Narendra Hirwani was thrust into the Indian team as a promising 19-year-old spinner and at the end of his first Test, against West Indies at Madras in January 1988; he made it to the record books with a bag of 16 wickets for 136 runs - the best figures by a bowler on Test debut. Twenty wickets in three Tests against New Zealand followed this and helped him get ready for the tour of West Indies in 1989. But the Caribbean cricketers extracted complete revenge on their tormentor of a year before and his six wickets in three Tests cost 57.33 runs. From then on his career started going downhill. He failed on the tour of New Zealand in 1990, did little on the perfect pitches in England later that year and was not exactly a success in Australia in 1991-92. Anil Kumble's success in the early 90s clouded him and his international career came to an end. But luck has once again favoured him, with Kumble’s injury and the rest of the spin bowling probables not exactly inspiring confidence, the selectors brought Hirwani back into the reckoning by naming him among the probables for the Australian series in 2001. The short, compactly built bowler has enjoyed considerable success for Madhya Pradesh and during the 1999-2000 season, he joined the select band of bowlers who had taken over 300 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.