Unfortunate trio

Because of selectorial short-sightedness highly deserving batters of the 1960s like Shyam Sundar Mitra, Sudhakar Adhikari and Vijay Bhonsle did not get a single opportunity at the Test level. Similar fate awaited quality cricketers like pacemen Abdul Ismail, Anup Ghatak and Samar Chakravarty; spinners Padmakar Shivalkar and Rajinder Goel and the wicket keeper/batter PK Beliappa. While some cricketers were persevered with, many genuine talents suffered in silence in the 1960s and 1970s.

The names of Abdul Ismail and Padmakar Shivalkar are among the players who have not received the respect that they deserved. While Bombay was winning one Ranji Trophy championship title after another in the 1960s and 1970s, two men stood out among the bowlers, Padmakar Shivalkar and Abdul Ismail.

They were the chief architects of many a victory. They did their job to the best of their ability. They were both very hard working, very sincere, very positive. Match after match, some even from hopeless situations, these two men extricated Bombay from the jaws of defeat.

Ismail would make the early breakthrough and then Shivalkar would run through the opposition. They were just quiet executioners who went about their responsibilities without a word or gesture. For them the duty of winning matches for Bombay was their prime objective and they achieved that to perfection day in, day out for years.

Every match-winning Bombay team photograph would have these two players standing in some obscure corner totally oblivious of the great job they had done. This happened year after year. Yes, most surely Bombay had the batsmen to get big scores on the board, but then to win a match you have get the opposition all out at least once, if not twice. Hence the contributions of these two superlative bowlers can never be ignored.

Unfortunately none of them was ever called to represent the India team in official Test matches. They remained ignored and neglected forever.

However Paddy got to play two unofficial tests in early 1974 on India’s tour of Sri Lanka. On his debut at Colombo he bowled 61 overs and captured 4 wickets for 115, which included the fabulous Anura Tennekoon and Sidath Wettimuny. In the following test match he blocked one end and enabled Madanlal and Pandurang Salgaokar to run through the Sri Lankan innings for a victory. Never again was he heard of at the international level.

Paddy was fortunate to have been compared with Bishan Bedi time and again by various people. At least genuine cricket followers understood that Shivalkar and Goel were outstanding bowlers who were superseded by a legend.

 

 

 

But paceman Abdul Ismail never got any form of recognition or mention. It appeared that people took him for granted. Little did people realize that he bowled his heart out for Bombay on lifeless Indian pitches and helped Bombay during the period between mid 1960 and mid 1970, when the Ranji Trophy title was Bombay’s monopoly. When pace bowlers with hardly any comparable statistics were being ‘tried’ at the unofficial and official Tests the tall, well-built, bespectacled medium pacer from Mumbai was completely forgotten.

I shall never forget how Ashok Mankad and he tricked me in going for a drive off the last ball of the day only to lose my wicket. I was fully set with 30 odd when Abdul floated a slow out-swing to tempt me into a cover-drive keeping the cover region vacant. The resultant snick resulted in an impish smile from my dear friend. Ashok was the likely planner but Abdul executed the plan to perfection.

In the early 1980s we invited Abdul to play an invitation tournament at Jamadoba in Dhanbad to represent Samar Pal’s XI. This was basically a side full of potential youngsters. Abdul and I, the two seniors, shared a room. Believe it or not, the inexperienced youngsters actually went on to defeat first the Tata XI and then the SBI team, both full of Ranji Trophy cricketers.

He was an extraordinary influence on the young hopefuls. He mixed with them very informally. Off the field, he guided the bowlers with the finer points but generally kept to himself. He assured me, “Raju, whenever you need me to bowl, please do not hesitate to give me the ball. I enjoy bowling.” On that ‘dead track’ at Jamadoba not many pace bowlers would have the confidence to say so.

 On the field he proved that he also had the ability. It was a fantastic feeling to have such a man beside me. He got 5 wickets each in both the matches and helped the under-rated youngsters to lift the coveted trophy. That’s Abdul Ismail. A captain’s bowler. An extraordinary team man.

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Even in death, Rajinder Goel remained behind the screen. His untimely departure was not adequately ‘covered’ in the media. In life too he was destined to remain in the background.

His sole opportunity at the international level came in an unofficial test against Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) at Ahmedabed in 1966. The Indian batting collapsed giving the Lankans an easy victory but Goel was his consistent self with 4 wickets in just 13 overs. Never again was he asked to serve his country!

Normally it is believed that Bedi’s presence kept him and Padmakar Shivalkar out of the Indian team. But that is not the complete picture. For the discerning cricket follower knows that even when Bedi was dropped on ‘disciplinary’ grounds, Goel was shelved in favour of a leg-spinning all-rounder and another left-arm orthodox spinner.

Later in 1979 when Bedi was finally omitted, Goel was still at the top of his bowling form. But he was overlooked as the much younger Dilip Doshi got the nod ahead of him. The sad truth is that never did the national selectors realize the true worth of Rajinder Goel. He was destined to remain constantly under the shade no matter whoever was brought into focus.

Rajinder Goel’s fanatastic statistical figures were never given any consideration by the national selectors, although the cricketers who faced him on the field of battle knew the worth of the warrior. He was a team-man, whatever the situation, whatever the conditions. Never had a single selfish bone lodged in his body. Whichever team he represented could count on him to be the stock bowler as well as the match winner. Once when I complimented his Haryana captain Dr Chadha, the latter – another gentleman in the truest sense – replied, “With Goel Paaji around, it makes our job easier.” What a compliment from a captain at least seven years his junior. So very well deserved, not only as a great spinner but as a human being. Every captain of Goel’s beginning from Tiger Pataudi to Bishen Bedi to Kapil Dev had the highest regard for this outstanding, left-arm orthodox spinner

Although his statistical figures far exceeded all his contemporaries, there is always a danger that his intrinsic value of his bowling skills would be submerged by the awesome records of his.

The genuine truth is that he, like Shivalkar and Ismail, was a ‘captain’s bowler’. He would volunteer to do the toughest job for the sake of the team. He would not shirk any responsibility. He would not try to put pressure on the younger men who led him.

As a person, he was the epitome of a perfect gentleman. Perpetually smiling, ever ready to help others, he never gave the impression that he was an opponent! Once at Eden he caught me off his own bowling for 99. After the match he and Kapil came to our dressing-room to say, “Raju, wish you got the single but we won the match.” Knowing him, I know he meant it. On the field he played tough; but off the field he was all charm.

At Feroze Shah Kotla against North Zone in 1972, I made my first-class debut. In a very low-scoring encounter East Zone won against an attack comprising Madanlal and Mohinder along with the spinners skipper Bedi, Gokul Inder Dev and the evergreen Rajinder Goel. After the match concluded, Bishen and Goel came to our room to congratulate. What a lovely gesture from such wonderful cricketers.

Both Bishen and Goel Bhai would invariably and sincerely maintain that the other person was the better bowler. I would hate to compare among the best. I would only add that they were at par with each other as the archers Karna and Arjuna were. If Karna was allowed to take part in the archery contest to win Draupudi, who knows what shape the Mahabharata would have taken…

A marvellous cricketer. An impeccable gentleman. His memory would linger. He was at peace with the world on earth. So would he be in Heaven.