Mohammed Nissar & Amar Singh

 

In American slang, they were ‘pistol-pardners’. As partners, they haunted and hunted in pairs. Their weaponry sent tremors down the spine of their victims. Their expertise was beyond compare.

 

Mohammed Nissar was a reticent giant with soul of an innocent child. Amar Singh Ladha was a bohemian, full of bonhomie and laughter. Gripping the ball in massive palms, both looked at the batters from 6 feet plus with benevolent eyes, perhaps expressing sorrow for the missiles they were about to unleash. 

 

In contrasting styles Nissar and Amar complemented each other. While Amar winked and whispered, Nissar was fast and fearsome. They belonged to different provinces, different communities but both knew that they belonged to the same nation. They were proud Indians who believed that to gain self-respect from foreigners one had to show one’s power. 

 

The untimely death of the duo left behind poignant memories. Both were born in the same year 1910. Amar left at 30, Nissar at 53. Nissar played just 6 official Tests; Amar one more. Amar was lucky not to have seen the partition of his motherland; not so Nissar as he died in his homeland with a changed name!

 

Mohammed Nissar was India’s best-ever fast bowler.

He needed neither costumes nor dialogues to enthral the audience. Just a stage was all that he ever required. Whether playing in Tests or in exhibition fixtures, the man was always at his peak form. Motivation he never lacked; hence his skills never betrayed him. The   “Star of India” logo on his cap was sufficient motivation for him to bowl at tottering knees.

 

He was a greatly feared opponent and as respected. People feared him not only because of the ferocity of his pace, which of course he had in plenty, but more so for his destructive skills: vicious in-dipper, rib-cage bounce and nerve-wrecking bumper.

 

Mohammed Nissar was among the great fast bowlers of any era. He was a Royal Bengal tiger whether on the prowl or in pause. Power reeking through those bulging shoulders and massive physique. Glided as a gazelle as he ran in to bowl. Had muscles of iron and wrists of rubber.  His cocked wrist resembled a cobra as the ball leapt and struck. Venom turned the victim blue.

 

For all his proclivities towards violence, the giant had the heart of a child. Never even once at any level of cricket did he aim to maim a batter. Once when goaded by his skipper Wazir Ali to bowl at CK Nayudu's body in a Pentangular championship match, Nissar declined saying that he did not play his cricket that way. It is indeed amazing for a fast bowler of blinding pace to refuse to intimidate batsmen. Unique in cricket history, it is.

 

Nissar was unarguably the first Indian cricketer who would have walked into a World XI. Sir Neville Cardus, the doyen of cricket writers, considered Mohammed Nissar to be the fastest bowler in the world in the 1930s, especially his initial 5 overs.

 

Pace like fire he surely possessed, but more than sheer brute pace it was his vicious in-swing bowled at the rib-cage that had people gasping. His fast break-back at a disconcerting pace would have batters drawing away from the stumps. He had a ferocious bouncer and an accurate yorker to send hapless men to their doom. But all this he achieved without the least show of rancour or vengeance.

 

Nissar did not need to browbeat opponents, never stooped to curse opponents; had no time for vulgar gestures; had no inclination to abuse. He had no reason to take recourse to any kind of gamesmanship. He was very sure of his abilities. He had faith in his own skills; pride in his own methods. Such was his aversion to gamesmanship that he would rather accept failure than twist the fair name of cricket to gain an undue advantage. Yes, in today's perverse terminology he would not be considered a wise man.

 

He was in reality a Rolls-Royce among fast bowlers. No bowler except Ted McDonald – and later Ray Lindwall, Graham McKenzie and Michael Holding – had a run-up as smooth as he had. His 30-yard approach to the bowling crease was sheer poetry: full of rhythm and poise. The massive man was so very nimble on his feet that not a thud could be heard as the silken-smooth movement took shape. The action was a sight for the gods: majestic and handsome.

 

Appropriately enough he made his Test debut at Lord's in 1932 in India's inaugural Test. Within the first 5 overs he gave England an idea of a blitzkrieg that Adolf Hitler would unleash on them in the years to come. Herbert Sutcliffe was beaten by sheer pace as his stumps went flying; Percy Holmes' citadel cart-wheeled as he had no clue to Nissar's poisonous break-back.

 

The gin and tonic brigade in pin-stripes and top hats in the Lord’s Long Room went open-mouthed in disbelief. They had come to watch the slaughter of innocents. Had not just 10 days back this same Yorkshire pair of Sutcliffe and Holmes scored a world record score of 555 runs against Essex, they asked themselves. Who is this colonial upstart to wreak havoc on British Rule?

 

Nissar added three more wickets in that debut innings and immediately came to be respected as among the top fast bowlers of the world. No other cricketer has ever received such universal admiration and status so very early within the first day of his Test debut. Yes, no other cricketer ever, not even Trumper, Bradman, or Sobers received instant confirmation of their exceptional abilities.

Only Nissar, the lion-hearted Indian, came to be rated as among the best on the very day he made his debut in Test cricket.

 

On that tour he was consistency personified. He scalped 71 victims. Had a strike rate of one wicket every 6th over, which, by any standard, is superlative striking-power. But in Nissar's case we must not forget that most of his wickets came from bowled and leg-before-wicket decisions as he was very badly let down by his close-in fielders. But never was Nissar known to have expressed displeasure at his butter-fingered fieldsmen.

 

Back in India he faced Douglas Jardine’s men once again. At the Bombay Gymkhana ground he had another 5 wicket haul and at Eden Gardens just 2 wickets as catches went down galore in the slips cordon. Those days so very few Test matches were played that even at one’s peak, one got hardly any opportunities. Hence any comparison with the moderns is obviously misleading. The great pacer's career did not extend beyond a mere 6 Tests.

 

His last tour abroad was again to England in 1936. Again he was his usual outstanding self. At the Lord's in tandem with the magnificent Amar Singh he had England on the mat for 147 all out. Nissar (17-5-36-3) and Amar Singh (25-11-35-6) conclusively proved that they were the leading fast bowling combination in the world at the time.

 

At Old Trafford he had 2 wickets in the only innings and then in the final encounter at Oval he was at his magnificent best with 5 wickets off 26 overs. Uprooted the stumps of Hammond and Leyland. Halved the stumps of Worthington. Had Allen and Verity fending risers to wicket-keeper Dilawar Hussain. That was his swan-song in Test cricket. Wonder if any other fast bowler began his life and finished as well with 5 wicket hauls.

 

Although his Test bowling average of 28.28 is very impressive, more so his strike rate in unofficial Tests and first class matches which are 16.51 and 19.02 respectively, yet there is every fear that the magnificence of his endeavour may be submerged in the mass of statistical data.

 

Nissar was born at Hoshiarpur in Punjab in 1910. Learnt his cricket in the tough school of Patiala, where for the first time he was introduced to flannels for cricket instead of the flowing salwars that he wore.

 

 Did wonders for the Muslims in the Quadrangulars and the Pentangulars as well as for Southern Punjab in the Ranji Trophy. Graduated from the Government College at Lahore and was gainfully employed by Bengal Nagpur Railway.

 

His untimely death in 1963 at 53 cast a pall of gloom all over the cricket world for he was a much-respected, much-loved cricketer all through his life.

 

India has produced many outstanding batters, spinners, all-rounders, wicket-keepers but no greater fast bowler than the one and only Nissar. He still remains our all-time best genuine fast bowler at the world stage.

 

****

 

AMAR SINGH was surely India’s first world-class all-rounder.

If his run-up was short, so was the tenure of his life. If his action appeared ungainly, so was his casual approach to life.

 

 But there was nothing untidy about his bowling. Immaculate in accuracy and disconcertingly penetrative in pace and guile. In Walter Hammond's view Amar Singh "came off the wicket like the crack of doom."

 

In his brief career he had established himself as one of premier pace bowlers of the world. The tall, dark, sinewy man from Rajkot was an athlete in every movement of his. His lithe grace and easy manner made him highly popular wherever he played the game.

 

Amar Singh was destined only to be a fleeting comet. He arrived on the cricketing scene all on a sudden and after a fleeting moment of brightness went into the unknown at the youthful age of just 30. Not much has been fathomed about his early life. Little that is heard is that his elder brother Ladha Ramji, the burly fast bowler of the Hindu teams of the 1920s, brought him over as a raw, callow youth to play local cricket in the state of Kathiawar in West India.

 

In England Amar Singh was a man possessed. He would swing and cut the ball either way at a disconcerting pace much to the bewilderment of the professional, hardened English county cricketers.

 

In his debut Test at the Lord's, Amar Singh gave glimpses of the genius that lay dormant within his massive frame. In tandem with the fiery pace of Mohammed Nissar at the other end, he formed as lethal a combination we ever possessed. He returned figures of 2 for 75 off 31.1 overs and 2 for 84 of 44 overs. The 4 wickets included the legendary names of Herbert Sutcliffe, Walter Hammond and Leslie Ames. In the 2nd innings, while fighting for a lost cause, he scored 51 and was associated in an 8th wicket stand of 74 in just 40 minutes against Bill Voce, Bill Bowes, Freddie Brown, Wally Hammond and Walter Robbins.

 

After Amar Singh’s return from UK in 1932 he made his debut for Western India in Ranji Trophy as well as for the Hindus in the Quadrangular Tournament in 1934. He was the spearhead of the Hindu sides in the 1930s. Against the Europeans in his first match for the Hindus he had figures of 6 for 42 and 4 for 50. For bonus, he hit a breezy 90 to enable his team to inflict a crushing innings defeat on the Europeans.

 

By now, of course, he had built a reputation as an outstanding bowler. He never relied on frightening pace but concentrated on movement and accuracy. His powerful wrists allowed aim to give the bill a firm tweak. Coming as it did at his medium fast pace, the batters the world over experienced a horrifying encounter. His leg cutter was deliberately a little slower with the flick of his fingers which very few bowlers have been able to master over the years.

 

When the maharaja of Nawanagar decided to field a team for the Ranji Trophy in 1936- 37 among his first acquisitions was Ladha Amar Singh. Amar was now a full-time professional cricketer in the best sense of the term 'professional’. He helped Nawanagar to win the Ranji championship in that very year with the assistance of Albert Wensley, the Sussex pro and a young 19- year old named Vinoo Mankad.

 

During the off-season Amar Singh would go over to England to play in the Lancashire League for Colne. In England his magnificent performance gave him an awesome reputation. His carefree life-style and his easy manner made his as highly popular in the leagues as he was with the Indian crowds.

 

The next Test he played was on Indian soil. Once again against Jardine's England in 1933-34. As a bowler of world class he was, as usual, in his elements. 14 wickets he captured in just 3 Tests. At Madras he had an analysis of 7 for 86 in 44.4 overs and 1 for 55 in 25. Promoted to no.4 from no.11, he hit an explosive 48 to cement his growing reputation as one of the premier cricketers in the world.

 

So popular was he that in 1936 his Lancashire League club Colne permitted him to play the Tests for India in England during his league assignments. Again he was India's premier bowler with 10 wickets in 3 Tests.

 

Bohemian Amar Singh, the flamboyant character that he was, never believed in predictability. He made the ball talk in whispers. Swinging the red cherry either way was passé for him. When the mood beckoned he would cut the ball off the seam and then suddenly decide to bowl a genuine leg cutter. Just to keep everyone guessing he would actually bowl medium paced finger spin as well! Never bothered to mark his run-up as Keith Miller and Salim Durani would often do years later. Would bowl in various styles too!

 

Amar Singh was a man of the soil. No pretensions inhibited him. He was a natural sportsman. Full of life and bursting with freedom. Shackles of seriousness disturbed him. He could not fathom why cricket should be played with rancour and the will to win at any cost. To him cricket always remained game to be enjoyed. A spectacle to entertain others.

 

Amar Singh, free and careless, became a victim because he could not and would not compromise with what nature had bestowed on him.

 

With Mohammed Nissar, the maverick Amar Singh Ladha formed India's finest fast bowling combination ever. In the 6 Tests together they did extremely well to be ranked among the best in the world. Unfortunately death at the age of 30 broke the partnership in 1940.

 

Today when our fast bowlers work in harness and cause discomfiture to the opponents we feel that the spirit of the great duo is on them. This is the best possible homage the country can pay to those two magnificent soldiers, now resting in peace in the Elysian Field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Polly Umrigar: my homage to the most magnanimous soul.

 Polly Umrigar was the chief architect who laid the stolid foundation of modern Indian cricket. He had time for every cricketer from the junior-most trainee to the senior-most former player. Nothing in Indian cricket was beyond his knowledge and extreme involvement.             

 Former Test cricketers have been remarkably unsuccessful as cricket administrators. Only a handful has left behind any worthwhile contribution. Most former cricketers-turned administrators generally fell prey to the machination of the officials.

There were some glorious exceptions, though. But none more convincing than the magnanimous visionary Polly Umrigar. As the BCCI secretary, closeted in his small office at an obscure corner of CCI’s Brabourne Stadium, he thought big, really big. As a serious student of cricket, he was the ultimate servant of the game. To use a cliché, he slept, ate and drank cricket.

 No, he did not stop at that. It was not oxygen but cricket that he drew in with every breath. What came out from him was all-embracing wisdom: youth coaching camps around the country, national cricket academies training of coaches and umpires, improvements in travel and accommodation for youth teams, awards for different age-groups, efforts to promote cricket in north-east India, welfare schemes for former cricketers.

 Today when former Test and first-class cricketers are enjoying the benefits of the BCCI pension scheme, little do they realize that the man who made it possible was Polly Umrigar with active assistance from Raj Singh Dungarpur, a former first-class cricketer himself. It is my great fortune that both Polly-kaka and Raj-bhai had imposed a lot of faith in me as they meddled around with the modalities of the intended pension scheme in the 1990s.

 

In the mid-1990s when Polly Umrigar was firmly in the BCCI secretary’s saddle, he conceived the idea of providing pension to former cricketers. He had all the papers and files ready with the budgets, eligibility criteria, mode of payment and other formalities for the BCCI top administrators to see and sign. When I raised an issue concerning cricketers’ widows, Raj-bhai joked, “Raju does not have me in mind!” (As all are aware, Raj-bhai and his lady-love Lataji never got to marry).

 

The BCCI administrators took eight long years to come to terms to assist people who had helped the country’s cricket to prosper. This too came about with the arrival of Sharad Pawar at the helm. Thankfully BCCI’s full-time administrator, the brilliant Professor Shetty was near at hand to show Pawar, the new BCCI president, the documents that Polly Umrigar had so lovingly prepared and preserved.

 

Unfortunately Polly Umrigar’s magnanimous approach to assist former cricketers was never highlighted in India. Even BCCI presidents, who had kept the files under wraps since the mid-1990s, took credit and shelved the name of the genuine creator from the media and the people. Today every former cricketer should take time to say a short prayer for the soul who made so many families happy. I knew I did not make a mistake in identifying my all-time hero. 

 

No schoolboy fiction was ever conceived without the wide shoulders, the clear-cut features and the booming voice which went on to make the hero’s personality. We had come to believe that such qualities were found only in story books. But in Polly Umrigar’s story, it was no fiction. It was as authentic as the city of Mumbai which had nurtured and nourished him.

 

Christened Pahlan Rattanji Umrigar, the man was a larger than life persona. The imposing frame sheltered a heart still bigger. Never, not even once, did those massive shoulders stoop. Rather, those were strong enough to perpetually carry his peers. His magnanimous presence captivated all and sundry.

 

As a child I had often seen him playing the dour role of saving India from embarrassment. But the first distinct impression that remains was that of a leader harnessing his men to victory. The year was 1961-62; the venue, Eden Gardens and the opposition Ted Dexter’s England (then MCC). Polly Umrigar was not the appointed captain. But in skipper Nari Contractor’s absence, he introduced Ramakant Desai from the High Court end and brought about the downfall of the prolific Ken Barrington. Eden’s hero Desai bounced, Barrington hooked and another Eden hero Durani, at square leg, made the difficult catch look easy.

 

That masterpiece of tactics had the floodgates open and England collapsed giving India her first-ever Test match victory at Eden Gardens. As the dignified figure of Polly Umrigar receded into the pavilion, he walked into the pantheons of cricket history. Never before or after has a deputy captain made such an inspiring move to liven up an almost dead Test match.

 

Later I met him in 1978 when he was a national selector. During the course of the Eden Gardens Test match, he and colleagues wanted to have a look at the Test prospects from East Zone. Very hastily a net session was organized. All the national selectors, except the eastern region representative, turned up as did the potential players. But none bothered to prepare the pitch for the net session to take place! 

Another selector Kisan Rungta was furious at the callousness of the local cricket administration. Polly Umrigar was shocked and sympathized, “Hope you boys are more fortunate next time.” Later as the BCCI secretary, he took every possible step for the promotion of youth cricket so that no cricket talent would be lost through carelessness. This was the kind of care he took for junior players.

Once in Bombay during the Vijay Hazare Trophy (at the time it was a over-limit under-16 inter zonal league championship), as the East Zone manager and coach I met Polly Umrigar at his Brabourne Stadium BCCI office. His first reaction was that he would come to watch the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches on various grounds.

 This attitude of a senior BCCI functionary attending u-16 matches was and still quite unheard of. But then that was Polly Umrigar. When East Zone won the trophy, Polly Umrigar was present at the ground and the wonderful group photograph of him with the boys, published by The Hindu, is still in the proud possession of all those young talents. He inspired by actions not through hollow words.

 After my cricketing days were over, I kept in touch with Polly Kaka. I would write to him very often with proposals and suggestions. Not once did he express any botheration. On the contrary he would write back words of encouragement and discuss cricket issues, which included the pension scheme for former cricketers.

                                                                  

Sir Garfield Sobers was undoubtedly the greatest of all-rounders. He was a rare 3-in-1 all-rounder; a person capable of bowling pace and spin as well as batting. But was he the first of the 3-in-1s? Surely not. That credit, arguably, may be conferred on Polly Umrigar, the most underrated of our sporting heroes. About his batting and off-spinning abilities legends abound, but his medium paced out-swingers and off-cutters did not receive the recognition those deserved.

 

At a time when India did not possess top-class pace bowlers, we had to rely on the incisive medium pacers of this burly all-rounder from Mumbai. Hardly ever he disappointed. On the matting wicket of Bahawalpur in 1954-55 against Pakistan he enjoyed his best spell with the new ball: 58-25-74-6.

 

No Indian cricket addict has quite been able to shed the pangs of recrimination at the way Umrigar was treated by the national selectors and the media. He was a natural leader of men. A man of dominating presence and astute thinking. At the same time, understanding and considerate. 

He was not the kind to create a halo of impregnability around himself to unnerve the uninitiated. Nor would he have a permanent nod for the powers-that-be. He belonged to neither group and invariably suffered the consequences. For his uncompromising posture, he was our hero.

 

Against Harry Cave’s New Zealand in 1955-56, Umrigar’s India won the series two nil. Next winter he went about consolidating the team as the nucleus was rapidly ageing. But constant changing and chopping did not help to cement the team’s morale against Ian Johnson’s Australia as the series was lost.  But the imposing personality never stooped not even against the marauding West Indies, who had the blistering pace of Wesley Hall and Roy Gilchrist and the genius of Rohan Kanhai and Garfield Sobers. The team, under Umrigar’s leadership, brought off an honorable draw in the first Test at Bombay but the strength of the opposition created an inferiority complex among the players.

 

Umrigar realized the problem soon enough and requested the selectors for a few changes. He wanted courageous men who would fight till the end even for a lost cause. But the selectors refused to yield and Polly Umrigar, the man of high principles, relinquished the captaincy. No Indian captain before or since has shown such sterling qualities of character.

 

However to his eternal credit he never bore grudges nor did he brood himself to frustration. Happily he co-operated with every new captain who replaced him and led India: Ghulam Ahmed, Vinoo Mankad, Hemu Adhikari, DK Gaekwad, Pankaj Roy, GS Ramchand and Nari Contractor.

 

He even willingly served under Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, 15 years his junior, and wholeheartedly supported the young captain in West Indies in 1962. In Pataudi’s 'Tiger’s Tale’, the unhesitating help of Polly Umrigar has been mentioned. Umrigar played under various captains of very average ability but not once did he show any rancour nor did he ever try to scheme to get his captaincy crown back

 

A grave injustice was done to him by a flippant remark which went on to become an international headline. He had a dismal series in England in 1952. To compound matters it was said that he had backed away from the express deliveries of Freddie Trueman. If that was true then so were many eminent names in international cricket. Did not the Australians fall in a heap against Peter Pollock in South Africa in 1970? Did not the Englishmen draw away from Lillee and Thompson in Australia? There are numerous similar examples. Why was Umrigar singled out?

 

But the fact remains that he went back to England in 1959 and collared Trueman and Harold Rhodes and smashed an innings of 118 at Old Trafford. He took on the mighty Wes Hall in his own backyard with an unbeaten innings of 172. Where were those who had derided the callow youth on his first tour in 1952? He was never media savvy and never cared about what the uninitiated thought of him.

 

Against Fazal Mahmood’s men he had his most successful series ever. He reeled off 3 centuries in 5 Tests. No matter the opposition, no matter the conditions, Umrigar was a man for all seasons. When he retired in 1962 he had a fantastic average of 42.22 with 3631 runs including 12 centuries.

 

As a bowler he never got his due. Overshadowed by the presence of Vinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed and Subhash Gupte, he was always considered to be a second fiddle. Yet when the Aussies capsized against Jasu Patel at Kanpur in 1959, it was Polly Umrigar’s 4 vital wickets, including those Neil Harvey and Norman O’Neil that hastened the disaster. As a fieldsman he was of the top bracket, whether close to or far from the wicket. A safe pair of hands, an unerring throw and an impeccable anticipation were his hallmarks. He was among the first Indians to dive and take catches. The one he took at slip off Wallis Mathais at Eden when the ball flew off the keeper's gloves is still in memory.

 

After retirement from active cricket, he was still more active in the service of the game. As coach, manager, administrator he left behind his mark in every sphere and was highly respected by all those who came in contact with him. Deep knowledge and a broad mind gave him a wider vision than usual. Remarkably open to views he would take suggestions even from laymen. Very diligently he studied and then made his recommendations to BCCI. It was primarily because of his initiative that former players, both Test and first-class, are receiving pension from BCCI in recognition of their services to Indian cricket.

 

The modesty of the man was profound. Once I met him at Sunil Banerjee’s place in Calcutta. Polly-kaka had read a piece of mine on him in Sportsworld and thanked me profusely, “Raju, that article of yours pleasantly surprised my family. They thought no one remembered me any more. Next time you come to Mumbai you must have a cup of tea with us.” With his demise, I have lost the man whom I respected the most in Indian cricket.

 

Polly Umrigar’s retirement from cricket as an active player had a unique ring about it. After scores of 56,172 not out, 32 and 60 against Hall, Sobers and Gibbs in 1962 when India was black-washed five-love, Umrigar stood tall and fearless as usual.

 

The great persona decided that he had had enough. People were aghast. They kept asking, “Why?” Polly Umrigar’s classic reply was, “Better now when they are asking ‘why’ than later when they would be asking ‘why not’. Indeed, indeed. What a lesson from a champion sportsman. His action taught us what character was; what wisdom meant.

 

He was without any semblance of doubt the chief architect of modern Indian cricket. From the day of his Test debut at Brabourne Stadium in 1948-49, he stood tall and surveyed the proceedings of Indian cricket in a manner no one had done before or since. His sterling qualities, his visionary approach, his magnanimity are unparalled. He bridged the pre-War era with the post-independent India as a statesman. On behalf of all Indian cricketers I bow down to him in eternal pranam

 

Cota Ramaswami & M. J. Gopalan

 

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Morappakam Joysam Gopalan was in a dilemma. He was needed by the Indian hockey team in Berlin; he was also required by the Indian cricket team in England.

 

The man from Chennai (then Madras) had excelled in both his chosen sports and the well-deserved recognitions were coming in profusion. And why not? In 1934-35 Gopalan had shown outstanding merit with the all-conquering Dhyan Chand’s Indian hockey team through New Zealand. And within a year in 1935-36 he had Jack Ryder's Australians in no end of trouble with figures of 6 for 23 and 5 for 62 for the Madras Presidency team.

 

 The right-arm pace bowler had a difficult choice ahead of him because the tours to Berlin and England coincided. He had to opt for either one of the two. His choice fell on cricket. A strange decision indeed. The mercurial hockey administrator of the time Pankaj Gupta had advised him, “Gopala, come with us to Berlin. You are assured of an Olympic gold medal.”

 

The defending Olympic hockey champions, Dhyan Chand’s India were the top favourites to retain the gold medal in the Berlin Olympics of 1936. And in England with the cricket team he would only be second fiddle to the magnificent duo of Mohammed Nissar and Amar Singh Ladha. But cricket was probably his first love and off to England he went with Vizzy’s Indians. On such slender threads hangs one destiny.

 

The dickensian twist of the tale unfolded in a matter of months. Whereas Dhyan Chand's men returned with gold medals around their necks, Vizzy's band of segregated groups showed the world to what depths petty-minded Indian sportsmen could stoop.

 

 Gopalan did not get to play a single Test match in UK and got very few opportunities to show his worth. He and the other in-form fast bowler Shute Banerjee even witnessed how one fast bowler (Baqa Jilani) played a Test (at Oval) because he abused another player (CK Nayudu) as directed by the captain!

 

 After his return from the disgraceful England tour in 1936 he did not play any official Tests but was included in one unofficial Test against Tennyson's England team in 1938.

 

However, by then, Gopalan had already printed his name in gold in the annals of Indian sport by becoming the country's first double-international sportsperson. In 1932-33 Gopalan made his official Test debut at Calcutta's Eden Gardens against Douglas Jardine's side. In that match he was not particularly penetrative, but his bowling figures were not disappointing either. He, however, had the satisfaction to accept all the three catches that came his way.

 

Gopalan's first-class career spanned from the day he delivered the first delivery of the inaugural Ranji Trophy match for Madras in 1934 to 1951. Although basically a bowler of medium-fast category, who relied on swing and seam, he later developed into a batsman of adventurous mien.

 

Even at the age of 40 his carefree batting style had John Goddard's West Indies team in disarray. Scored a breezy half century as captain of the South Zone team in 1948-49 as the last flickers ebbed away.

 

Hailing from a family of modest means, Gopalan initially was recruited by the Madras Police. Later his cricketing credentials so impressed his State captain CP Johnstone that at the latter’s insistence he was absorbed by the multi-national corporation, Burmah Shell.

 

 In 1961 Gopalan, India's first double-international, was awarded the Padma Shri. He left us in 2003 fully deserving the awards and recognition that came his way in the very restricted opportunities that was made available to him.

 

***

 

India's another sports double-international, Cota Ramaswami, was also from Chennai. He belonged to a different genre, though. Prosperous, articulate, confident, Cota Ramaswami was an amateur sportsman in the most authentic sense of the term. For him sport was certainly not the first priority.

 

 His academic achievements took him to Cambridge University and on his return accepted a highly responsible post in the Madras Agricultural Services.

 

In the midst of his various activities Ramaswami found the time to lay bare his outstanding sporting qualities. At Cambridge University he was denied a chance even to appear in the cricket trials! Racism, was it? Hope not. But the fact remains that the brilliant man Cota had little time to waste with radical means of protest. On the contrary the bright student decided to show them their mistake in his own splendid way. A splendid lesson for all of us.

 

Not to be outdone, Cota the Andhraite promptly switched allegiance to tennis and volleyed his way to a ‘tennis-Blue' in the early 1920s. A decade later he was representing India in Davis Cup encounters. Those who had ignored him at Cambridge played no international for any country. Some justice, somewhere.

 

Cota Ramaswami was a gifted timer of the ball. In his youth, the graceful left hander would use all his propensities for stroke-play with gay abandon. A delightful mix of academics and sports, his was a commanding figure for the big occasion.

 

When selected to play for Madras Presidency in 1935-36 against Ryder's Australians, Ramaswami was nearly 40, and well past his prime. But the gifts of timing and application were still very much in evidence. He proceeded to scores of 48 not out and 82 with utmost ease and utter disdain.

 

Then within months the India team for the tour of England was announced. Finding his name in the team, Ramaswami was said to have remarked that he was chosen for reasons other than cricket! Amazing men we have with us.

 

 Actually he was being far too modest and unnecessarily self-critical. Probably he said so because he knew that his salad days were behind him and that his physical condition did not measure up to his own high ideals.

 

 But on the 1936 tour of England the supposedly fitter men were beating hasty retreats to the safety of the pavilion. The 40-plus academician made his debut at Old Trafford with scores of 40 and 60. Then in the following Test at the Oval his consistency remained with innings of 29 and 41 not out. Thus with an average of 56.66 he finished his debut series in England as well as his Test career.

 

 Cota Ramaswami proved about 9 decades ago that more than physical fitness, it is a man’s skills and mental strength that takes him to the pinnacle of success. A lesson contemporary Indians, no less the cricketers, would do well to learn and emulate.

         

Ramaswami was the most respected personality in the Indian team on that tour of England in 1936. His impeccable bearing, his academic credentials, his manner of speech and conduct earned the admiration of his team mates. He was the man who, perpetually as it were, was acting the mediator between the warring groups.

 

When the impetuous youngster Lala Amarnath was being sent back from UK on disciplinary grounds by captain Vizzy and the manager Brittain-Jones, it was the sensible Cota Ramaswami who went to plead with the administration to keep Amarnath back with a caution. That matured view was not kept, but frowned upon. The legacy of that dreadful tour and its aftermath still remains in the contemporary cricket scenario with all our conspiracies and cronyism.

 

 Ramaswami would have made an excellent captain of India. He had all the requisite qualifications. But then in those days we suffered from a notion that cricketers from the north and the west were superior to the rest of the Indians! So the most deserving man from Madras was never under any consideration to give leadership to the nation.

One fine morning in 1990, the 94 year old Cota Ramaswami tottered out of his house and drifted away into the unknown...  his body was never found.

 

By international, standards, Gopalan and Ramaswami were not of the top bracket. But in the context of the Indian sports environment they were outstanding models. In a huge country like ours there are just too many obstacles to pass through: too many competitors, too few opportunities, logistics too complex, exposure far too restricted.

 

Only a handful rise to eminence. Apart from outstanding merit, in India one needs tons of luck to catch the selectorial eye. Especially so in team sports, where a brilliant individual can so easily be sidelined because of his team's failure to rise to the top.

 

In a country where sportsmen are known to be close to drug dealers, betting syndicates, black-mailers, match-fixers, murderers etc who has the time for sports double-internationals?

 

Yet, despite the travails, these two men went on to represent the country not in one sports discipline but in two! No praise can do them justice. No sports historian has yet found the time to think of these legendary double-internationals.

 

                                      Vijay Laxman Manjrekar

 

Vijay Manjrekar was an artist’s delight; so was he of the artisan's. He blended the creativity of the artist to the craftsmanship of the artisan. At 18 he made his first appearance in first-class cricket for Bombay.

 

Immediately the connoisseurs of the game detected the class of his batsmanship. Modelled on classical lines: precision of footwork and economy of movement gave him the rare virtues of balance and timing. Even in defence, he exhibited grace and nonchalance.

 

But what of his temperament ? He was yet to notch a single first-class century prior to his call for Test debut at the Eden Gardens but had given enough indications of his unmatched potential. None questioned his undoubted technical excellence. But, rightly so, some doubts persisted about the young man's temperament to play the typical long, grinding innings at the Test Match level.

 

 True enough, Manjrekar displayed his wealth of talent in his Test debut innings of 48 on the emerald green pitch of Eden Gardens of those days and helped his handsome Bombay colleague Dattu Phadkar to add 76 runs. But when Manjrekar seemed to be in full flow, he gave his wicket away to an innocuous delivery. In the next Test, too, at Kanpur he had settled down only to gift his wicket away. These were the lessons he would not forget ever.

 

Luckily for Manjrekar the selectors persevered with him and he set off for England in 1952. On that dismal tour, Manjrekar's performance was a silver lining. At Headingley in the first Test when Manjrekar joined his captain Vijay Hazare 3 wickets had gone down for 42 with three world-class bowlers  Freddie Trueman, Alec Bedser and Jim Laker on a stranglehold. But on this day Manjrekar was a transformed man. Gone were the exuberance and the indulgence of youth.

 

In one session he climbed to manhood. Cool and composed, he proceeded to match Hazare defence for defence; stroke for stroke. The pair added 222 runs, but more than the statistical figure the partnership heralded that an adolescent had grown into maturity and was ready to carry the mantle from Vijay Hazare in the decade to come.

 

Manjrekar kept his promise. Till he was forced to retire from the Test match scene in 1965, after scoring an unbeaten 102! The man was a tower of strength to the team's cause as well as to his mates. For a decade and a half no Indian batsman displayed the tenacity, the artistry, the courage and the craftsmanship that Vijay Manjrekar did. Tiger Pataudi is on record mentioning that he had not seen a batsman as comfortable as Vijay Manjrekar against both pace and spin.

 

Manjrekar was no fair-weather cricketer. Not a man to pull away from adversity. For sheer courage and technical excellence his innings at Barbados in 1962 has scarcely been bettered. Remember the island match against Barbados when India captain Nariman Contractor was laid low by the fearsome West Indian speedster Charlie Griffith?

 

Well, in that particular innings, Vijay Manjrekar too had to retire hurt with a swollen nose against the fury of Charlie Griffith. The Indians were all out for 86 and, on being asked to follow-on, had no gumption to fight back. All except one. That batsman was Vijay Manjrekar. He left the comfort of his hospital bed, went to the ground and pleaded to be allowed to hold his weapon and go out in the middle to face the enemy onslaught.

 

Now he was not playing merely a game. He was upholding the pride of a nation. The halo of a Maratha warrior was on him. In total contempt he took charge of the situation. Neither Griffith nor Wesley Hall nor Garfield Sobers made the faintest of impression on him that day. He was a soldier inspired; an Indian who would not relent no matter the adversity. He scored an unbeaten hundred, the second fifty coming in as many minutes in the company of medium pacer Vasant Ranjane, the last man! Rarely if ever has a player been expected to stand up and play for the self- respect of his motherland as Manjrekar had taken up the challenge upon himself.

 

Vijay Manjrekar was a professional in the strictest meaning of the word. He had pride, he had capability and he would endeavour to produce his best under every conceivable condition. He was no cry-baby who would blame others for his own weaknesses; no moaner who would leave the ship in mid-stream. Not one with a godfather in BCCI or with political patronage. Such was his commitment to the game that he earned his living from his earnings out of the game. As there was little by way of money from the game in India, Manjrekar spent his summer months in the Lancashire leagues.

 

 In India he had represented Bombay, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the national championships but wherever he was his was an influence that permeated down to the grass-roots level. Numerous cricketers, who came to the forefront in the 1970s, hero-worshipped him and tried their best to model themselves on him. He was the vanguard of a generation that took self-respect and national pride to the crease every time they gook guard.

 

Manjrekar's batsmanship was of the classical mould. On a rock-like defence flowered a wide repertoire of strokes. Lessons on technique he mastered early in life. But he was no blind follower of orthodoxy. He would utilize technique as his slave but would never stoop to become a slave to technique. The hardened cricketer played the game tough, as it should be. There was no airy-fairy, casual streak about him.

 

Extremely strong on drives off either foot, he would delight to rock back and crack a rasping hook. The square cut was his trade-mark stroke especially after an operation on the right knee restricted him from stepping out of the crease and the gradual accumulation of bulk discouraged him from hooking and pulling as of yore.

 

Manjrekar’s square-cut, later exhibited so very well by Gavaskar, Vishwanath and especially Borde, was to lean back and cut the ball from the stumps. The leaning back was to make room for the full flow of the arm to generate power in the square cut.

 

Vijay Manjrekar had quite a few unusual achievements. He made his maiden first-class century in Test cricket. He played for probably the highest number of first-class State teams. His versatility was such that though primarily a batsman, he represented his country in Test cricket as a wicket-keeper too and was fairly effective at that. In 1952-53 at Kingston, Jamaica, skipper Hazare asked Manjrekar to don the big gloves as both the principal wicket-keepers were found wanting.

 

He kept brilliantly to the wiles of Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad. In a West Indies innings of 576 runs, the debutant irregular wicket-keeper gave away just 7 byes. And then went out to bat at number 3 to score a magnificent 118. In the 1^st innings too his bat had fetched 43. No fatigue ever bothered him. The bulky man was physically far fitter than and far more energetic than players with trimmer waists.

 

 And, wonder of wonders, he was omitted from the Test team after scoring an unbeaten century! Of course, there have also been others who have gone through many of Manjrekar's experiences and ordeals, but there are not too many who have contributed so much and got so little in return.

 

Over a decade and a half, he was the mainstay of our batting line-up. Played 55 Tests scoring 3208 runs at an average of 39.12 including 7 centuries of which the highest was a flawless knock of 189 not out against Dexter's team in 1962. In Ranji Trophy he made 3734 runs at 57.44 with 12 centuries.

 

With unwavering concentration hour after hour he would go about his job with a minimum of fuss. Time and again he would go into his shell with customary caution for the sake of his team's interest, but in times of attack he would again take the initiative to lead from the front.

 

No better example could be given than that against Australia in the 2nd Test at Bombay in 1965. Chasing a target of 255 on the last day, India had lost 6 wickets for just 122 runs when Manjrekar in the company of his young skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi added a vital 93 runs and enabled the ‘evergreen’ Chandu Borde to put the finishing touches to a magnificent victory by 2 wickets against Simpson's Australians.

 

Manjrekar's courage is legendary. Once in 1958-59 in the Delhi Test when the young Chandu Borde was attacking the West Indians’ fearsome pace battery with his audacious stroke-play it was found that Borde, unbeaten on 96, had none to partner him with 9 wickets down. Without a moment's hesitation in walked Manjrekar, who himself was down with a badly injured thumb in plaster. Little did he care about personal comfort and security. By deeds he used to inspire and not by words.

 

I treasure a vivid memory of Vijay Laxman Manjrekar. Central Zone was playing East Zone in a Duleep Trophy tie at Eden Gardens in 1965. After East Zone had piled up 392 runs, Central lost 4 wickets for about 150 when Manjrekar came out to join Hanumant Singh. Throughout the last day the pair batted in splendid but contrasting styles. Whereas Hanumant was dancing down the wicket and driving elegantly all round the wicket, Manjrekar was content to play the sheet-anchor’s role to perfection, where the trade-mark draw-away square-cut predominated.

 

The pair crossed the target with about 15 minutes left for draw of stumps. Now the only interest left in the match was whether the veteran Manjrekar would reach his century, Hanumant already having reached his and was nearing the 150 mark.

 

As the last over of the day began, Manjrekar was just 9 short of his 100 and in total command of the situation. But, believe it or not, the man played out a maiden over! He actually made no apparent effort to go for strokes in order to reach the magical figure.

 

When asked as to why he did not try for the century, he coolly replied, “As Subroto Guha did not bowl a single bad delivery in the last over, I played every ball on its merit." Not a thought of self-interest crossed his mind. So absorbed was he to take his team to first innings lead and victory that he did not feel it worth his while to think of his own hundred. A true artist; a real pro; a role model for every batter.

 

His cool demeanour, his witty remarks, his melodious voice hid a man of rare resolve. Impregnable in defence and impeccable in technique, the composed man was a sadhu in flannels. He was as near to perfection as one could possibly be. Infallible against spin and at ease against pace, the man had no apparent weakness. Peers who have played with or against him unanimously emphasize that he was among the leading batsmen in the world between 1952 and 1965.

 

In 1980 he had come down to Calcutta to take part in a veterans’ exhibition match at the emerald-green CCFC ground. I had the good fortune to open the innings with him. As we walked to the wicket he said, “I shall take the first strike as I am senior to you!” Yes, he was in his 50s and I was 20 years his junior.

 

The first delivery he softly pushed towards point and ran like mad! I hesitated for a moment and then somehow made my ground. Immediately he walked up to me, “What’s up? Are you ok?” I smiled, “Sir, are you sure you want to run quick singles at your age?” He gave a wink, “Arre, getting off the mark. Aur kya?” Fantastic approach even at the end of the tether. Lessons of youth never quite die. I still marvel at the spirit of the man in his 50s.

 

Within two years he was no more. Left behind memories of inspiration; of courage; of technical excellence; of a man largely forgotten by his own men. Left behind a progeny – son Sanjay – to carry forward his mission.