Kiran More, born on 4th September, 1962, in Vadodara, Gujarat in India, played as the wicket-keeper for Indian cricket team, from 1984 to 1993. Kiran Shankar Murat More was also a right-handed batsman and a leg break bowler. Kiran More became the Chairperson of the Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India till Dilip Vengsarkar took over the responsibility from him. Kiran More was extremely competent with his assignment. He had the mettle to grab 130 significant dismissals in Test cricket. Moreover, he had bagged 1285 runs in 49 Tests. More was a member of the India Under-19 team, during the late 1970s. He represented Tata Sports Club in the Times Shield in Mumbai and for the Barrow in the North Lancashire League. Currently, he is working with the Indian Cricket League.
Cricketing Career of Kiran More
Ranji Trophy
During the Ranji Trophy, 1983-84, he flaunted 153 runs, against Maharashtra and 181 runs against Uttar Pradesh. In the 2nd innings, Kiran More further contributed a record 145 runs for the last wicket with Vasudev Patel. This glory of the valiant 145, in the last wicket, is still radiant in the most cherished moments of the Ranji Trophy.
ODI Career
His ODI debut happened in the match of India vs. England at Pune on 5th December, 1984. Kiran More went to the Australia tour with the Indian echelon, in 1985-86. Meanwhile an injury in an early match of the World Series Cup almost drew a conclusion to the international career of Syed Kirmani. More was entrusted the responsibility to fill in the blank. Since then till 1993, Kiran More starred as the regular wicket keeper for India, in Tests. In the sphere of One-Day matches, he frequently had to leave spaces to greater quality batsman, who could handle wicket keeping as well.
Test Career
June 1986, Kiran More made his first appearance in Test series against England at the historic ground of the Lord`s. He proved his calibre by capturing 16 catches in 3 Tests, a remarkable achievement by an Indian against England in a foreign land. In the very first innings he caught the catches of DI Gower and GR Dilley. More also elevated himself to the second rank with respect to batting averages.
Kiran More had often played a vital role, on various occasions, when the stalwart batsmen had not been able to satisfy the expectations. For instance, he obtained a half-century at Barbados against West Indies in 1988-89, in an hour of crisis, when India had already lost the first 6 wickets for 63, and 58 against Pakistan at Karachi. Again, opposing West Indies at Chennai in 1988-89, Kiran More stumped 6 batsmen, sending 5 to the crease in the 2nd innings. In 1990 he was recruited as the vice-captain to Mohammad Azharuddin, during the expedition to New Zealand. The second Test at Napier saw him acquired his career`s topmost score of a brilliant 73. Later in 1990, Ravi Shastri emerged as the new vice-captain in England, thereby replacing Kiran More.
Unfortunately, in the Lord`s Test, Kiran More committed the drastic blunder of dropping the catch of formidable Graham Gooch, at 36 runs. A diligent Graham Gooch, availed off the opportunity and forged ahead to hit a massive 333. Yet, Kiran More never forgot to remind the world of his potentials. He struck 2 fascinating boundaries in 2 balls, by taming down the bowling attacks of Tom Moody in the penultimate over against Australia at the Gabba in the 1992 World Cup to save India`s repute in the international sphere. In 1993 at Colombo, Kiran More was featured in his last Test, a match of Sri Lanka vs. India. In 1994, he retired from International Test, being substituted by the Vadodara talent, Nayan Mongia.
Cricket Statistics
Batting and Fielding Averages
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 6s | Ct | St | |
| Tests | 49 | 64 | 14 | 1285 | 73 | 25.70 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 110 | 20 | ||
| ODIs | 94 | 65 | 22 | 563 | 42* | 13.09 | 808 | 69.67 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 27 | |
| First-class | 151 | 204 | 36 | 5223 | 181* | 31.08 | 7 | 29 | 303 | 63 | |||
| List A | 145 | 100 | 28 | 1151 | 82 | 15.98 | 0 | 2 | 97 | 41 |
Bowling Averages
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
| Tests | 49 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 0 | - | - | - | 6.00 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 94 | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| First-class | 151 | 245 | 180 | 1 | 1/18 | 180.00 | 4.40 | 245.0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| List A | 145 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 1/14 | 1/14 | 20.00 | 5.00 | 24.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Retirement of Kiran More
However, More sustained his relations with domestic cricket for sometime more. Afterwards, he concentrated his focus on coaching. He, at present is maintaining his famous cricket-academy in his hometown. In 2006, Kiran More earned an authoritative position in cricket-administration of India. He held the prestigious office of the Chairman of the Selection Committee of the BCCI. Currently, he is a part of the Indian Cricket League.
