Tag: Test Cricket

In The News, sports

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.

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.

In The News, My Take

Edward Ralph Dexter

In the ongoing Third Test match between India and England at Headingley. Leeds, I noticed that the English cricketers wore black arm bands. This is usually done as a mark of respect for someone who is no more. I soon came to know that the person in question was someone whose cricket career I followed with great interest in my younger days: Edward Ralph Dexter. He passed away on August 25, aged 86.

Born in 1935, he played for Cambridge, Sussex and England. He was called “Lord Ted” for his elegance and languid grace. Dexter was a dashing batsman with a very attacking bent of mind, especially when it came to fast bowlers. He was one of the most powerful hitters of the cricket ball of his times.

In those days, Test cricket wasn’t played as frequently as it is now. From the time he made his debut in 1958, Dexter played 62 Tests for England being captain in 30 of them. He scored 9 Test centuries and finished with an impressive average of 47.89. He last played for England in 1968.

We in India saw him for the first time, when he captained the visiting MCC team in 1961-62 after the more established players like Peter May and Colin Cowdrey opted to skip this tour.

As cricket crazy youngsters, we followed the Tests only though the cricket commentary on the radio, as we didn’t have television in India those days. We of course read every word of the reports of the Test matches in the daily newspapers. Some of the innings that Dexter played still remain fresh in my mind, although decades have gone by since he dazzled the crowds with his batting.

In the Lord’s Test in 1963, facing the menacing fast bowlers Hall and Griffith of the West Indies, Dexter hammered 70 in just 75 balls out of a total of 102. Another innings was his 180 against the Aussies in 1961, the year he was “Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year..”

Dexter in later years served as the Chairman of the Selection Commitee in England, and President of the MCC. He was instrumental in fashioning what we now know as the ICC rankings for players.

In this video, tributes are paid to Dexter on his being inducted in to the ICC’s Hall of Fame in 2021. Ian Chappell recalls that Dexter was the hardest hitter of the cricket ball he had ever seen.

Fans of Dexter would love this delightful piece written about him by Arunabha Sengupta in 2016 . Clearly he was , as that article said, “one of the most colorful characters to grace English cricket.”

Farewell, my childhood hero. May Edward Ralph Dexter, dashing and debonair, rest in peace.

Authors, Book Reviews

“281 And Beyond” by V V S Laxman, with R Kaushik.


For thousands of cricket fans in India, V V S Laxman has to be one of the classiest batsmen to have donned the India colours. His batting was characterized by grace, elegance, and a certain style which most cannot emulate. He was a worthy successor to other elegant Hyderabadi batsmen before him, like M L Jaisimha and Mohammad Azharuddin.

In his recent book, “281 And Beyond” , we get to know Laxman the person more than just Laxman the stylish batsman. Written in collaboration with R Kaushik, the Hyderabad -based cricket writer, this book gives the reader insight into Laxman’s travails and triumphs playing cricket for India at the highest level.

There were many triumphs, to be sure. On top of the list has to be his 281 in the Kolkatta test of 2001 against the Australians. How he and Rahul Dravid put together a 376 run partnership versus the mighty Australians is a legend in modern day cricket. India won the match despite having followed on! Laxman’s 281 was, at that time, the highest ever individual score by an Indian Test batsman.

This apart, there have many more occasions when Laxman has saved the day for India. After all in a career over 15 years, he scored over 8500 runs in 134 Tests with 17 centuries and an average of 45.97

Laxman’s travails came from his not being a sure shot member of the playing XI of the Indian cricket team of his time, unlike say a Tendulkar, a Dravid, a Sehwag , or a Ganguly. He was shuffled in the batting order many times, and was pushed into opening the batting which was not something he particularly enjoyed.

As Laxman’s career developed, another phenomenon came up which made his place in the Indian cricket team more insecure. This was the advent of 50 over cricket and later T20 cricket via the Indian Premier League (IPL). In both cases, Laxman had the disadvantage of being branded a “Test batsman. ” In addition, not being electric in the field, he lost out to others who were considered more adept in these newer and far more popular versions of the game.

In my view, what shines all through the book is Laxman’s description of his upbringing, values and work ethic which is so typical of the hard working middle class/professional stock he came from. He describes in detail how he had to make an important decision: whether to pursue his studies in medicine ( both his parents being doctors) or to be a professional cricketer.

Laxman’s career statistics are far more impressive than many would imagine. A short summary of his career figures in the book even as a end-of-the-book book summary, would, I believe, have publicized his cricketing achievements and enhanced the value of his accomplishments.

Highly recommended for all cricket lovers as Laxman was one of the finest players of his generation.

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.”