Sir Gary at Eden Gardens                                    

Just two names will appear in every cricket follower’s world XI: Donald George Bradman and Garfield St Aubrun Sobers. Forever they will be enshrined in the ultimate XI of Test cricketers.

Till 31^st December, 1958, we in Calcutta had not seen Gary Sobers. Had only known that he was the world record holder with 365 runs. And in the previous two Tests on this tour of India with Gerry Alexander’s West Indies team, he scored two hundreds, 142 not out at Bombay and 198 run out at Kanpur.

At Eden Gardens West Indies won the toss and batted.  Openers Hunte and Holt left early. At no. 3 handsome Rohan Kanhai walked in. As the 2^nd wicket fell, the crowd stood up in expectation of the man they had come to watch. In the NCC enclosure where I was, the spectators began to cheer “Sobers”, “Sobers”. The huge NCC score-board too put the name of Sobers on the appropriate space.

However as an eight-year old cricket-crazy youngster, I told my mom beside me that the player was not Gary Sobers but Collie Smith! The gentleman beside gave me a condescending smile and furrowed his eyebrows. As Smith took guard as a right-hander, the score-board changed the name and the gentleman gave me a warm pat on the back.

Kanhai scored a blistering 256, followed by Basil Butcher’s 103. In the meantime one left-handed artist –this time batting at number six – remained unbeaten on 106. The style of his languid walk, the grace of his movements captivated the Eden Gardens connoisseurs and the common man. Never seemed to hit the ball, merely caressed it.

 On reaching the landmark hundred, he raised his bat but lowered his head in a gesture of utmost modesty. What a lesson to learn. The West Indies with their free flowing mannerisms and smiling faces transformed Eden Gardens forever. Cricket at Eden was never the same again. The mad rush for Test match tickets at Calcutta began with Sobers and Kanhai, Hall and Gilchrist.

Next Sobers arrived with Jim Swanton’s XI followed by Mohun Bagan AC’s platinum jubilee match in 1964. On either occasion sheer artistry flowed till the customary century was recorded. Wherever he went around the cricketing world, his phenomenal performance was invariably overwhelmed by his lazy elegance and graceful gait.

Next time at Eden he was in 1966-67. Before the start of the 1^st day’s play Sobers, now the captain, was having a bat-ball ‘warm-up’ knock-about on the practice pitch without nets in front of the NCC enclosure. I was close to the scene holding onto the low fencing, gaping at him. What I saw was amazing to say the least.

 One of the reserves, Rex Collymore, a left-arm spinner was bowling to my cricketing God. He was softly pushing the ball back to the bowler. I was thunderstruck when I noticed he was using the narrow width of the bat! He was not using the broad blade of the bat but batting with the edge! Batting with the edge without being beaten even once! In all my experience never have I seen anybody else do this with such ease and elegance.

On the 2^nd day of the match, the CAB organizers sold more tickets than the accommodation available! The crowd went berserk. They climbed the low iron fencing around the ground and chased the police and the administrators. The day’s game had to be abandoned.

The West Indies players quite rightly were unwilling to continue the Test because they felt insecure. The local manager of the West Indies team was Dilip Ghosh, an erudite man and superlative administrator. He rushed to Sir Frank Worrell, who was on a lecture tour at Jadavpur University.

Worrell impressed upon his protégé Sobers that the representatives of West Indies Federation had to be impeccable guests. The match continued. Within months, Sir Frank was no more.

The greatness of two cricketing knights – one earlier in 1964 and one later in 1975 – showed the world what cricket and international relations were all about. They were the two pioneer personalities whose selfless sportsmanship made the West Indies men the most respected and the best cricketers in the world.

Met Sir Gary just once, at Nottinghamshire CCC in 1977. I was in the 2^nd XI while the genius had finished his superlative career with the county club in 1974. His prime message was, “Enjoy the game and give enjoyment to others.” Wherever he went he was the foremost ambassador of cricket. His generosity, his genius and his sportsmanship are beyond words and ages.

 Sobers needed no appellation or awards. But generations bowed their heads to him and hailed him as “The Greatest”. The One and Only.

 

 

India & Football World Cup

13 July is a very important date in the world football calendar. On this day in 1930 began the football world cup at Montevideo between France and Mexico. The first nation to host was Uruguay.

 Indian football was still unheard of in the western world. No one thought of inviting India to take part. However 1947 altered the whole scenario. With independence came an invitation from the Olympic authorities to take part in the 1948 London Olympics.

India sent a team to London. The Olympic authorities were dazed to learn that the Indians would play in barefeet! This was against all norms. The world had moved from the cradle days to adulthood. In India, who cared?

 In India we thought that we were doing something heroic by playing without boots against ‘booted’ opponents. We had no exposure to the outside world of football: its technicalities, its strategies, its methods. We actually thought – and some still feel – that we were doing something very courageous!

We were adamant that we would play in the Olympic in barefeet. Although vehemently against the whole concept of one team in barefeet and all the other teams in boots, the hosts Britain convinced the Olympic committee to relent.

The real reason was of course international relations. India had just got their political independence. The former colonial masters Britain to be politically correct allowed India to play in barefeet!

In fact, India did quite well. Lost the only match they played by 2 goals to 1 against France. India missed two penalties as well. The Indians actually returned with head held high! They actually thought they had shown the world that the game was ‘FOOTBALL’ and not ‘BOOTBALL’!

In 1950 India received an invitation from FIFA to take part in the football world cup at Brazil in 1950. But FIFA made it clear that it would stand ‘no nonsense’ about ‘barefeet’ football. India protested but to no avail. FIFA was very firm and did not have to prove any political correctness to anybody. Thus the first invitation went down the drain.

The 2^nd invitation to the world cup in 1954 at Switzerland came from FIFA. This time our over-smart football administrators could not send the acceptance letter on time!. FIFA rightfully was firm and had no time for India’s lethargy and false sense of importance.

In between the two world cups, India again went to the Olympics at Helsinki in 1952. Again the lenient Olympic authorities allowed India to play without boots. This time, however, the ‘barefeet heroes’ were thrashed 10 goals to 1 by Yugoslavia. You may well ask the reason for this disastrous defeat considering that they had played quite well in barefeet in 1948.

The issue is very simple. In 1948 at London, fortunately the ground was bone dry and in barefeet one could play normally. But in 1952 the playing surface was slushy and it was impossible to control the ball without studded boots.

 After the embarrassing defeat in 1954 we learnt our lesson. Now India were willing to play in boots. We would send our application to be considered to play in the football world cup. But by then the popularity of football was so high that every nation had to qualify to participate in the final round of the world cup. The ‘welcome invitation’ days were over.

India would participate in the preliminary, qualification matches but could never cross the Asian hurdle. Invariably big defeats stared at India on almost every outing. India never participated in the actual world cup. Whenever they played they got eliminated in the Asian round qualifiers.

India is ranked well behind hundreds of nations in the world at football. For us to reach the World Cup final rounds and the Olympic Games, we first need to do well enough in the Asian Games. This appears to be a distant dream...

 

 

 

 

 

 Football World Cup & Cricket

Football World Cup & Cricket

With the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ in full swing, how about bringing the ‘Most Eccentric Game on Earth’ in the picture?

Only one man has played in both the world cup of football as well as in the world cup of cricket. His name? Sir Vivian Isaac Richards. The great batter’s exploits need no repetition to cricket followers. His football career was a world cup qualifier for Antigua in 1972 against Trinidad.

He actually represented his nation first in football (1972) and only later the West Indies Federation at cricket. Please note Richards made his Test debut in 1974 and his first cricket world cup match was in 1975.

Another man with remarkable similarity is Willie Watson of England. He represented England (altogether 4 appearances) in a football World Cup qualifier match against Ireland again in a qualifier in 1949 for the football world cup held in Brazil in 1950.

Willie Watson was an outstanding batter for England in the 1950s. His international cricket debut was in 1953. At the time there was of course no cricket world cup. Watson too represented England at football (1949) before cricket (1953).

But one first-class cricketer stands supreme in relation to football world cup. He is Geoff Hurst of England. In 1966 he helped England to win the football world cup. In a highly controversial final against the might of Germany, Hurst actually scored a hat-trick. The only man to do so in a world cup final. He was knighted for his magnificent effort.

His outstanding achievement in football completely overshadowed the fact that he was a first-class cricketer as well. He played just a single match for Essex against Lancashire in the county championship in 1962, but soon enough realized that he would prefer to kick a ball rather than to handle it!

Here too in cricket Hurst left behind an unenviable statistic. He is probably the only first-class cricketer to have played just one match and scored 0* and 0 in two innings, did not bowl but took a catch. To end a first-class career with no runs and no wickets is indeed unbelievable. Yes, he played just one match!

There are of course a few other cricket and football double internationals. CB Fry, Denis Compton and Arthur Milton (all England) come readily to mind. These sportsmen are at a rarefied level all by themselves. They have utilized their God-gifted abilities with intelligence and devotion.

They never craved for wealth or for political influence or for cheap publicity. They never degraded themselves with any aura of showmanship or petty mercenary issues or political flattery. They never spent time and money to become media-created heroes.

 In contrast they highlighted the ideal of the genteel approach of genuine sportspeople. They served their sporting disciplines with honour just as they served their countries and provinces. They were the genuine ambassadors of sports.

 

Monohar Aich & BJP

Monohar Aich was among the first sportspersons in India to join a political party. Sportspeople devoting time to political ideologies were almost unheard of in the 1990s. Tiger Pataudi and Palvankar Baloo were exceptions.

 In the 1991 general elections in India, actor Victor Banerjee was a BJP candidate for the parliament from Calcutta north-west constituency. Champion body-builder Monohar Aich, winner of Mr Universe title in US, joined BJP and was at the dais during campaigns.

With his world-wide experience, he harped on the issues of ‘one nation; one law’ (as is normal in almost all countries) and the Kashmir problem (Sec 370). The themes in India were of course originally conceived by Syama Prasad Mookerjee (Bharatiya Jan Sangh) and later advocated by his secretary Atal Behari Vajpayee (Bharatiya Janata Party).

At an election campaign in 1991 when the prominent BJP leader Tapan Sikdar was told that Monohar Aich would be one of the speakers, he politely asked who the gentleman was. One man told him, “Tapanda, ooni amader Pocket Hercules.” Parliamentarian Sikdar was taken aback but instantly recovered, “Great news. My boyhood hero. Sorry, I had forgotten his actual name!”

Sorry we are going ahead of the actual sequence of events.

In 1951 when Monotosh Roy returned from USA with the ‘Mr Universe’ title, the Indians were aghast. No one could visualize that an Indian was capable enough to compete with the world’s best and become a world champion at an international body-building contest.

Thankfully Amrita Bazar Patrika of Calcutta – a newspaper involved with the nationalist movement in the pre-independence days – highlighted the news item to show that the Indians were in no way inferior to any other nationality in the world in any endeavour. Independent India actually had a world champion among us in an individual event.

The Olympic hockey gold medal we were used to, but a world champion in an individual contest, especially body-building, was beyond belief. Born in 1916 Monotosh Roy spent a life in total devotion to his worship of the physical self. He knew and preached that a healthy body meant a healthy mind. He was a trail-blazer as a coach to numerous Indian body-builders.

***

 In the following year in 1952 another man from Calcutta, Monohar Aich created a sensation in US. He walked away with the ‘Mr Universe’ title with ease. Extrovert and demonstrative, he held the audience in awe.

Monohar Aich was just under 5 feet in height. Initially the judges were not too impressed because of his height. But when he began to display the supple movements of his muscles, the crowd went into raptures. The judges were unanimous in granting him the title.

The media in United States began to call him ‘Pocket Hercules’. The name stuck and even today people identify him more by his nickname than by his actual name of Monohar Aich. One really cannot blame Tapan Sikdar!

Monohar Aich continued with his worship of ‘body-culture’. Observing his dedication, hundreds of young men began to congregate at gymnasiums. A distinct culture of ‘body beautiful’ emerged.  Monohar Aich maintained his amazing body till his last breath in 2016 at the age of 104.  Hundreds of his disciples as well as his numerous admirers mourned his departure.  

Both Monotosh Roy and Monohar Aich were not recognized by the Government of India for their exemplary service to the nation. Both gave a distinct respectability to the culture of body-building in India by winning the world crown. But their contribution went unheralded. We seemed to have had no time or inclination to honour our genuine world champions.

The stories of Indian champions should be in the text books of children. Only then we shall be able to spread the sports culture to every nook and corner of the country. High time we highlighted our sports heritage.

In the picture Monohar Aich is in the company of Vishnukant Shastri, myself, Sukumar Banerjee (then president of Bengal BJP) and Tapan Sikdar while campaigning for Victor Banerjee at Netaji Indoor Stadium in 1991.

 

Shyam Sundar Mitra: an artist who never compromised

When cricket connoisseurs including Sunil Gavaskar talk of Shyam Sundar Mitra invariably they remember him as the most deserving middle-order batsman who never represented India.  His career ran along the lines of Veda Vyas’ heroic warrior Karna: forever in neglect, but cannot be disregarded for his outstanding merit.

SS, to his friends and foes, did not believe in joining groups; had no desire to have ‘backers’; hated sycophancy. He was his own man: aware of his capabilities and in complete control of himself. Destiny decided that he be neglected and rejected by the mediocrity around him. But again like Karna, SS stood tall and independent on his own merit.

In a sea of corrupt influences, invariably enough, he paid for his uprightness. While Shivalkar and Goel lost out on a Test place because of the looming presence of Bishan Bedi, SS was tripped for a strange reason. A very domineering national selector hailing from Bengal wanted SS to play for his club in Calcutta. But SS preferred to be loyal to Mohun Bagan AC which he adorned with dignity and pride from 1964 to 1974. The price for his integrity was to remain in oblivion forever.

SS graced Bengal and East Zone teams for more than a decade. An aggregate of 3058 at 50.13 from 59 first-class matches is a phenomenal feat on uncovered and spinner-friendly Indian pitches of the 60s and 70s. His 7 centuries included two against the might of Bombay of those days. He had two more against Indian Railways in one match as well.

As if this was not enough, he scored a masterly hundred against the great Vinoo Mankad on a matting wicket at Udaipur. Those who thought he was weak against genuine pace got their answer when he notched 98 against the fiery and fearsome West Indies fast bowler Roy Gilchrist who had sent shivers down the spine of our Test batters.

Exemplary concentration, unruffled temperament, cultured stroke-play and an impregnable defence were the hall marks of his skills. His batsmanship was based on classical lines. He preferred the ‘back and across’ movement at the crease but whenever the opportunity arose he would go half-forward and drive on the up. Like the persona, his bat was always straight. That most difficult of cricket strokes – the on-drive off the back-foot – was his copyright trademark and he accomplished it with rare grace. His batsmanship was a visual delight. Handsome of bearing, the chiselled face topped a lithe physique of 6 feet.

SS had a terrific sense of humour: the dry, cultured wit of PG Wodehouse, whose books he would read on tours. Someone once mocked, “Shyamu, tui boddo kaalo.  (your complexion is very dark).” Instantly he smiled, “So would you be, if you were to bat in the sun for as long as I do.”

His straight face sarcasm we relished. Once he remarked to a batter, who was out off the first ball he faced, “If you keep batting in this way, your bat will last a lifetime!” His dry wit extended to the ground as well. “Two on his shoulders, one on his waist and one on his lap!” was a typical skipper SS’s way of setting the field for two slips, one short leg and one silly-point!

Bapu Nadkarni’s accuracy made batters impatient and invariably they perished trying to hit him across the line. So SS’s prescription was, “Don’t you know that Bapu is non-violent? He does not like violence; so don’t try to hit him!”

My first real look at him was at Mohun Bagan AC, a club I joined at 17 after my ISC exam. He was our captain. It was a delight to see him use the bat as a violin. Melody flowed as he middled the ball. My impressionable mind realized that this man was different, far ahead of any of his contemporaries.

 I became the Ekalavya to his Dronacharya. Tried to pick up the finer points by observing, evaluating and practising. Subconsciously the style became ingrained. One championship-winning partnership with him against Guha and Doshi taught me more about batting than anything that I had learned earlier.

Mohun Bagan lost 5 wickets for 70 odd, when I joined him at the crease. I asked him what I should do? He replied, “Use the bat to survive.” I again asked, “But there is a crisis. Any instruction?”

He furrowed his eyes, “What crisis? If others fail, that’s not your problem. Can you take the responsibility of all other batters? If you are not good enough, you will also get out. That’s it. Arre, baba, think of yourself first. If you score runs, those runs will be added to the team’s total.”

I reckon SS never took a fancy to me when we were together in Mohun Bagan for about 3 years. Not that he criticized me, but he would never praise. Nothing I did seemed to satisfy him. He seemed to have no time for others. Probably his approach was the correct approach. Why would he come forward with suggestions, when not asked?

Years later, after I got a match-winning 99 against Kapil Dev and Rajinder Goel at Eden Gardens, SS – at the time a Bengal selector – wryly smiled, “Ah! Captain, I see you have got the right role-model. I quite like the style.” That was enough for me. High praise from a man who was unaware that he was my batting idol ever since I first saw him bat.

Yes, Shyamuda, you were my role-model. God has taken you to a better place.

 

 Syama Prasad Mookerjee and West Bengal Day

20^th June is a very significant date for the residents of West Bengal. On that day in 1947 a resolution was passed in the then Bengal assembly that the western part of Bengal would remain a part of independent India.

Prior to this day, a meeting was held in early April at the temple town of Tarakeshwar by the Bangiya Hindu Mahasabha. The leader was the educationist-social worker turned politician Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

My grandfather Amulya Ratan Mukherji – a distant cousin of Syama Prasad and an active member of Bangiya Hindu Mahasabha – attended the meeting at the Shaiva-teertha and remembered the historic date till his last breath.

That particular conference helped to mobilize public awareness among the Hindu population in Bengal and finally led to the creation of the State of West Bengal. Without the great role of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, there would not have been any West Bengal on the India map today.

Initially Syama Prasad was against the partition of Bengal from the Union of India. Despite his best and tireless efforts, when Syama found that the partition of India was almost confirmed and that the entire State of Bengal would become a part of the new nation of Pakistan, he was at his eloquent and energetic best.

Full of logic and courage, analysis and authority, he declared that if Bengal would have to be divided then the Hindu-dominated parts of Bengal should also have their rightful due. Thankfully the majority of the political personalities involved concurred with him. Thus the State of Bengal was truncated into West Bengal and East Pakistan.

Without him there would not have been any West Bengal at all. Syama Prasad’s idea of West Bengal was not only for Hindus: it was open to all religions as well as to atheists and agnostics. It was not only for the Bengali-speaking population: it welcomed all communities and faiths who wished to make Bengal their home. This was the vital contribution of this exemplary visionary.

In the late 1930s Syama Prasad Mookerjee joined Hindu Mahasabha who were fighting for the Hindu majority of the population in the country. Later he formed his own political party Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner to the BJP. His personal secretary Atal Bihari Vajpayee always admitted that he learnt political etiquette, ideology and administration at the feet of his guru, Syama Prasad.

My Dadu always maintained, “Syama would never say ‘Jan Sangh’. His booming voice would always say with pride ‘Bharatiya Jan Sangh’. He was that kind of a patriot. For him the word BHARATIYA symbolized national unity. Great soul.”

 Cricket followers may be reminded that Syama Prasad was among the first to raise his voice against inter-community cricket championships in India, which was ultimately banned in 1946. It began in 1892. For him the inter-religious faith competition went against the basic concept of national ethos.

This year – thanks to the political progeny of Syama Prasad – on Saturday the 20^th of June the birthday of West Bengal will be officially acknowledged for the first time. It took us 79 years to celebrate our own birthday!

                                                                                 

 

Kailash Gattani: a pioneer mentor of cricketers

His name is not in the record books. His name did not make the headlines. He did not fish around for compliments. He never stayed close to power-centres. Never received any official awards or accolades. Our Kailash, like Mount Kailash, forever retained a dignified presence.

Kailash Gattani was destined to remain behind the screen and guide others to stardom. Now in retirement, in his heydays too the man was a primal force to help others achieve and fulfill their dreams.

Consistent in his performance at the first-class level for Rajasthan for nearly two decades, many thought that he would become an international cricketer. However, no call ever came to Gattani from the national selectors.

 While many would have left any association with the game in sheer frustration, the social worker in Kailash brought his misfortune to a positive end. He stayed on with his favourite passion and served cricket with full sincerity and integrity.

He conceived of a plan to help young Indian cricketers to thrive and prosper. Kailash decided that he would give exposure in foreign lands to unknown, young Indian cricket talents by taking them abroad. He himself was a beneficiary when he had led the Indian Schoolboys team to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1963-64 under BCCI’s junior tours programme.

While playing for Kent 2^nd XI he had developed important contacts in UK. With their assistance, he meticulously organized the trips for more than a decade giving rare opportunities to young talents from all over the sub-continent. Star CC would play matches up and down the British Isles in about 25 days at top-quality venues against strong oppositions. Many of the promising players graduated to international cricket and almost all of them achieved first-class status at cricket.

Outstanding cricket patrons like Bhupindrasingh Patiala, Berry Sarbadhikari, Vijay Anand Vizzy and Maan Singh would also organize unofficial tours earlier. All these private cricket teams had established players with a sprinkling of youngsters. But with Kailash Gattani the teams were exclusively for under-19 year olds. This novel concept gave Indian cricket a most distinguished service. The example of Sachin Tendulkar is a case in point. Even before Tendulkar embarked on his international career, he already had the experience of overseas exposure. All this was because of one man’s ingenuity.

 In 1988-89 while involved with India veterans’ matches against Majid Jahangir’s Pakistan, Kailash and I shared hotel rooms. One day he asked me to suggest a few names from among the under-19 east zone talents. That year all-rounder Sourav Ganguly and wicket-keeper Sanjoy Das had done exceptionally well in the under-19 national championship. Accordingly I mentioned their names.

 Next day he had the invitation papers for the two boys ready and requested me to hand it over to them personally at Calcutta on my return. I was indeed pleasantly surprised by his efficiency and his positive spirit. He had not seen them but he selected them without any hesitation entirely on my suggestion. That’s the kind of confidence he reposed in me. There and then I realized that he was a selfless soul without the slightest of silly pretensions.

Kailash never stooped to authority to ‘curry’ favours. Never bothered about media publicity. Cricket enthusiasts came forward on their own to help his team with funds. Even modest amounts and help-in-kind for the young were welcomed by Kailash. I happen to know two of them, Pranay Mondkar and Saktibrata Ratan Dutta. Both deserve my salutes for helping unknown, young talents.

He remains a magnificent example of a man who can turn his own misfortunes to help others fulfil their dreams. A rare individual in any sphere of life. I am proud to call him my friend.

Kailash Gattani is one of the great contributors to Indian cricket. A mentor of many; a role model for many more. May his spirit of selfless service survive in Indian cricket.