It was in 1962 when Pataudi first played for India against
the visiting M.C.C. team that had toured India and had lost that series by 2-0.
Pataudi had made his Test debut in the New Delhi Test match which was drawn.
During those times and in the Test matches played then, Pataudi
had observed tat the Indians were a very poor mover and
their ATHELETISM was a big ZERO. The Indian were a poor runner between the wickets,
and the manner that they ran in between the wickets while taking the turns,
they would waste precious time, to fall back for another run, thus wasting
their runs which should have been taken to add to the total and such was the
speed while taking the runs that , they
would run two for the three, one for the two, and would never chase a ball if
the ball was never within their
periphery , letting it go for a boundary where in reality atleast a runs could
be saved.
Pic -::Ajit Wadekar catches Lance Gibbs at Forward Short Leg in his debut Test at Chepauk, Madras
Since Pataudi was the Vice Captain then, under Nari
Contractor , he would not open his mouth but came the scenario in the West
Indies from the Third Test match. India by then were down by 0-2 and nari
Contractor had to leave the series between as a delivery from Charlie Griffith
had hit him on the forehead.
Pataudi immediately took the CLASS and he spoke for about
ONE hour to each and every team players who had assembled in the PATAUDI –
LECTURE which was as good as a MOTIVATIONAL session with the Indian team who
were at West Indies then who were busy playing for India.
The Indian team after the Nari Contractor incident was
absolutely down and with the kind of hammering that the Windies gave it to them
where they were 0-2 down, he just said to his players “ IT IS ONLY THE FIELDING
WHICH CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THIS TEAM AS IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE TO MATCH
THE THEN WEST INDIES TEAM IN ANY DEPARTMENT OF THE GAME ” .
The late Morning
Get Up & It’s CLEAN UP Act By Pataudi
After taking over the team from Nari Contractor, Pataudi had
observed that every players of that Indian team except Buddhi Kunderan and
Vijay Mehra were the late morning risers. This had completely uprooted
Pataudi.He had passed an order to the Hotels were the Indian team were staying
at every venue to send the room waiters and to wake up the Indian players
exactly at SIX in the morning and every players were asked to retire exactly at
NINE in the night/evening.He made it clear that the body needs atleast EIGHT
hours of rest for it to take the load for about six hours the next day.
THUS WAS IT THAT
THE FIRST REVOLUTION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP CAME IN INDIAN CRICKET.
Pataudi himself was a smoker but he would not smoke during
the play lest in 1974 when his body started wearing and in one Test at Calcutta
against the West Indies which India won, he left the scene midway to fag and
come back to the game. Until then pataudi would not smoke at all during the
game session. However in West - Indies he saw that most of the Indian players
would smoke before the toilet and then move to the toilet to clear themselves .It is here that Pataudi took
his step . He ordered the Indian team players to gulp atleast two lites of water
per player before cleansing their morning act and then slowly he took the
Indians to the field to run.This is
how the concept of athletism came into Indian cricket.
A lot of the players complained him about the difficulties
that hit them when they found it hard to clear their bowls without a fag
and there, Pataudi ordered the Hotel Owner at every place to serve
the FRUIT SALAD to the Indian team at the Breakfast so that the IMMUNISATION is
equalized to those who were uncomfortable with the bowl clearance and that
would help them physically to survive the first two hours of the play in the
matches before the lunch would be served to them.
THIS IS HOW THE REVOLUTION OF MANY A CHANGES FORAYED INTO THE INDIAN
CRICKET
Pataudi’s First
Step To Tone The Indians Physically - ::
Pataudi was a brilliant footballer for his University. He
played as a Wing Half and his speed was brilliant. He was very fit and very
sharp both as a runner and a footballer.
His ground coverage was very sharp and brilliant. He would sprint everyday
before the game whenever he played football. His legs, leg muscles, calf
muscles and thigh muscles were very toned and very powerful. That helped him to
devlop his shoulder and he did it with series of short sprint rather than
anything else ofcourse the DUMBELLS and the MEDICINE BALLS at OXFORD made him
what he actually was.
He started the classes of SPRINTS with the Indian
cricketers. The FIRST would be a full 100 metres spring, then a seventy metres,
then , a fifty metres, and two short sprints of 30 and 20 metres and that was
enough for them to go through the vagaries before stepping into the field.
Slowly some of the indian cricketers were introduced to SKIPPING which was NOT
forced on anybody but some LOVED doing that.Pataudi would do that with ease as
his Football session at OXFORD taught him about how to do that with ease.
Thus it was the concept of PHYSICAL DRILLS came into the Indian cricket team……
SLIDING TACKLE
FIRST OBSERVED IN INDIAN CRICKET
The west Indies tour of 1962 was over.After Pataudi took
over the only change that came into the Indian cricket team was the SELF BELIEF
of the Indian cricketers that they could play against any strong team and their
slow built up, mentally , on the physicalities in terms of the fielding revolution psyched the players .
It was the start of the Indian cricket season and during
those days the MOIN-UD-DOWLAH cricket tourney used to be the start up for the
new season. It was at Hyderabad when Pataudi was leading the Vazir Sultan Colt’s
and he was pitted to lead a bunch of youngsters .During the game there was a
shot played by M.L.Jaisimha who was playing against Pataudi.It was a CRACKER of
a SHOT and outside the periphery of Pataudi. Everybody felt it would be a
boundary and Jaisimha strolled on the pitch thinking that the ball would treach
the fence. Pataudi like a leopard chased the ball, he came near it and at last
he affected a SLIDING TACKLE, a ploy used in football to stop the ball with the
player advancing with it, to come to an end of his run with the ball. Pataudi
stopped the ball in that fashion, grabbed the ball and in a flash he jumped on
the spot to stand on his leg and directed a FIRING THROW to the Wicketkeeper
K.Asif .Such was the POWER and the DIRECTION that the throw had that it reached
Asif in a second and Asif uprooted the bails for Jaisimha to be run out.
THE ENTIRE STADIUM THAT DAT SAW THIS ACT AND WERE RUBBING THEIR EYE
. THIS WAS THE EXAMPLE OF ATHLETISM AND FOOTBALL MIXING WITH CRICKET AND IT WAS
PATAUDI WHO CHANGED THE ENTIRE FIELDING IN ONE GO WITH THAT ACT.
During the lunch time then, he ordered the one’s who were
warming the bench, then, to go and run on the field as their body was down with
no action till then and he explained that incase if any one of them who were
warming the nench by then , would be called in to filed , their body would PULL
THE MUSCLES and it would be a MUSCLE-PULL .That concept of the body fitness and
the bearing of it to the team would harm the players as well as the team. This
is how Pataudi slowly changed the CONCEPT of the FITNESS in cricket , and the
needs that goes with it to be a good fielder in the game.
A RUN SAVED IS A
RUN SCORED AND THAT IS HOW PATAUDI MODERNISED THE GAME THEN.
YOUNGSTERS TOOK
THE FIELDING SERIOUSLY THEN
Indian cricket which was laid back in it’s aptitude slowly
started taking the fielding seriously and all of a sudden the entire nation
were surprised to see the young bloods of Indian cricket laying a full stress and
placing a great importance to the fielding. Infact immediately it was the
fielding and the fitness that started finding a place in the Indian cricket
team and players with full of fitness were the one’s who started getting the
nod in the Indian cricket team.
There were some in the Indian team like Rusi Surti who was a
GREAT
FIELDER. Then came in Venkat who was a GREAT fielder in
the GULLY
position. However it was one or two then. However the Indian cricket School
team when it toured Sri-Lanka in 1965, the team came up with a great piece of
attribute that was attached to them as being the BEST FIELDING SIDE FROM ANY COUNTRY TO HAVE VISITED SRI-LANKA IN THE
ANNALS OF HER CRICKET. Solkar was the Captain of that team and he was
the BEST EVER that the Lankan saw him in terms of the fielding. Mohinder,
Surinder, Hariharan, Mohammed Ibrahim were the others who made a tremendous contribution
to that arena of Indian cricket and it’s fielding in that tour. That was the
FIRST when an Indian school cricket team made a difference to the fortune of
the team courtesy it’s fielding.
1967 :: India’s
Fielding Surprised Gary Sobers , Pataudi , Wadekar, Surti, Venkat were outstanding
The 1967 series against the West – Indies and the last Test
that was played at Madras which was drawn actually and very nearly brought the
DEFEAT of the Windies against India. Had Hanumant Singh not floored that catch
of Rohan Kanhai when he was on 12 at the Deep Mid-On boundary just near the
ropes, India would have chalked up her FIRST ever win against the West-Indies
here itself.
Pic - :: Pataudi and Ajit Wadekar snapped after beating New Zealand in First Abroad Victory Test in 1968
Though this Test ended in a nail biting finish into a draw - the TRIO of Rusi Surti, Ajit Wadekar and Venkatraghvan who was used as a reserve fielder in this match fielded excellently and were responsible for India to FINISH the Test off on an even keel. It was for the first time that India had West - Indies completely under the covers and had not Kanhai being missed in the first innings when he was 12, India could have FLOORED the West - Indians. in this Test.
Kanhai had scored a 256 runs at Calcutta before this Test,
He could not read Prasanna and he skied a shot to Hanumant Singh and Hanumant
dropped that sitter . His TWO knock, a 37 at Calcutta and his 50 in this Test
in the Second innings helped him to book his ticket to England thereafter else
pataudi was NOT happy with the manner that Hanumant dropped that sitter .
Exactly in the Bangalore Test in 1974 against the
West-Indies, Lloyd at 12 was dropped by Abid Ali of Prasanna . It is said that
the SPIKES of Abid got INCHED in a manner so badly when that catch came to him
that Abid inspite of exerting his TREMENDOUS effort to raise his legs and to pursue the ball to
catch it, he could not lift his legs. The ball ZOOMED in the air so much that
even in 2021 when I write that pieces about that catch, I still find that the BALL IS IN THE AIR yet Abid
finds it HARD to lift his leg to FIXED
on the ground of CHINNASWAMY STADIUM, to hold that catch that and Lloyd went on
to score a 163 which DEVASTATED India. Abid thereafter DID NOT PLAY A TEST AT
ALL FOR INDIA. That was his 29th Test.He has scored a 58 in the
First.He by then had completed playing 29 Test as well as reach to his 1000
runs and coast to his 47 Test wicket .ONE MISTAKE – and HE WAS OUT OF THE
SERIES . Pataudi did not pick him at all for the remainder. Here Hanumant Singh
was lucky to book his ticket for England.
FOR THAT WAS PATAUDI FOR FIELDING AND FIELDING FOR
PATAUDI.
Pic - 1968 , Wadekar Catches Chris Bartlett Of New Zealand To Open The Victory door For India
PATAUDI IT WAS WHO
REVOLUTIONISED THE INDIAN FIELDING
The tour of 1968, that India took on at Australia saw
pataudi, Abid, Surti, and ofcourse WADEKAR bringing about a SEE CHANGE and a
SEA CHAGE to the scenario of Indian fielding. Every Test match saw india saving
atleast 30 to 40 runs in the fielding , yet Pataudi was NOT happy with the
standard of Indian fielding. He wanted the scale to go up to the point of 7/10
when it mattered the fielding.
The “ RESAINNANCE
” Of India’s Fielding
Pataudi it was who completely brought in a change by 360 degree
when it is spoken about in length in the standard of Indian fielding .He did it
first by changing the concept of setting the field according to the bowlers
about what he was going to bowl. The Spinners and the pacers who bowled under
him, playing either in the First Class match, or in the Test were given a field
according to what they were going to bowl and his definition also changed
accordingly depending upon what the bowler was bowling and the batsman, what
was he intending to play , was playing
according to the merit of the balls that were bowled.
Having played his cricket at England and having , by then ,
played against the west-Indians, Australians, and the South Africans in the
Counties by then, his concept of the batsman playing the deliveries too had
changed and that was according to the deliveries that they were facing and the
shots executed . He by then had learned the SCIENCE of the batting , about the
shots thatwere played and the field setting that ought to be set for the
bowlers . He tried it against Prasanna and also with Prasanna, and was hugely responsible for the success
that he achieved under Pataudi. It may be recalled that Prasanna claimed 130
Test wickets under Pataudi, of the 189
that he claimed overall in Test matches.
Pataudi was technically, strategically, and tactically far
ahead of any other Captains that were playing Test cricket then and the manner
he won some of the Test matches were rather astonishing.With such a poor
fielders then and with NO PACERS worth caling them fast, he won some of the
matches which could be described as wonders, and that was because his field
setting and using the bowlers intelligently at the most crucial moment then.
Pataudi infact changed the entire concept of the fielding
and UNEARTHED beside exploring the GEMS in terms of the fielders. It was Pataudi
who changed the entire MINDSET and the CONCEPT of the Indian fielding.
Pataudi's field placements had scientific reasoning:
Prasanna
India s spin wizard Erapalli Prasanna called Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi a revolutionary captain and said he was technically and strategically
more proficient than his opponents.
India s spin wizard Erapalli Prasanna called Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi a revolutionary captain and said he was technically and strategically more proficient than his opponents.The off-spinner revealed that Pataudi was a huge influence on him during his playing days and provided fascinating insight into how the former India captain discussed field placing with him.
“His
logic was that a right-handed batsman must play a leg-spinner on the off-side
and an off-spinner on the on-side. He also used to say that unless I turned the
ball too much, which would allow the batsman to play me fine, there was no need
for a fine-leg.
“Initially
I had a deep fine-leg and he modified it into a deep square-leg to the right of
the umpire.
“If you
draw a straight line between the two short-legs, forward and backward which he
stationed for me, you would reach the deep square-leg which Tiger had
suggested. Everything he said had a scientific reasoning. Then I had a squarish
mid-on in the 30-yard circle and a mid-on.
“By
making the batsmen reach out for the ball on the off-side with flight, he told
me I could have them caught on the on-side if I imparted the right amount of
spin,” the spin legend elaborated.
Recalling
the dismissal of all-rounder Bernard Julien in the dramatic Test at Chepauk in
the 1974-75 series, Prasanna revealed how Pataudi came up with a plan to remove
the silly point for the set batsman.
“This
was done to provide the batsman a sense of space on the off-side since there
was no silly point. Julien reached out and I got him caught and bowled on the
on-side.”
Prasanna
said, “Tiger made me visualise the field. I asked him why he was not having a
long-on for me.
“He
answered, ‘if the batsmen try to hit you from down the pitch, the ball, because
of the revolutions on it, would travel at a 30-degree angle to be picked up
near the 30-yard line at the squarish mid-on. And he said if the batsmen
attempted to scoop me out of the park, the drift on the ball would see them
play too early and force them to sky it between mid-on and mid-wicket.”
The
legendary off-spinner remembers, “He would have four fielders on the off-side
and rarely had a point for me. He would tell me that if the batsmen tried to
cut me then I could get them.
“Tiger
usually posted a silly mid-off, almost in line with the popping crease, a slip,
an extra-cover and a short third-man or a gully for me. He would attempt to
lure the batsmen with the large gap to the left of extra cover.”
During
India’s tour of Australia in 1967-68, Pataudi and Prasanna came across Ian
Chappell who was equally resilient like the duo.
“Tiger
told me that Chappell would jump out to smother the spin. We thought about it
and decided on a short mid-on since I could make the ball hang in the air.
Chappell had his moments but we also had him picked up at short mid-on on the
uppish drive.”
Prasanna
recollects how Pataudi made him aware of a batsman’s blind spot.
“I was
bowling round the wicket to the left-handed Australian Bill Lawry. Tiger asked
me to come over the wicket and enlightened me about a batsman’s blind spot,
between the leg and the middle stumps. From a bowler’s angle, it would appear
to be on the right of the leg-stump. I pitched it in the right spot and the
obdurate Lawry was finally dismissed.”
During
the 1975 Test against the West Indies in Madras, Pataudi expected Clive Lloyd
to go after the Indian bowling and asked Prasana to flight the ball.
“He
still implored me to flight the ball. Lloyd thundered down the track, I got the
ball to dip, and the batsman was stumped by a mile,” said Prasanna.
Describing Pataudi in one word, Prasanna said, “He was a
‘genius’.”
During that TWO LEGGED TOUR, in 1968, to Australia first, and then at New Zealand, the FIRST in the annals of Indian cricket and it’s history, to do a two legged tour, the team did a MARVELLOUS JOB when it came to fielding and especially at New Zealand, the manner in which Wadekar fielded at the slip and at times in the Forward Short Leg , was really indescribable and beyond anybody’s imagination.
Pic - :: Wadekar at Forward Short Leg, holds Sinclair of New Zealand off Bishen Singh Bedi , Ist Test, against the Kiwis.1968
It was the
fielding at New Zealand that made all the difference. However the
CLOSE-IN-FIELDING at some other place, on the field , hit the Indians and Pataudi was ever looking for atleast TWO
best close in fielders which he got in Eknath Solkar and Gundappa Vishvanath before he gave up
playing cricket and SOLKAR WAS THE BEST EVER CLOSE IN FIELDER THAT WAS BORN TO THE WORLD
OF CRICKET.
So much so was Pataudi impressed by the standard of Indian
fielding that he plainly said to Solkar- TILL
I LEAD THIS INDIAN CRICKET TEAM, DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL NEVER PLAY TEST .
YOU ARE MY NUMBER ONE PICK OF THE SIDE WHEN I LEAD INDIA.
The HATTRICK WIN OF INDIA WAS NOT BECAUSE THAT
GAVASKAR, SARDESAI, VISHVANATH, WADEKAR or ANYBODY HAVING BATTED, IT WAS
BECAUSE OF DURRANI’S TWO WICKETS AT WEST-INDIES AND SOLKAR’S UNBELIEVABLE “ 26 ”
CATCHES IN 13 ( THIRTEEN ) TEST MATCHES HE PLAYED.
Solkar – The manner He Changed Himself To A Glorious Close In
Fielder
Born to a MAALEE, ie a GROUNDMAN who would cut the grass at
the P.J.Hindu Gymkhana , Solkar once asked his Father to buy him two balls, a
rubber one and a plastic one.
HIS FATHER ASKED FOR
A SALARY ADVANCE FROM THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE GYMKHANA AND BROUGHT HIM THE
SAME.
He would wake up his younger brother Anant and the Brothers
would travel all the way to Bandra Beach. His brother would go into the water
and throw about 200 throws .Each of the throws would hit the water which would change it’s
direction as per the flow of the water and Solkar would then on the sand throw
his body to catch them. This was the manner he sharpened his REFLEXES and his
skill of catching the ball that came to him. After he finished it with the
RUBBER BAALS, his brother would throw the plastic ball in the same manner and
Solkar would catch it. This would be about 400 such throws and the catches.
Once it was over for Eknath, his younger brother Anant would hold those catches
with Eknath throwing the balls . Once these would be over , both the brothers
would run of the WET SAND attached to the beach for about 15 minutes, together,
and then on the LOOSE DRY SAND. This is
how Solkar and his Brother developed to SPEED when they ran between the wickets
.That is how they developed their acts of runs and the muscles beneath their
tomma.
ANANT- A CLASS ALL
ROUNDER WENT IN A WASTE PAPER BASKET :: A WORLD RECORD HOLDER
We all know and we all have head about Eknath Sokar. Hardly
we know about his younger Brother Anant . He played Ranji Trophy for Indian Railways
and in the year 1974 he created a FURORE. Playing for the Indian Railways, as
he was employed with them, he against Delhi in a Ranji match took 8-100 .Chetan Chauhan, Mohinder,
and Surinder Amarnath, Surinder Khanna, Madanlal, Vinay Lamba, Venkat Sunderam
were all gulped by him.
Pic - :: Elder Brother Eknath and the Youngest of them all Anant, Engaged In Fielding Practice.
This analysis of EIGHT WICKETS in ONE innings of a FIRST CLASS match with Vinoo Mankd’s 8-52 in the Test match was the WORLD RECORD of a LEFT ARMER to take EIGHT WICKETS in an innings in a FIRST CLASS STAR ONE MATCH GAME till Ranga Herath with his 9for broke that .
At present, in any form of the game of cricket, the record for the BEST bowling analysis in a completed single innings, of a Left Hander JOINTLY stands in the name of Rajinder Singh Hans who took 9 for 152 in the Ranji Finals, against Karnataka and Ranga Herath who took NINE wickets in a single innings of a Test match . Anant was a SOLID batsman as well and he played in SEVEN Ranji games for Indian Railways from 1974 to 1975-76. In a SURPRISE MOVE, Eknath ORDERED him NOT to concentrate on cricket anymore and he followed his Brothers advise. INDIA THUS LOST A BEAUTIFUL LEFT HANDED CRICKETER FOR EVER .He was hardly 24 years old in terms of the age by then in 1976..
Now back to Ajit Wadekar and from Januray 4th 1973 at Calcutta . Let me describe that catch. At the slips, Wadekar had swayed to his right as Underwood had edged , before he saw the ball going the other way , he had hurled himself in the reverse direction, and he landed himself on the Left Knee and the right palm , was able to CLUTCH that catch ONE HANDED .This was an example set by him as a brilliant fielder and this INFECTED the Indian cricket team right from 1971 to 1974 when he played his LAST Test series for India.
.Fitness Of Some Of the Indian Cricketer-::
Some of the Indian cricketers were fit by every miraculous happenings and Wadekar, was amongst them. Two or three rounds of laps on the cricket field, hour of batting and hours of bowling or practicing catches to sharp them made them so. Their body fitness and their movements were a surprise for everybody to see it and feel it.
In his ENTIRE cricketing career, Wadekar missed the ONLY catch of Ian Redpath when Australia were reeling at 26 for 6 at Madras against India of Prasanna and India then lost to the Aussies because of that miss. In that match again, Engineer missed a stumping of Redpath of Prasanna at 58 and with that India were done away with.
The GREATEST catch that Wadekar took was of Derek Underwood off Bishen Bedi on January 4th, 1973 at Edens Gardens, at Calcutta which went a long way for India to beat the English team ( M.C.C ) by 28 runs then to level the series. THIS CATCH OF
WADEKAR IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE SECOND BEST CATCH IN THE ANNALS OF INDIAN
CRICKET , the BEST being Eknath Solkar to catch Allan Knoot Of Venkat in the 1971, Oval Test which India won it by FOUR Wickets.
In his entire career Wadekar had taken FIVE such catches out
of the 44 that he held in his Test career – all of the same TYPE and as an
example I put the catch of Chris Bartlett that he took at New Zealand in 1968
of Prasanna to OPEN the FLOOD GATE of the “ FIRST-EVER-SERIES-VICTORY-FOR-INDIA –AT-ABROAD " .
His ratio of catches to test matches that he played for
india stands at 44/37 = 1.19 ( Exact ) which is the SECOND BEST in the annals of World Cricket and it stands
NEXT to Solkar whose ratio is 1.96 catches per Test match that he played and this ratio stands as the BEST - EVER in terms of the Catch-Match ratio in World cricket. .
Supreme anticipation, tremendous reflexes and the DIVES at both the end that he
would do, that would make the BEST of the Football Goalkeepers to bite their
nails, were simple and simply the ASSET that Wadekar possessed and it was hours
of daily practice at the nets that horned it and sharpened that. He was the BEST-EVER-SLIP-FIELDER that the WORLD-OF-CRICKET had produced.
It was really something very imaginative to think and to
feel that HOW COULD THE SAME FIELDER WOULD
REPEAT THOSE CATCHES EXACTLY IN THE SAME ACTION AND SAME POSE TO HOLD IT IN THE
TEST MATCHES as Solkar, Wadekar, Abid Ali would do it in the same manner and in
the same fashion, Test after Test in the close field.
TEST MATCHES as Solkar, Wadekar, Abid Ali would do it in the
same manner and in ther same fashion, Test after Test in the close field.
Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi :: Different Exercises For Different Set Of Players
Pataudi was a keen footballer, a heavy follower of Horse
Polo and was a good athlete but his obsession was cricket and thus he chose
cricket. He in a very small age had seen how the different physical exercises
are conducted by the English professional Sportsman to keep themselves fit
. What surprised him more was the manner in which the English cricketers
conducted themselves to the aspect of finess and every cricketer had different
kind of exercise to follow depending upon the role he would play for his team.
Pataudi brought this concept into the side. Body Arching, Bending, rotation of the
stomach with the free hands and rotation of the stomach by about 45 degree to
about 90 degree with the medicine ball, exercise with the medicine ball , frog
leaping, sag leaping, push up were some of them which he brought to
Indian cricket. His idea did not go off well within and outside the periphery
of cricket and he did not mind for that because the English mannerism of
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS was not prevalent in India and the Indian took the game as
an AMATUERISH , just to play the game for the sake of playing or representing their country, as the JOBS in any
case was the ultimate goal and if luck favours then some State Honour or a kind
of a National Honour so that it brings some kind of a PROMOTION to their job
.That was it.
Pataudi however noticed and made it compulsory for some of
the players like Eknath Solkar, Gundappa Vishvanath, E.A.S.Prasanna to do certain
exercises because he felt that his future lay in these men and they followed
Pataudi to the hilt. Vishvanath was asked to do DUMBELL, Prasanna was asked to
do WRIST ROATATION by atleast 500 times a day, with and without the ball , Solkar
was asked to do swimming and skipping to keep his muscles supple. That went in
a long way and a long manner for these players to create some magic with their
wrist, with their arms, and with their reflexes. Solkar and Vishvanath actually
survived that long in Test cricket because they heeded to the advice of
Pataudi. Vishvanath along with the reflexes that he possessed , which was GOD
GIFTED and the WRIST work that he used- HE
WENT ON TO BECOME THE MOST NATURAL AND MAGICAL WRISTY PLAYER IN THE WORLD OF
CRICKET .
Solkar could not exceed his game extension beyond 27 Test
m,atches he played.It is because he was NOT advised properly as to what to do
and which way to follow and go to regain his CONFIDENCE through the FITNESS .He
was only 28 years of age then, and this is not an age to be thrown out of Test
cricket.
Vishvanath from the year 1979 had started slowing as his reflexes were waning with the age. The best advise for him during that time could have been that he should have been advised to take MORE WATER rather than the chappatis and the rice, TWO GALASS off milk, once each during the day rather than all the stuffs that was increasing his weight, and he should have laid on his back with the SHOULDER and the BACKBONE attached to the FLPOOR beside doing about 10,000skipping per day.That would have extended his Test career to about another 20 Test and he would have ended playing in about 110 Test matches for India. Once you start aging your reflexes gets a bit lethargic and you become slow
Pic - ::The Indian Cricket Team During The Preparatory Camp At Madras In 1977-78 For The Aussie Tour Under The watchful Eye Of Mr Dashrat Tandon
in action. To maintain the tempo so that the rush of the blood is in full swing in the body, you need to STRENGTHEN your BACKBONE and this helps in FASTING your action because the BLOOD RUSH in the body is more .
It would have been better for the B.C.C.I to have and to
contracted Mr Dashrat tendon as the CHIEF of PHYSICAL Instructor for the
Cricket team between 1977 to about 1985 and if that would have been the case
the scenario of the Indian team and it’s fielding would have been much better
and eben best in comparism to what we could see, especially the downfall in
this area after the World Cup 1983.
WELL IT WAS PATAUDI WHO BROUGHT THIS CHANGE AND THE CONCEPT OF
IMPROVING THE FIELDING THROUGH THE EXERCISES AND PHYSICAL FITNESS.
Eknath Solkar ::
The One Who “ REVOLUTIONISED ” The
Indian Fielding
He was the BEST in the covers , he was the best at the slip,
and he was the BEST in the close in position. It was pataudi who was fielding at the covers in the
Bombay Test against Australia when he saw a smacking shot in the covers that
Stacpole played and Solkar like a hawk flung himself at the covers, stopped
that shot and got up like a Tiger or a Leopard to grab that ball and send a flash
to Enginner .That prevented three runs as Stackpole could get only one.
Pataudi felt that this team had THREE specialist who could
field as brilliantly as anybody, in Rusi Surti, Solkar and himself. He was
surprised to see that kind of a reflex and action that Solkar displayed while
stopping that ball, ie , that shot from Stacpole.
He ordered him saying that – TAKE YOUR POSITION AT THE FORWARD SHORT LEG AND THAT IS YOUR
PERMANENT ADDRESS. All his life Pataudi played without a genuine Fast
bowler for India or a pacer like Kapil Dev who came in after three years that
Pataudi left the scenario. He had noticed that the spinners were not able to
pierce through as many catches would go abegging in the close in position. His
sight and his premonition on Solkar came out to meet his expectation about
finding a very sharp and an agile fielder who could make these spinners a class
apart and the BEST in their arena and department.
Solkar in this Test was fielding for Sardesai who was
injured. Solkar was asked to field at the Forward Short leg. In the second
innings of that match, there was a bullet shot again played by Stacpole.The
ball just evaded Solkar but was in the air. In a flash Solkar ran behind the
ball and he threw his body to the ball, and before the ball could kiss the
ground, he clutched it with his left hand and the entire stadium was shocked
.That started the tone and the TOME
for Solkar and Pataudi it was who gave
the Indian cricket the BEST-CLOSE-IN-FIELDER
at the FORWARD SHORT LEG to India.
Similiarity - ::
Catches Of Same Kind And Same Action.
Both , Ajit Wadekar and Eknath Solkar are being and have
been credited to hold the catches of the same kind and with the same action.
Here in the picture I have stated and cited about Wadekar’s same kind of a
catch through the same action.
SOLKAR’S GREATEST CATCH THEY SAY AND IS ACTUALLY THE CATCH HE TOOK
OF ALLAN KNOT IN THE OVAL TEST IN 1971 OF VENKAT.
Pic - :: Solkar Gets Rid Of Allan Knoot, At The Oval In 1971,Engineer And Gavaskar's Action Speak Their Mind
After that catch a lot and a lot and even now a LOT say that
, the kind of that catch which he took of Knott will never be repeated again by
Solkar.
THAT CATCH OF SOLKAR TO GET
RID OF ALLAN KNOTT WAS DESCRIBED AS “ SOLKAR AND INDIA TIE A KNOTT WITH THE
DESTINY AT THE OVAL TO EMPORISE THE INDIAN CRCIKET ”
That semi floater which was a WRIST-PUSH and which had the
revolution such that the ball dipped atleast six inches in front of Knott,
completely put Knott in a NO-MAN’S-LAND. He was without any idea as to what to
do. He just put his bat across and the ball jumped all of a sudden because the
DIP had the SEAM falling on the spot to do so. The ball as it jumped gave a
SILKEN-FEATHER touch to the bat and hit the extreme edge of the pad and was in
the air for about 1/1000 second. It was all about to KISS the ground that
SOLKAR dived full length, clutched it in the cusp and the clasp that he could and
pulled off a STUNNER .He fell FLAT on his MAINPART and was in FULL on PAIN
thereafter.That could have taken away his life- BUT SOLKAR HAD CAUGHT FOUR SIMILAR
CATCHES OF THIS TYPE AND MISSED THE FIFTH when he missed taking Roy Fredricks
off Prasanna at West Indies in the Final Test at Port-Of-Spain.
To prove myself I’m placing TWO off Solkars catch SAME and
with the same ACTION here, one off Keith Flecther at the Oval in 1971 and the
other again of Brian Luckhurst at the Lords in 1971.
Pic - :: Solkar Clutches Keith Flecther's " APPLE " That Came His way, Oval, 1971
Solkar first took this kind of a catch in the Semis of the
Duleep Trophy against South Zone when he held Abid Ali exactly in the same
fashion and manner of Uday Joshi .Abid was for the first time selected for
India to tour Australia and he wanted some match practice of the highest order.
Pataudi made and paved the way for him to play the West Zone – South Zone
match, and there he showed his fielding skill.At the short leg he picked up a
catch which was very similar to tht catch of Allan Knott. The TIME to step out
of his Zone, the time to FLING the body UP in the air, the placement and the
angling of the body, the mannerism to stretch forward to hold the catch and the
manner to fall on the ground in an angling position to get up fast from the
ground was what he had LEARNED from that catch and the WORLD would RUB their
EYE in disbelief when Solkar would snap these kind of catches at the Forward
Short Leg- THANK YOU PATAUDI FOR THE
SAME.
Pic - :: Solkar Once Again Catches Brian Luckhurst Of Chandra For 31 At The Lords Test, 1971
Here in this photo/picture, just watch his legs, the ANGULAR placement of his body, and his pair of HAND, he caught it with ONE HAND. HOW HARD IT COULD HAVE BEEN - to hold that SNAPPY-SHARP catch- NOT-AT-ALL-A-CATCH to clutch it for his DEAR LIFE
Pic - :: Solkar's " SUPERLATIVE " Effort , unbelievable yet " TRUE "
The catch that you all see here in the FOURTH picture/photo, above, that he is seen missing it to hold it, he missed of Roy Fredricks, or maybe Sir Gary Sobers, if my memory serves me correctly it should be Gary Sobers , at the Port-Of-Spain of Prasanna was NOT and NEVER was that a CATCH at all. Nobody would have even tried to try it and go for that catch at that position , however this MAN did. That ball was not in the Zone of Solkar as it was very near to Fredricks/ Gary Sobers bat near the popping crease. Solkar gave an attempt to hold it and he clasped it by CUSPING it, for a fraction of a second before the ball slipped out of his reach. IF HE HAD HELD THAT ONE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN INDIA -2 , WEST-INDIES - 0 AT THE END OF THE SERIES.
Solkar The " GREATEST" Close -In-Fielder :: Nobody Could Be His SHOE-LACE In That Position
What makes it very HARD to believe is that Solkar stood very close to the bat WITHOUT either a HELMET on his HEAD or even WITHOUT any protective gears on his MAIN PARTS, legs, or any thing on the part of his body which could have TAKEN AWAY HIS LIFE from him .
Pic - ::Eknath Solkar standing very close to David Lloyd bat, 1974, Edgbaston, India versus England
In his entire career, he took so many a blow on his CHIN, on his LEG, and on his various part of his body and ONCE even a PULL from Irvine Shillingford in 1976, hit his head so hard and so BRUTE that he was carried to hospital, where luckily he survived. Yet Solkar without any FEAR continued to field in that position bring " MIRACULOUS- SPECTACULAR " catches after catches to incribe those INFAMOUS victory for India.
To be very true to oneself and to the game of CRICKET, itself, Eknath Solkar was the GREATEST EVER CLOSE IN FIELDER that the game of cricket has ever produced. His reflexes and his anticipation while fielding during the game in Forward Short Leg position or at any position was simple and simply UNBELIEVABLE. NOBODY AND NOONE CAN EVER BE HIS " SHOELACE "AT ALL WHEN IT COMES TO TALKING ABOUT THE BEST CLOSE-IN-FIELDER. This is just a TRIBUTE, just a HONOUR that is being paid to him by me courtesy this article.
Abid Ali – A “
LION ” By “ MANNERISM ” ,A “ TIGER ” By Act, And A “ FOX ” By Mind To Play The
Game
This was a MAN who and whose entire LIFE was UNNOTICED by
everybody especially by the Government of India.
If Salim Durrani, Eknath Solkar, Dilip Sardesai and Hanumant
Singh have been NOT conferred the PADMA award, it is a SIN to the RIVER GANGES
that Mr Modi and his Government are DOING. Maybe when Mr Modi reads this he
will NOT be HAPPY with me. In the same manner the NON-CONFERRATION of Arjuna
Award to Surinder Amarnath, Abid Ali, Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar is
as same as “ PISSING ” in the River Ganges and this as well as these sentence
that I write and in the manner that I write will NOT be accepted in a FAIR
manner , I know but then THIS IS THE TRUTH.
“ PISSING IN THE RIVER GANES OR MAA GANGA IS A SIN AND SIMILISES TO THE............ “ SIN ” OF NON CONFERRATION OF THESE NATIONAL AWARD TO THESE CRICKETER AND IT WEIGHS IN THE SAME FASHION AND MANNER ” .
The SUN would have FAILED in setting itself in TIME, maybe
ONCE, but NEVER Abid Ali. His everyday workout would be about 20 laps on the
outfield of Lal Bahadur Shashtri Stadium everyday, till he played
Cricket , then about ONE FULL HOUR NON STOP of Bowling practice with ONE-WICKET at the
nets, and at l;ast would be the PUSH UP
500 each .He introduced a kind of a FITNESS which every Hyderabadi in
his days, especially the Wicket-Keepers would follow. Holding the BAMBOO STAND
to which the nets were attached or tied and UP-AND-DOWN ie PUSH UP in a
terrific speed for about 10 to 20 minutes, NON-STOP. Wicketkeeper Pochaih
Krishnamurty would everyday do it and it was Abid Ali who brought this to the
concept of sharpening the body tight as well as to tone the reflexes.
Abid Ali was a FITNESS FANATIC. His SIMPLE belief was that
you need two things in terms of an act in cricket. FIRST- keep the BASICS
always correct and RIGHT. His SECOND principle was – PRACTISE MAKES YOU PERFECT
AND TIGHT.
Abid Ali was always within the basic and always perfected
his act every by the passage of delivery
in any games that he played, be it a FIRST CLASS match, be it the TEST match. Batting
at a lower position always, even coming to bat below Eknath Solkar and at times
opening for the team he scored over 1000 runs, took 47 very useful wickets and
held 32 catches in 29 Tests, the Catch/test match ratio being 1.10 CATCHES per TEST MATCH
Very strong of his legs, absolutely sharp , very agile for every moves to move him and who had a pair of eye as sharp as the eye of the HAWK, Abid was a terrific fielder in the deep, in the middle, in the close- both at the FORWARD SHORT LEG and at the BACKWARD SHORT LEG. He could do WONDERS , given a chance at the BACKWARD SILLY POINT region Since Solkar had constructed his house with a PERMANENT ADDRESS- EKNATH SOLKAR, C/o FORWARD SHORT LEG, Abid was placed at the Backward Short leg , or the Backward point at times .
Pic - : 1968, Abid Ali takes a stunner at Backward Point region , of Victor Pollard off Ramakant Desai at Auckland Test, Wadekar and make shift Wicketkeeper Jaisimha watches .
Well, the opponent in terms of the batsman if you did have the
HEART to place your shots, in the air them to the Indian spinners, either at the Forward Short Leg or
the Backward Short Leg, or at anyplace at the Point region , these photograph that I place will make you to feel the
PAIN of the SAME.
LIFE IS SHORT AND
SO IS THE INNINGS- WANT TO MAKE IT BIG , DO NOT PLAY ANY SHOTS AT THE FORWARD
OR THE BACKWARD SHORT LEG, this was the ADAGE that ruled the World Of Cricket
then.
It was a DISASTER to drop Abid for the tour of Australia in
1977-78. It was Anshuman Gaekwad wgo was
summoned during the middle of the tour to Australia. That was a WRONG decision.
It should have been Abid Ali- ONE for the LAST. He was opening for India in the
Test matches. He could have been send at the number ONE p[position with Mohinder
to stake with Vishvanath in that test where India was chasing a huge total of
494 for victory and ended it up with 447.
Abid could have made that difference with his batting. He
had hit FIVE FIFTIES batting at number SEVEN and number EIGHT and ONE while
scoring a 63 against New Zealand at Nagpur as an opener . His valuable
expertise could have been a tremendous aid to India especially in that last
Test when India were chasing a total of 494. Syed Kirmani ( 52 ), Karsan Ghavri
(23) Prasanna ( 23*) just needed a batsman like Abid Ali to shake and he would
have shaken the Aussies if he was playing instead of Ashok Mankad in that Test
.
that invaluable tour. He had toured Australia with the Indian
team in 1968 and his opening match , his debut saw him scoring 81, and 79 and
claiming a 6 for 54 .That was the only
instance of a FIVER that he took as a Test bowler in his career and that 6for
54 was the FIRST instance of an Indian Pacer to have taken five wickets in the
soil of Australia.
BET – I say, if Abid was playing in place of Mankad in the
last Test at Australia in 1977-78 we would have successfully chased that score
for a series win. We could not because of the wrong selection policy of our
National cricket selectors.
Sunil Gavaskar – “
FOOLS ” are those to BELIEVE him ONLY a
RUN-SCORING – MACHINE
Who was the FIRST ever cricketer for India to hold on
ONE-HUNDRED catches in Test matches. The answer is SUNIL GAVASKAR.
Pic - ::Sunil Gavaskar clutches a sharp catch offered by Dennis Amiss who scored 47, at England, 1974
His FIRST big AWARD came to him after the WORLD XI –
AUSTRALIA series in 1971 when the Aussies were beaten by 1-2. What was so
ASTOUNDING of that series.
SUNIL GAVASKAR WAS
AWARDED THE BEST FIELDER OF THAT SERIES.
Nothing so EXTRA-ORDINARY in that series or as a FIELDER in
his entire career, Sunil Gavaskar became the first Indian to hold or clutch 100
CATCHES for India in Test cricket.
SIMPLE- FIX YOUR EYES ON THE BALL AND APPLY CORRECT MEASURES
TO HOLD THOSE CATCHES .This gave him 110 Test catches in all. That was it.
Gundappa
Vishvanath - :: Brilliant reflexes was That made Him A Brilliant Slip Fielder
Calcutta, Eden Gardens, on December 27th 1974, this LITTLE
MASTER was playing in his 21st test on that day. India were down at
0-2 and were out for 233 in their first essay . He had scored a 52 in the
first.
Vishvanath till that time was an outfielder either at the
Mod-On or somewhere at the outfield. He by then had only clasped FIVE catches
in the Test matches. Pataudi who was leading the team had felt that if
Vishvanath was kept at the outfield to chase- who knows what his physical
condition would be after the west-Indies batted and ended their first essay.
Pataudi knew that he had sharp reflexes.
He ORDERED Vishvanath to take the first slip position. That
started a chapter in his life as a cricketer at the first slip. He took three
very sharp catch in the slips and all that required REFLEXES by 200% .Not only
that, his RUN OUT of Vivian Richard in the FIRST INNINGS again was a CHAPTER
written in GOLD.
SEVENTY TESTS (70) thereafter and 63 catches, a total of 68
in his entire career and as said 63 in the FIRST SLIP, that made him the SECOND
BEST SLIP FIELDER after Ajit Wadekar till he played cricket.Once Gavaskar
overtook him then his standing fell on to the 3rd position but after
Ajit wadekar, this man was the BEST EVER slip fielder that India had produced
at the slips and THANKS, pataudi for the same.
The OUTSTANDING
Outfielders-:
Pataudi, about whom I have mentioned, Ramnath parkar, Rusi
Surti, Brijesh patel and ofcourse MADANLAL .No arguments, no
EXPLANATION, that is it. Each had their unique style and each that I have mentioned here were a CLASS APART and a LESSON by themselves. What more to write ?.
Their running to chase the balls, their arms to use it and
throw the ball from about 90 yards STRAIGHT like a BULLET to the wicketkeeper ,
and their HORSE LIKE STAMINA,
these qualities seperates them out if compared to any body as an outfielders of
Indian cricket .Their OVERALL fitness made that happen and they were simply
unbelievable when they strode after the ball while chasing them and then
their act to pick the ball in ONE ACTION
and with a QUARTER or
a HALF BODY TURN, straight
send the ball directly to the safe hands of th wicket keeper. So many run-outs
in the domestic season and in the test matches describes it all. Over it to
CHASE the BALL with their back to the WICKET KEEPERS and RUN about for 20 to 40
yards with their eye FIXED on the ball in it’s course of flight to the
boundaries and those converted into some unimaginable catches have made them
the GOLDEN BOYS of INDIAN FIELDERS of INDIAN CRICKET.
Today, on April 17th 2021, it completes the 50th Years of that WINDIES TOUR where India beat West-Indies because Eknath Solkar took NINE catches in that series, in the " FORWARD SHORT LEG " region , beside effecting FOUR RUN OUT , while fielding in the region, as we call it the “ COVERS ”, in that series-
THE " COVERS " WERE OFF FOR INDIAN CRICKET SINCE THEN...... to CONQUER the WORLD .
THANKS TO PATAUDI for eyeing these fielders and putting them in the RIGHT place , which completely changed the…….
“ SLAVE ” OF CRICKET to the “ EMPEROR ” OF THE CRICKETING WORLD …..
by winning some series which was NOT considered or thought of , INDIA to win those series.
" THANK YOU " MANSUR ALI KHAN , PATAUDI FOR THE SAME....
That was this GREAT SOUL , the GREAT MAN.
Well , that is it and That sums it all.
Regards and Thanks
Pics
Shyamal Bhattacharjee
Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .
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Wondering what would have happened to the present Indian team players if they had Solkar as their team mate.
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