cricket – Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller

Nari Contractor: 92 not out!

As an ardent fan of Indian cricket for more than 65 years, I was moved to see Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar being overcome with emotion recently. The occasion was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Sportstar Aces Awards 2026 to Nariman Jamshedji Contractor. For me, it was so endearing to see the former Indian cricket captain once again though he was now 92. Thousands of kids in India, like me, hero worshipped him way back in the 1960s. This incident flooded my mind with many memories.

It was quite a co-incidence, I thought to myself, seeing Nari at 92. I had seen him score 92 in the very first Test Match I had ever seen: India vs Pakistan at the Feroze Shah Kotla in Delhi in February 1961. Apart from Nari’s 92, Polly Umrigar scored a century and India piled up a massive 463 in the first innings. In that Test, V V Kumar, a leg spinner made his debut for India and took 5 wickets in an innings. The match however ended in a draw. Interestingly all the 5 Tests in that series ended in draws! In those days it was considered better to draw than lose a Test. This was Contractor’s first series as India’s captain.

He made his Test debut vs New Zealand in 1955 aged 21. At 26, he became the youngest ever cricket captain of India -at that time. He had shot into the limelight by scoring a century in both innings of his debut in the Ranji Trophy playing for Gujarat. A stylish left handed opening batsman, Contractor played 31 Tests for India from 1955 to 1962 when his Test career was tragically cut short- but more of that later. Also, in those days, Tests were not played as frequently as they are now.

When England ( then popularly known as MCC) led by E R Dexter toured India in 1961, Contractor led India to a famous 2-0 victory in the 5 Test series. This was the first time India had defeated England in a Test series. By the way, the England squad had stalwarts like Dexter, Mike Smith, Ken Barrington , Geoff Pullar, Bob Barber etc. The enigmatic Salim Durrani and all rounder Chandu Borde were the most successful bowlers for India.

India went next to the West Indies led by Contractor. Mansur Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, just 21, was the vice captain of the touring team. It was planned that he would eventually take over the captaincy from Contractor. The Indians were outplayed in the first two Tests. Things became worse in the tour game versus Barbados. in March 1962. Contractor had his skull broken by a fast short ball from Charlie Griffith- the young, tearaway fast bowler. This was a huge set back for the touring Indians. Mansur Ali Khan was pitchforked into the captaincy – in the process becoming the youngest by far to lead the Indian Test team . India went on to lose the series 5-0.

Following that blow, Nari Contractor was in grave danger of losing his life. The West Indies captain, Frank Worrell joined some of the Indian cricketers in donating blood to save Contractor who was battling for his life. He underwent two operations in which surgeons removed fragments of bone from his brain. They placed a metal plate in his head.

In those days, batsmen never wore helmets, there was no rule restricting the number of bouncers in an over, so being an opening batsman was indeed a challenging task. Contractor loved cricket so passionately that he was courageous enough to resume playing the game at the first class level for Gujarat and West Zone. His biggest disappointment was that he was never selected for India again but I guess the selectors must have thought it was too much of a risk.

And what became of Charlie Griffith? He was vilified in many parts of the world as a “chucker” throwing the cricket ball while bowling. As young boys in India, we hated him intensely for having put our hero Nari Contractor out of the game. Griffith was officially called for throwing twice- once in that same fateful game in Barbados and once 4 years later in Leeds. He played 28 Tests for the West Indies from 1960-1969 making a fearsome fast bowling combination with Wesley Hall. He was dogged by controversy but played till the end of the decade. He was knighted for his services to sport in 2017 when Barbados became an independent country.

Ironically, 5 years later, in April 2022, the metal plate inserted in 1962 in Nari Contractor’s head was finally removed! And, coming back to where I started this post, I was so very happy to see Nariman Jamshedji Contractor, my childhood hero, 64 years after his near fatal accident on the cricket field.

In The News

India’s Women’s Cricket: Rawal and Mandhana’s Record Partnerships

As I write this post, my prayers – along with those of millions of cricket fans in India- are with Pratika Rawal. The opening batter sustained an injury while fielding in India’s match vs Bangladesh a few days ago. India has qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC ODI World Cup for Women. The next game against Australia is most crucial. It is a do or die match as the loser gets eliminated from the tournament. Sadly, it appears unlikely that she will be able to play in this match.

Pratika, a 25 year old from Delhi, has carved a niche for herself as the opening partner for Smriti Mandhana in the Indian Women’s Cricket team. Her presence in the match versus Australia would have meant a lot to the Indian team. Let me explain why.

India has always done well when Mandhana and Rawal have given them a solid start. The match versus New Zealand a few days ago was again extremely important for India. They had to win to enter the semi-finals. Mandhana and Rawal scored 212 in their opening partnership to give them a dream start. Both scored centuries- Mandhana 109, and Rawal 122.

Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal : Picture courtesy: Firstpost

This was the highest partnership for India in the Women’s World Cup. They broke the previous record of 184 between Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur in 2022.

This opening pair has shown promise to be potential world beaters. In the year or so that they opened the batting for India Women, they have put together 7 century opening partnerships. Out of these, 5 have been in this calendar year! This is the most for Indian women and is jointly the second highest in the history of women’s cricket. In January 2025, they started with a 233 run opening stand against Ireland with Rawal scoring 154 and Mandhana 135.

Till date, they have the distinction of having scored 1557 runs in the calendar year 2025. This is fairly close to the highest so far- 1635 runs by the legendary pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly in 1998. In the ongoing ODI World Cup, they are No 1 and No 2 in the runs scored- Mandhana 365 in 7 matches and Rawal 308 in 6.

Yes, India’s women cricketers have truly come of age. Recently, Smriti Mandhana scored a century in 51 balls- making her effort the fastest century for an Indian- man or woman- in One Day Internationals. Till now the fastest 100 in an ODI was by Virat Kohli and came off 52 balls! Mandhana has hit 29 sixes this year which is a world record for women beating South Africa’s Lizelle Lee who hit 28 in 2017.

Pratika has shown that she has matured vastly as a young batter. She was the fastest in women’s cricket to reach 500 ODI runs- reaching this in just 8 innings. She beat Charlotte Edwards of England who had achieved this way back in 1997. She recently became the joint fastest in the world to reach 1000 ODI runs achieving the feat in 23 innings.

With Pratika’s injury, unfortunately it appears most unlikely that she and Mandhana will break the Tendulkar-Ganguly record for the most runs as an opening pair in a calendar year. After the World Cup, the Indian women tour Australia in early 2026. Let’s hope their partnership continues to flourish there too. Mandhana and Rawal certainly have it in them to be world beaters in the opening slots for women’s cricket.

In The News, My Take

Man Made Tragedy at KSCA Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

As a huge fan of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) I was thrilled when we finally won the Indian Premier League (IPL) on June 3, 2025 after a wait of 18 long years! Like me, millions of fans celebrated- some long into the night and upto the early hours of June 4. It was a momentous victory coming after so many heart breaks. Remember, we had reached the finals on 3 previous occasions( 2009, 2011, and 2016) but failed to cross the line.

Naturally there was an explosion of emotion which was only to be expected. We were told there would be a grand victory parade and crowds in their thousands flocked to the Chinnaswamy Stadium hoping to see the function. Rumours/announcements of free tickets ( even if on a limited basis) added to the crowd frenzy. There was an unprecedented function on the steps of the majestic Vidhan Sudha. Even when the State team of Karnataka won the Ranji Trophy such an honour was not bestowed on the team. We watched the Chief Minister, Dy Chief Minister, and many Government big wigs with their families bask in reflected glory as the RCB players were honoured. The general public were kept far away. Yet they reached there in their thousands based on public invitations given by the CM no less. People perched precariously on lamp posts, tree tops, and even the roof of the High Court nearby. Thankfully, no one was injured.

Sadly, bad news was to follow. Near the KSCA’s Chinnaswamy Stadium there was total chaos. Survivors have described how they were not walking but carried away in the waves of frenzied fans. In the man made tragedy, 11 precious lives were lost. All were young persons. aged less than 30. They had come to celebrate but died without even catching a fleeting glimpse of the RCB players.

The print and visual media have given graphic and gory details so it not for me to repeat all that happened. The question is who is accountable? Who authorised the function in front of the Vidhana Soudha despite the warnings of senior police officials? Who was in a hurry to have the functions on June 4, when the police force were barely recovering from harrowing night of June 3 when Bengaluru celebrated RCB’s victory? Who made the announcement of free passes and the day’s program early on June 4 morning? Who decided that there would be two and not one function that day- adding to the stress of the limited police force? Who allowed the KSCA stadium to have far more people than the capacity warranted? These, and many other questions need to be answered.

The Chief Minister said he was invited by KSCA to the function so he attended. The Dy CM was present in the Chinnaswamy and pictures of him holding the trophy were splashed everywhere. The police say they did not give permission. The Police Commissioner- no less- has been suspended along with a few other senior police officers. The Secretary of the KSCA, Mr A Shankar,( an eminent CA, known to be extremely influential and powerful figure in Karnataka) and the Treasurer, Mr E S Jairam, have submitted their resignations accepting moral responsibility although they claim their roles were very limited. Nikhil Sosale, Head of Marketing for RCB, seen more prominently than even RCB skipper Rajat Patidar in the Vidhana Soudha function, has been arrested. Whether he was fleeing or not, can’t be said, but he was arrested in KIA Airport.

The State CID has been tasked to investigate the case. The High Court of Karnataka has suo moto taken up this matter for hearing on June 10. Compensation for the 11 victims was initially announced as Rs 10 Lakhs by the State Government but has now been increased to Rs 25 Lakhs.

I fear with the passage of time this story will get buried like every other. Fans need to get real. They should understand the real dangers of in being in the midst of mobs. The politicians are thick skinned. They aren’t going to lose sleep over 11 deaths- that too of people who were not celebrities. These deaths will not hurt them politically. If at all, perhaps M/s Shankar, Jairam and Raghuram Bhat ( former Karnataka and India left arm spinner and President of the KSCA) may be haunted by the last plaintive cries of innocent victims who lost contact with their loved ones and were trampled to death.

Yes, there are so many lessons to be learned by this 100% man made tragedy at KSCA’s Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Authors, Book Reviews

“The Rise of the Hitman- The Rohit Sharma Story” by R Kaushik

Being an avid cricket fan for six and a half decades, I love books on cricket and cricketers! I was delighted to read, R Kaushik’s “The Rise of the Hitman- The Rohit Sharma Story“. This was published recently by Rupa Publications.

For those readers of this blog, who don’t follow cricket as much as we do in India, let me say that Rohit G. Sharma is one of India’s superstar cricketers. He has successfully captained India to the T20 World Championship in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. These after that huge disappointment of losing to the Aussies in the finals of the 2023 ODI Championships. Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket a couple of weeks ago.

In the world of franchisee cricket, he has had the distinction of leading Mumbai Indians to 5 victories in the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL). Years ago, in 2009, he was a member of the victorious Deccan Challengers team- which gives him bragging rights to 6 IPL titles.

Rohit scored over 4300 runs in 67 Tests with an average of 40.58 and 12 centuries with a highest score of 212. He played 275 ODIs scoring over 11100 runs for India, with an average of 48.77 and a strike rate of 92. He hit 32 centuries including 3 double centuries. His highest score of 264 made in 2014 still remains the world record. In the more modern and currently everyone’s favourite format – the T 20, he has played 159 matches for India scoring 4231 runs averaging 32.05 with a strike rate of 140.89. He has scored 5 T20I centuries as well.

With this in context, let’s get back to the book. I found the book to be largely made up of impressions of Rohit, as a player, as a captain, and as a friend and human being from many eminent cricketers. The author has gleaned their thoughts and impressions over the years as they saw Rohit in different capacities. They include the likes of Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble, and W V Raman, who need no introduction to the cricket fan. Dinesh Lad, Rohit’s first coach recalls his childhood days and how he saw the latent talent in the boy from Borivali, a suburb of Mumbai.

“The Hitman” as Rohit is affectionately called by his world wide legion of Tests fans, went through many ups and downs. There were several deep disappointments, especially in the early years. His missing his first Test in 2010 due to an unfortunate injury on the morning of the Test readily comes to mind. Such was the competition for places in the Indian Test team that he had to wait for 3 years before he finally made his Test debut. Another big disappointment was his missing out on the T20 Team for the 2011 Championship which India won.

We read about his journey as a cricketer from the young days when he was seen as a boy with great talent till he became the icon he now is. The book highlights his skills as a player and more importantly as a skipper. It describes his memorable performances and what he brought to the table as he led from the front. As a captain of India, he won 12/ 24 Tests, 45/56 ODIs and 49/62 T20I. A very commendable record, indeed!

Ritika Sajdeh, his wife, has contributed immensely to Rohit’s successes. She deserves every credit for standing by him through thick and thin. I wish we had heard more from Rohit’s parents- their perspectives and challenges.

Books on crickets are devoured by cricket lovers. We just love our statistics! So, to set The Hitman’s cricketing achievements in context, I wish the book had a page on his career statistics, to make it more complete.

Thank you, Kaushik, for yet another well-written cricketing book! Your simple and elegant language makes for easy reading. We look forward to many more.

Authors, Book Reviews

“Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly” by Abhirup Bhattacharya

Today’s post is about “Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly” by Abhirup Bhattacharya, who has a degree in Fashion Technology and MBA in Finance from the well know Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai. The book has recently been published by Rupa Publications.

Way back in 1992, a young cricketer from Kolkatta was selected to tour Australia and didn’t do much on the tour. The 18 year old Sourav Ganguly returned with a dip in his reputation rather than a boost in his career. There were snide remarks that he was selected through favouritism under the “East Zone quota”, gossip that his team mates found him arrogant for one so inexperienced and a mere 3 runs to show from his only appearance in One Day Internationals. Cut to 1996, and four years later, Sourav Ganguly is the talk of town. His century (131) on Test debut at Lord’s, followed by another (136) at Trent Bridge a few weeks later showed the world that Ganguly the player had emerged from the shadows of the past. Now he is lauded, and rightly so, for all his cricketing feats including of course his captaincy.

After all years later, the great Sachin Tendulkar said of Ganguly, “Sourav’s greatest strength is his mind. He is hard working – not only in the nets but also mentally. He bounces back.” One also remembers another Indian cricketing “great”, Rahul Dravid, famously say, “On the offside, first there is God, then there is Ganguly.”!!

Apart from the 21 Test wins out of 49 under his leadership, ( 11 of them overseas) he is remembered for his mentoring of many young cricketers who became famous over time, men like Yuvaraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zahir Khan and the unforgettable Virender Sehwag, but to name a few. As a top order batsman, in summary, he amassed 11363 runs in 311 ODIs at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 72, with 22 centuries. In the 113 Tests he played, he scored 7212 runs at an average of 42 with 16 centuries.

Looking back to those times, there is no doubt that he injected a fighting spirit in the Indian cricket team which was down in the dumps when he was appointed captain in 2000. The match fixing scandal had scalped senior players like Azharuddin, the captain; Ajay Jadeja; and Nayan Mongia and Ganguly inherited a team which had potential but was down in morale.

The book is however not just about Ganguly the cricketer. ” Dada”, as he was popularly called by his team mates and millions of his fans world wide, used a variety of techniques to mould the team to a fighting unit. Abhirup Bhattacharya relates in management speak just how Ganguly achieved what he did. Be it in leadership, in mentoring, in strategy or in risk taking, the author maps Ganguly’s achievements with certain well established principles. Each chapter has “Learning Tips” which are enough to succinctly convey important messages to the readers.

I wish there was more incidents in the book of Ganguly the cricketer apart from the more famous ones that everyone has read about or seen on television. However, it must be said that a lot has been crammed into 145 pages.

Students of management as well as cricket fans would enjoy this book. It is a fitting tribute to one whom Geoffrey Boycott fondly called, “The Prince of Calcutta.”