Chandra, my Chandra…

 In this platinum jubilee birth anniversary of India’s greatest-ever match-winner, a tribute to our all-time favourite Chandrasekhar.

He was someone special. Rare vintage. Unique of flavor; extraordinary of essence. Never in the long history of cricket have we come across a player with such unusual characteristics as Chandrasekhar’s.

Bhagawat Subramanya Chandrasekhar came into the cricket scenario to show polite contempt for all the established norms. He rattled the conventional theories. He abhorred orthodoxy. But he was not rude in his manner. On the contrary, he kept smiling his way into the hearts of cricket lovers as one orthodox view after another collapsed.

Within three months of making his first-class debut for Karnataka, he was selected to play against England at Mumbai in 1963-64. Critics, including former Test cricketers, who had sniggered that his non-rhythmic  run-up would tire him out early, fled from the ground as he bowled 40 overs for just 67 runs! In between, however, he confounded the ‘technically correct’ English batters with four wickets.

Experts, who claimed he bowled too quick to gain sufficient spin, gasped as he spun a web around Bob Simpson’s Australia in 1965, throttling them to submission at Mumbai with 4 for 50 and 4 for 73.

The cynics were still not convinced. Again they had to make a hasty retreat as he tormented West Indies at Mumbai in 1967 with 11 wickets in the match. Among his victims were batsmen of the caliber of Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd.

Now how would you describe a man who did everything that was not written in the text book and still emerged a champion? Yes, he had too long a run-up for a spinner. Yes, he ran in too quickly for a genuine turner. His action was ungainly. But then he was no believer in conventional theories or orthodox methods.

He was a free bird; not a caged pet.  His spirit soared to the skies. He was all spontaneity. Years ago before a Duleep Trophy tie at Chennai in 1973, I stood behind the south zone practice net trying to decipher his spin from his highly deceptive action. Gopal  Bose whispered, “Raju, play him as an off-spinner. If the ball turns from the leg, even Sir Don would be beaten!”  Absolutely to the point Gopal was. What a tribute to a great bowler.

My elder brother Deb, former Bengal batsman, who had got runs against Chandra in an university match on matting wicket always suggested, “Play him as a medium pacer who brought the ball in. In that way one would be prepared for the pace and the extra bounce that he generated.”

Yes, that’s it. It was the bounce that was astounding. No spinner could match him as his whiplash action would give nightmares to batters and force them to succumb.

But the arm-chair critics, even prominent former cricketers, were far from convinced. They were on the lookout for his failures abroad. Unfortunately for these so-called experts, that never occurred. On his first visit to England in 1967, on a dismal tour by Pataudi’s Indians, he took 16 wickets in only 3 Tests.

Then again in UK in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, he had 13 victims in 3 Tests with 8 wickets at the Oval to help India win her first Test and series on English soil. Chandra’s magical spell in the 2^nd innings at the Oval, after England had taken a lead of 71 runs, had the England batters mesmerized. No such blitz had England encountered since Hitler’s aerial attacks.

From his first tour of Australia in 1968, Chandra returned with an injury. Went back with Bedi’s Indians in 1979 and gave India two victories with 12 and 8 wickets respectively at Melbourne and Sydney.

To West Indies he went just once. That was good enough to fetch India a historic win at Trinidad in 1976 where with 6 and 2 wickets in the match he surprised the might of Viv Richards, Alvin Kalicharran, Lawrence Rowe and Clive Lloyd. He ended the series with 21 victims in just 4 Tests.

He served India like a real champion. Between 1963 and 1979 he played 58 Tests claiming 242 wickets at 29.74. His victims would make a superlative World XI of prominent batsmen.

 He had no fancy for any particular captain. He was as comfortable with Pataudi and Bedi as he was with Wadekar. He received excellent support from his close-in fielders which included Solkar, Abid Ali, Ajit Wadekar and Vankataraghavan. Not that he desperately needed them for he was as successful with Karnataka without any of these world-class catchers for support. He worked in tandem with all his famous contemporaries Bishen Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna  and Srinivas Venkataraghavan without any particular fancy.

Very early in life an attack of polio severely affected his stronger arm, the right arm. Never was he able to use his right arm for throw-ins from the deep. Not to be outdone by such a grave handicap, he began to throw with his left arm. Such was his determination that the weaker left arm developed adequate strength and control and he actually used it for flat throw-ins from the boundary! I doubt if any fielder anywhere in the world has ever thrown accurately from the deep with the weaker arm. Really extraordinary. Even the best of fielders have not been able to do what Chandra achieved.

Chandra defies description. The sheer unpredictability of the man made him an unique sportsman. He not only detested batters, it seemed he also detested batting!  A whole lot of zeros against his name on the score-card is sufficient proof of this. But once at Eden, to humour us with his unpredictability, he added 50 runs with Bapu Nadkarni in 1963.

A fascinating aspect of Chandra was that whereas he should have been used as a shock bowler, he volunteered to take the load of a stock bowler as well. And yet managed not to suffer from over exposure as had happened to Sonny Ramadhin of the West Indies.

Every time he turned his arm there was a hushed silence on the stands. An aura of suspended suspense. Perpetually on the attack he was. Once in 1974 at Eden Gardens he brought a phenomenal victory to India against Lloyd’s team from the jaws of imminent defeat. Thanks to Tiger Pataudi’s faith in him, Chandra was man inspired that morning as he scythed through the extremely strong batting line-up.

Though his figures are extraordinary, there is always a fear that his real capability might be submerged by mere statistics. He was all magic. No opposition ever had any rest from him. His tentacles were always around their necks.

 Once as the non-striker I thought I heard a humming sound from the bowler Chandra. Asked the umpire for confirmation. Piloo Reporter smiled, “Did you not know that Chandra hums Mukesh tunes as he moves in to bowl!”  Here too he was an original; someone special. Ever heard of a match-winner humming tunes while bowling?

No other India has given us as many Test victories as Chandra has. Out of 58 Tests he had a major contribution in no less than 14 Tests. Never before or after has there been a match-winner like our silent-assassin Chandra, everyone’s perpetual favourite.