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During my college years (1971-75) the only source of knowing live scores was radio commentary. I owned a pocket transistor which I carried to college / class room. It was hidden under the shirt near the ear. Though I was a front bencher but on those days I used to sit in the back row near the window. The volume was kept very low. During the lecture, live score written on a chit was passed to the entire class. Everything was fine till one day ………...
That day attendance was thin and other students were sitting in front. I was sitting alone on the last bench taking notes but listening attentively to the commentary. Our professor, Mr Dhillon, saw me sitting on the back bench & asked the reason. I said - it’s very hot and I want some fresh air. All students, knowing well ,laughed loudly and Mr D sniffed some mischief. He came near me and heard the faint sound of commentary.
“Hmm..Listening to the commentary?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Stand up”
“Sir”
“Get out “
“Sir”
I walked towards the door. As I reached the door, he called-
“Arree score to batate jao.(Tell us the score before you leave)
I smiled. You tooooo…………... Mr Dhillon.
Another cricket crazy Indian.
by Mukesh
Cricket Crazy Indians.
Big Mouths……Then & Now
On the eve of just concluded Nehru Cup Football finals between India & Syria, a statement made by Syrian Coach Fajr Ibrahim caught my attention. Syria reached the finals beating all the other four teams in league matches including India(1-0) whereas India could win only two of four. He said “We can beat India even if we play only nine players of our B-Team.” Reading it I felt something, something very deep inside me. What kind of statement was that? Was he confident or over confident. Was he arrogant or something else? Whatever it was but he surely asked for trouble.
The feeling I had was similar to that I felt 40 years back, when on the eve of 3rd test match at the Firoz Shah Kotla Grounds the then visiting Australian captain Lawry said something similar to that.
It was cricketing season of 1969-70. Australians were on a visit to play five test match series. They were full of confidence after beating India by 8 wickets in the 1st test played at Bombay. The 2nd test at Kanpur was drawn where Gundappa R Vishwanath made his debut and scored a brilliant 137 in 2nd innings. So both teams landed in Delhi for third match and after inspecting the pitch Lawry made this comment – “If we win the toss we will beat India in three days.”
Well, they did win the toss. Made 296 runs in 1st innings. India replied with 223 runs thus conceded a lead of 73 runs. Australia started their 2nd innings. It was day three of the match and things started happening. They were bowled out for mere 107 runs. Bishan S. Bedi 5/37 & Erapalli A.S. Prasanna 5/42 were the wreckers. India needed 181 runs to win. They did it convincingly on fourth day winning by 7 wickets. How Lawry felt was anybody’s guess.
So beware Big Mouths! Though we Indians are mild mannered but when it comes to our pride we hit back. Not by words but action. The opponents could not understand what hit them. You don’t believe me? Ask Mr Fajr Ibrahim.
Er… I forget to tell. India won the Nehru Cup beating Syria 5-4 on penalty shoot out.
HOWZATT
by Mukesh
