Fast Bouncers
have battered and bruised batsmen on the cricket pitch. With practice, one can
counter that, and over time, one can face that challenge and overcome that. That's on the cricket field, though. But a
continuous set of googlies and wrong-ones bowled after the playing hours was
almost unplayable (There is no leg spinner involved here!!). Or at least one hugely talented player with a prospective
cricket career ahead of him chose to let go the googlies and declared himself
out just over 20years ago.
A player
who started his career in the same year as I did had a terrific start to his cricketing
innings in his teens. On the field, he scored tons of runs and formed a
great partnership with another slam bang well known upcoming player of the late 1980s in
local cricket. But in his early phase in first division cricket handling the
who’s who of Madras cricket became unmanageable for this youngster. But for the good of cricket, he left
the scene with his head held high, showcasing how every youngster should behave and take on the injustice by senior players in the team.
By the
time he was out of his teens, the amount of runs he had scored had helped him move
up into the first division league and he joined one of the top 3-4
private teams of first division in those years. It was
there that his cricketing innings took a dramatic turn. It was there that he
realised what playing cricket in Madras was. This callous attitude of the 'established' players on the TN scene and the 'feudal system' led to aspirations being crushed, on or off the field. In the first
two years he topped 600runs/800runs in the league season winning accolades
but the battering off the field left him completely bruised, mentally.
Two big names of TN cricket made
him do stuff that shattered him and his outlook to life. The daily
routine during those days included having to pick up the ‘chappals’ and 'youngsters' massaging his back and legs, picking the 'senior' kit to the car.
While
this happened and the youngster wanted to move on to another team, he was
assured by the authorities that be that there would be better treatment into the third year. And he stayed
back, for he had scored a lot of runs and was in the peak of his career with a
possible Ranji call round the corner. Or at least he was just a few steps away.
However,
the flipper on the night of one outstation tour was unplayable and got this
youngster to take a most unprecedented step for any youngster of that era. The instructions and orders to massage a bare back shook this youngster. It was
no request or ‘can you please do’ but a 'its part of your job' here if you want to
progress kind of scenario for this youngster.
No more
could he tolerate this inhuman treatment. He realised that he could not go any
further in this team without falling in line with these off-field activities
every evening.
He told
himself that massaging another’s back was not his way to go up the cricketing
ladder. He explained this continuous torture to the relevant authority but to
no avail. Next morning, he packed his cricketing bag and made his trip back ( at his own expense and choosing his own mode of transport) to
Madras even before the tournament had ended – a big step, for a young boy,
and a brave move against the biggest names of TN cricket.
He
brought this entire episode of ‘torturous treatment’ to the notice of the
Executive Director of the company before he put in his papers. But this was the
order of the day and it seemed that one had to comply with this and take it as
part of the cricket career to progress in cricket.
And this
cricketer chose not to comply. Kudos to
him for taking that big step against the biggies at such a young age!!! Things
may have changed a lot in the last 20years but one wonders as to what will be the
fate of youngsters in TN with those two at the helm, one of the state team and the other
of the most renowned fast bowling academy.
PS: It
is another matter that within 6months of this episode, this youngster who had signed up
for another team scored 2centuries at the start of the season to be picked for
the Buchi Babu Tournament to bat alongside the above cricketers. And he scored there as well!!! Three decades later, he is now the secretary of a TNCA league club!!!
9 comments:
A sordid tale indeed. No wonder Tamil nadu has won the Ranji trophy only twice, in spite of being blessed with some of the finest talents this country has produced.
We love to criticise the ‘Bombay clique’, but their work ethic and commitment have produced magical results consistently, decade after decade.
But we will never learn.
It was pretty sad what happened to him.
But he must have been one of the very few cricketers who would have walked out.
huh, paavam.
How is it that TNCA allows such cricketers to be at the helm of affairs?
The stated players have the worst disciplinary records.
It is kali kaalam and we have to endure this.
I hope TNCA takes appropriate action.
( a cricketer who played for TN for over a decade)
Wow!! Thats unbelievable!!
Never knew these things occurred in cricket.
Nothing has changed over the years.
Feudalistic behaviour continues.
Interesting story
Sad story.
Who is this cricketer?
A good attempt to project the dirty side (true character) of the powers in the bygone era.
These things are common at the level.
I know bigger/talented guys not crossing college level. Leave alone senior division.
Got to have real guts to do what this unnamed player did and equal guts to put it in public view. Appreciate the honest write up 👍
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