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Columnists are sometimes carried on by the unreserved of events, often feeling obliged to remark connected the here-and-now. Thus, the advancement from the build-up to the T20 World Cup to its unfolding to the final, to the post-mortem of the event. And erstwhile that’s over, the IPL gets akin treatment. Occasionally, however, it is rewarding to look backmost alternatively than forward, and spot contiguous successful the discourse of yesterday.
March 28, for example, is simply a important day this year. It sees the commencement of the IPL. It is besides the commencement centenary of 1 of India’s finest, Pahlan ‘Polly’ Umrigar. In the 1950s and aboriginal 1960s, erstwhile Indian batting inactive sought planetary respect, Umrigar was its astir coagulated ambassador. He was gangly and composed. The assemblage seldom gasped erstwhile helium took guard. Yet by the clip helium finished, helium had rewritten overmuch of India’s aboriginal batting history. Today, helium would person been an IPL prima too!
Known successful the West Indies arsenic ‘Palm histrion hitter’, Umrigar was the span betwixt origins and modernity. He played his archetypal Test nether autarkic India’s archetypal captain, Lala Amarnath, successful a squad with Indian cricket’s aboriginal heroes: Vijay Hazare and Vinoo Mankad. His last Test came nether Tiger Pataudi, who ushered successful modernism.
For agelong Umrigar was India’s astir experienced Test cricketer, shaper of astir runs and centuries and the country’s archetypal Test treble centurion. He cleared the way for champions Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Yet, it is simply a curse of athletics that helium is often remembered for 1 atrocious bid successful England.
In the 4th Test astatine Port of Spain successful 1962, Umrigar claimed 5 for 107 successful 56 overs, past made 56 and 172 not retired aft India followed on, and bowled 16 overs for 17 runs arsenic the West Indies won. No 1 calls this ‘Umrigar’s Test’ successful the mode they did of the Lord’s Test of 1952 erstwhile Mankad returned akin figures. Perhaps due to the fact that those days lone cricket writers from England could bestow specified honours and nary was present. India’s K.N. Prabhu, nevertheless said it was “fit capable for verses and ballads.”
This came a decennary aft Umrigar’s atrocious bid successful England, wherever helium had a highest people of 14 and was palpably uncomfortable against accelerated bowler Fred Trueman. It mattered what you did successful England; their writers ensured that epithets stuck. Umrigar finished with 1688 runs connected the travel with double-hundreds against Lancashire, Kent and Oxford. He made a period successful Manchester connected the adjacent trip, but helium couldn’t get escaped of the ‘reputation’ from 1952, though Trueman bowled connected that aboriginal circuit too.
The erstwhile location season, his 130 had played a pb relation successful India’s first-ever Test win, against England. Seven years later, erstwhile India bushed Australia for the archetypal time, Umrigar claimed 4 for 27 successful the 2nd innings (the leader of that match, Jasu Patel had 14 wickets), including the wickets of Neil Harvey and Norman O’Neill.
Indian players of the past tended to beryllium pigeon-holed by media descriptions that initially described them and aboriginal identified them. Such words were often retired of usage successful regular speech but survived connected the sports pages of newspapers. Thus Lala Amarnath was the stormy petrel — each procreation had to look up ‘petrel’ (it is, successful fact, a oversea vertebrate that flew acold from land). Umrigar was the ‘bulwark’ of Indian batting. I don’t spot that connection excessively often these days; Rahul Dravid mightiness person inherited it, but helium was known by the simpler alternative: The Wall, a nickname helium was not fond of.
“The aboriginal Umrigar,” wrote Sujit Mukherjee, “indicated the lines on which modern batsmanship successful India was going to develop….here was a workman whose trade had been fashioned successful a polytechnic, not astatine location oregon successful the privateness of a wicket down a palace…”
He was excessively that different Indian rarity of his clip — a harmless catcher successful the slips, possessor of what were sometimes known arsenic ‘bucket’ hands.
As the crippled filled with stroke-players and tv heroes, Umrigar’s sanction began to dependable astir old-fashioned, similar a well-loved nine pavilion. But cricket remembers specified men kindly. Without them, the flamboyance of aboriginal generations would person had thing sturdy to physique on.
