The doughty Mohinder Amarnath, the only Indian batsman of his generation who had the technique to regularly employ the hook against the fastest of bowlers in an age of untramelled short-pitched stuff, and who is also known for his many comebacks to the Indian team, was recently felicitated by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which also named a stand at the Ferozeshah Kotla after him. At the event, another stand was named after Bishan Singh Bedi. Unbelievably, it is only now that these legends of Indian cricket have got a mark of recognition in their home ground. In some ways, the gathering, at which almost all Delhi Ranji captains were present, marked the breaking of ice between the two Delhi stalwarts and the DDCA.
Both Bedi and Amarnath have captained Delhi to Ranji Trophy triumphs. Bedi was the pioneering captain who broke the Ranji hoodoo for Delhi in 1978-79. The illustrious left-arm spinner led the team to triumph in 1979-80 as well and after losing the next final to Bombay, Mohinder, whom Bedi had brought from Punjab to strengthen Delhi, emulated the feat in 1981-82.
However, both Bedi and Mohinder, who also represented Baroda, never got the due commensurate to their achievements and stature, either from the DDCA, Punjab, Baroda or the BCCI. Of course, both have been national selectors and have served as coaches of various states/national teams, and received BCCI바카라s C.K. Nayudu Award, the one-time benefit and get the Board바카라s monthly gratis for retired first-class/international cricketers. Also, Bedi became India바카라s first cricket manager in 1990. Yet Bedi and Mohinder have always been outspoken critics of cricketing matters and were seen as anti-establishment. So, both the BCCI and the DDCA never gave them their rightful due, until Delhi High Court-appointed administrator of DDCA Vikaramajit Sen decided to honour them, as well as Virender Sehwag and former India women바카라s skipper Anjum Chopra, besides Delhi Ranji captains.
바카라Of course, it바카라s a different time altogether. I am happy, and I wish these things continue in the future. Those who have contributed to Delhi and Indian cricket should get credit, their services should be recognised and they should be given respect,바카라 Amarnath, whom Imran Khan once ranked as the world바카라s best player of fast bowling, tells Outlook. Sen, a former Supreme Court judge, is encouraged to do more. 바카라Several cricketing legends from Delhi have now approached me with the offer to shoulder some responsibility. This response has brooked no opposition. If some of these greats, possessing administrative flair, can be drawn into running cricket, it will only benefit the game,바카라 Sen says.
Amarnath, who famously called the national selectors a 바카라bunch of jokers바카라 in 1988, after being ignored for the Indian team, is not the only one to be treated shabbily. Although some cite the one-time benefit purse that the BCCI presented to Test and select first-class players in 2013 and the monthly amount that retired players/umpires have been receiving since 2004 as 바카라recognition바카라바카라besides other awards and tournaments named after the greats바카라there are many who feel deprived.
Players who haven바카라t got their due proportionate to their achievements and contribution are mostly from old times, when money and facilities that are taken for granted now were almost non-existent. This list (including some who are deceased) could easily include the likes of Mohammad Nissar, Syed Mushtaq Ali, Subhash Gupte, Deepak Shodhan, V.V. Kumar, Nari Contractor, Salim Durani, M.L. Jaisimha, Dilip Sardesai, Manoj Prabhakar and the Amarnath family바카라Lala and his sons Mohinder, Surinder and Rajinder. This, of course, is not a comprehensive list. Then, there were players, like Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar, who were simply unlucky not to represent India, thanks to the selectors.
Some of these stalwarts have reconciled to their fate, though they at times fail to hide the tinge of regret that still pinches them. For example, Contractor, who was completely ignored by his home state, the Gujarat Cricket Association, tries hard to put up a brave face. 바카라Recognition is such a broad word. There is no limit to recognition. Whatever comes, comes; whatever goes, goes. If people think of giving you something, you accept it. If they don바카라t, you don바카라t. After a certain stage, you have to have this attitude. I am a very contented man,바카라 the Mumbai-based Contractor, 83, tells Outlook.
Although Contractor received a one-time purse of Rs 60 lakh from the BCCI, he was treated very shabbily by Gujarat. Narhari Amin, who was GCA president for 16 years (1993-2009), admits that the contribution of Contractor and other Test stars like late Jasu Patel and Deepak Shodhan were not recognised. 바카라Yes, there are no stadium stands or any tournament named after these cricketers,바카라 he says. There was talk that some years ago a stadium was proposed to be built in Godhra, Contractor바카라s birthplace, and was to be named after him. Old timers say that Contractor, so far the only Gujarat cricketer to captain India, at the time expected it to be the 바카라only recognition that was going to come his way바카라. But even that did not happen.
The debonair Mushtaq Ali (1914-2005), the first Indian to score an overseas Test century (112 vs England, Old Trafford, 1936), didn바카라t get his due during his career and even afterwards. BCCI officials/selectors didn바카라t give him enough opportunities in Test cricket, despite his 32-year long first-class career. Then, in 1996, the Madhya Pradesh government gave the green signal to a cricket museum that Mushtaq Ali wanted to build in a bungalow in his hometown Indore. But an unexpected litigation ensued and his dream remained just that. 바카라After his retirement, he was not even appointed selector, because he was a straight-forward person. He would say what he felt about something to someone바카라s face. That went against him,바카라 says his son and ex-first-class player Gulrez Ali. Gulrez바카라s son Abbas also represented Madhya Pradesh and is now its Ranji team manager-cum-fielding coach.
Legendary leg-spinner Subhash Gupte, who bagged 149 wickets in 36 Tests in the 1950s, also apparently paid for an off-field indiscretion. 바카라He asked the BCCI for a benefit match, but was not given one. I once asked Gary Sobers about the most difficult bowlers he had faced, and he said 바카라Gupte바카라,바카라 recalls well-known commentator Ravi Chaturvedi. He also reminds that Mohammad Nissar, who with Amar Singh was India바카라s greatest fast bowling pair, and which opened the bowling in India바카라s first-ever Test in 1932, also didn바카라t get the due he deserved. 바카라He was a gentleman fast bowler, who bowled the first ball for India in Tests,바카라 says Chaturvedi.
Another illustrious spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi, also got the rough end of the stick for being critical of the BCCI, though he has mellowed considerably. 바카라Nothing went against me for my outspokenness. I don바카라t react anymore; I respond now. The naming of the Kotla stand is not a milestone for me. It just happened; I didn바카라t ask for it. Similarly, it just happened that I represented and captained India,바카라 Bedi tells Outlook.
All-rounder Manoj Prabhakar바카라at one point he opened both the bowling and batting for India바카라was known for his tenacity. Banned for five years for his alleged role in the 2000 match-fixing scandal, he was a bit like Bedi and Mushtaq Ali바카라blunt. Naturally that was held against him. On his return after the ban, he became Delhi Ranji coach, but was soon shunned by the DDCA, while the BCCI hasn바카라t released his benevolent fund. In fact, at least Rs 1 crore (including the benevolent fund) of his is with the BCCI, which isn바카라t releasing it. 바카라I have written several letters to the BCCI and to Vinod Rai, head of the SC-appointed CoA, but haven바카라t received even one reply,바카라 he says. A born fighter a cricketer with guile, his services could also have been utilised as a bowling coach for the Indian team.
The Amarnath clan, perhaps, suffered the most of all. Lala Amarnath was a known anti-establishment man and his candid views antagonised the powers-that-be. And that, in some ways, impacted his three sons바카라 careers. Delhi and national selectors ignored Surinder, the eldest of the three and who scored a century on his Test debut, as he was part of the Bedi-led 바카라revolt바카라 in 1979-80 against the then DDCA administration. After scoring heavily in domestic tournaments, he was a contender for the 1979 tour of England but was denied it. He was also ignored for the Australia tour in 1981. 바카라It hurts when you are ignored after having given your best and performed better than the others. But that is past; I now want to serve the country and cricket, and I can prove that I can do it,바카라 says the former left-handed batsman.
Recognition, however, is a subjective term and it isn바카라t necessarily about money alone, insists well-known commentator Narottam Puri. 바카라The sentiment should be to remember the contribution of a person who has made a difference on that site or venue for the sake of history and posterity,바카라 he says. Sudhir Vaidya, the doyen of cricket statisticians, has an advice for administrators. 바카라Every cricketer should be honoured when he is at his peak, not after 10 or 20 years after his retirement,바카라 he says. He is right. But those who have seen Bishan Bedi and Mohinder Amarnath play cricket in their heyday will still cheer for a stand in their name in their home-ground, Feroze Shah Kotla바카라if they can see it at all through the thick, polluting smog바카라even if it has come a few decades too late.
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Nari Contractor
Tests: 31 (1955-62)
Runs: 1,611
100s/50s: 1/11
Wkts: 1
He represented Gujarat in domestic tournaments, but his home state never cared for him
Syed Mushtaq Ali
Tests: 11 (1934-52)
Runs: 612
100s/50s: 2/3
Wkts: 3
First, the Indian team바카라s politics impacted him. Then, the MP govt failed to ensure a museum he envisaged
V.V. Kumar
Tests: 2 (1961)
Runs: 6
100s/50s: 0/0
Wkts: 7
Selectors unjustifiably ignored this superb leg-spinner after he bagged 5/64 and 2/68 on debut vs Pakistan
Mohinder Amarnath
Tests: 69 (1969-88)
Runs: 4,378
100s/50s: 11/24
Wkts: 32
His gusty batting was often ignored by selectors and never got the recognition he deserved
Bishan singh Bedi
Tests: 67 (1967-79)
Runs: 656
100s/50s: 0/1
Wkts: 266
Considered one of the best left-arm spinners of all time, he was dropped unceremoniously after the 1979 England tour
