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.
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