Karim spins a web

Asif Karim must have had his fill of photograph requests — not to mention autograph books, bats to sign, the works — at Kingsmead last night after producing a spell of bowling even the best would die for.

Up against rampant Aussie batsmen chasing a sub-200 total, 39-year-old Karim finished with 8.2-6-7-3. It would have been meaner but for the four off the last ball which eventually gave Australia victory.

As the unassuming left-arm spinner went up to collect his man of the match award — his first in 20 years of playing one-day internationals — the crowd began chanting his name. It was, he said, ‘‘the best day of my life’’.

To make it more special, even umpire Steve Bucknor shed his white coat and shook Karim’s hand. It’s an old association between two veterans on the beat, Karim says. ‘‘Bucknor has seen me bowl for all these years; he was quite pleased with the way I bowled.

Perseverence pays, he told me, and asked to me to keep bowling the same way.’’ Two hours later, the adulation hadn’t changed him. Chants still ringing in his ears, Karim spared time for this reporter. ‘‘I want to dedicate this award to the Almighty and to my father Yusuf Karim, who will soon be undergoing a knee replacement surgery at Bombay Hospital.’’

He insists on only one thing: ‘‘Please mention that my dad is a former Kenyan international and my coach in my intial days.’’ So did Karim expect this? ‘‘No’’, he says, without blinking. ‘‘My son Irfan had called up the other day and said he wanted the gold watch that’s presented to the man of the match. I didn’t expect to fulfill his wish but it’s happened,’’ he said.

Karim — who quit cricket just after the ’99 World Cup and returned after Kenyan authorities asked him to — said the best thing about the match was ‘‘we didn’t give up but were ready for a fight. After the second-over hat-trick we scored about 170 and after Australia’s flying start we pushed them back and made things difficult for them.’’

Watching Karim in action last night would have thrilled aficionados of a dying art; there are few left-arm spinners in operation today. With his three-step run, bowling close to the stumps and varying his line and length, he used classic tricks — bowling from behind the stumps and releasing the ball early — to baffle the Aussies.

‘‘Yes, the art is dying and it makes me sad. With so many one-dayers, such things are bound to happen.’’ Then points out what makes him really sad: ‘‘We don’t play tests, so I get only 10 overs a match to bowl.’’ He shouldn’t expect much sympathy from batsmen, though.

Up next are his friends from the mother country. He is on very good terms with many of them but his deep pride at playing for Kenya — as he emphasised while accepting the award last night — precludes any sentiment. ‘‘The Indians are great players of spin but I’d definitely like to have a photocopy of tonight’s performance on Thursday.’’ Shouldn’t be too tough for someone who works for a photocopying firm called Copycats.