Masters of the game

Was Vijay Hazare a victim of apartheid in Indian cricket? Vijay Samuel Hazare was a Christian and so could not take part in the Quadrangular Cricket Championship in the Thirties as only Europeans, Hindus, Parsis and Muslims were eligible. This victimization must have rankled, for when he got the opportunity, the young man sent his oppressors scurrying for cover.

Hazare came to the forefront of national cricket in 1938 when the Pentangular Cricket Championship replaced the Quadrangular, with the Rest side taking part as the fifth team. Immediately, he put everyone in the shade, even Vijay Merchant, then one of the best batsmen in the world. His prodigious feats in the few years of Pentangular cricket read: one triple hundred, one double hundred, two centuries and four fifties in only 14 innings, with an average of 101 and an aggregate of 1,212 runs.

Born in Sangli, Maharashtra, in 1915, Hazare made his test debut only at the age of 31, when he went to England with Iftikhar Ali Pataudi? s team in 1946. Despite the late start to his career, Hazare showed the world that he was not to be trifled with. In 1947-48, he went to Australia with Lala Amarnath?s team and was an outstanding success. Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, the foremost and fearsome pace duo in Don Bradman?s arsenal, held no terrors for him. Far from being bogged down against the best team in the world, Hazare scored centuries in both innings at Adelaide. No one else had ever treated Bradman?s team, reputedly the best-ever in international cricket, with such disdain.

Probably the greatest batsman India has produced, he played the fearsome pace of Lindwall, Miller and Fred Trueman without even thigh-pads. A helmet and chest-guard would surely have been a self-inflicted insult. He played the swing and cut of Alec Bedser and Fazal Mahmood with rare composure. But most important, he played on uncovered pitches, where the batsman was exposed to the vagaries of nature.

One aspect that cricket followers strangely overlook when they start comparing the past greats with the modern masters. Playing on moisture laden wickets day in and day out required the best of technique, just to survive. To master such conditions, one had to be of a rare breed indeed. It was under such conditions that Hazare not just survived, but prospered too.

It is very easily forgotten that Hazare was the first captain to lead India to a test victory. For all their abilities, neither C.K. Nayudu nor Amarnath could achieve this mark. Hazare?s young lieutenants saw to it that England (then MCC) was defeated at the Chepauk in 1951-52 to give India its first victory in its 25th test. In that match, Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar did their captain and country proud with centuries.

The following year, Hazare was leading India in England. The gloomy climate had the Indians in no end of trouble. But one man, Vijay Hazare, stood out along with his prot?g?, Vijay Manjrekar. In the first test at Leeds with Bedser and Trueman on the rampage, India lost three wickets for 42 before Hazare (89) and Manjrekar (133) stood their ground to build a partnership of 222 runs. In the second innings, as India lay in a shambles with four wickets down for no runs, again it was the captain who shouldered the crisis with a solid 56. Such acts of heroism were frequent with Hazare.

Vijay Hazare did not enjoy the luxury of lack of form. He did not bother about batting positions. In fact, weak oppositions had a better chance of getting him out. He would possibly not have got bagfuls of runs against the present Bangladesh bowlers. He would have been dismissed out of a sense of sympathy and boredom.

While Hazare is praised for his batting prowess, there is a tendency to ignore his bowling. He thrived on dual responsibilities, unlike some of our current stars who complain of tiredness when asked to shoulder the all-rounder?s responsibilities. He had an unusual action. Rather than bowling over-arm, he had a very prominent side-arm or round-arm action. But that did not stop his out-swingers and off-cutters from getting 599 wickets in first-class cricket and 20 in test matches.

In only 30 tests over a span of seven years, Hazare scored 2,192 runs at an impressive average of 47.65 with seven centuries. In first class matches, he scored 18,754 runs at 58.06 with 60 centuries.

Hazare was a good human being too. Modesty was his hallmark. He was a generous man who influenced a generation of top-class cricketers in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, including Chandu Borde. At a time cricketers continue to get chances despite repeated failures, Hazare?s career was cut short after just one unsuccessful series in the West Indies. I suspect he failed because he never had the urge to thrive against a weak opposition. Like his great successors, Merchant and Gundappa Vishwanath, he was stabbed in the back by the very people he had helped to prosper.

It is, however, to the credit of the Board of Control for Cricket in India that it has immortalized him through the Vijay Hazare Trophy. When the grand old man breathed his last on December 18, he at least had the satisfaction of knowing that Indian cricket had not forgotten him.