injury in an Asia cup match against Bangladesh in 2000, where he was hit on the eye by an Anil Kumble delivery, meant that Karim suffered permanent damage to his left-eye, something that eventually forced him into early retirement at just the age of 33.
20 years on, Karim, who incidentally made his Test debut in 2000, post his eye injury, has revealed that he contemplated retirement the moment he walked on to the field for his Test debut and revealed that he complained of discomfort to the then skipper Sourav Ganguly. Karim revealed that he felt ‘scared’ after his eyesight deteriorated further in the months that followed.
“I started to contemplate it after I made my Test match debut. November 14 (2000) was the last day of the match. After the Test, I informed Sourav that I won't be able to continue because I realised that I struggled [in that match] because of my poor eyesight,” the former wicket-keeper told Cricbuzz.
“I thought I'll try a season of first-class cricket to see how my eye would behave. In February-March, after playing three-four matches, I realised my eyesight was deteriorating further. It was the first time in my life that I felt scared.”
The wicket-keeper, who played 34 ODIs and 1 Test for India, revealed that after almost a year of struggle, he decided that enough was enough and came to the decision of quitting cricket in order to make the most of his ‘good’ eye, which was the right one. The 52-year-old revealed that he wanted to call it a day as soon as he realized that the injury all but put an end to his India dream.
“Then I thought as long as I have my right eye, the good eye, I should quit playing cricket and focus on something else. That's when I realised, I have to hang up my boots. My intention was always to play for my country and when I realised I could not play for India, I did not want to continue playing first-class cricket. I thought I should allow the youngsters to come through from Bengal.”
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