Raj Bhai was criticised, but he always selected the team on merit

The demise of my mentor and a great friend Raj Singh Dungarpur was a great loss for the cricket fraternity and a personal blow to me. We played at a time when practically nobody fulfilled the promise of a fast bowler in Indian cricket. Raj Bhai was a brilliant medium pacer, who claimed 206 wickets from 86 appearances in the Ranji Trophy. But I can tell you he could easily have taken much more wickets if we had a good fielding side. We played first-class cricket for almost 15 years for Rajasthan.

I started playing for Rajasthan in 1957-58 after making my debut for Saurashtra. Later, I played for Gujarat. I got the opportunity of playing for Rajasthan and I must thank Maharana Bhagwat Singh, who was very interested in nurturing youngsters. But it was Bhausaheb "BB" Nimbalkar, who suggested that I should play for Rajasthan.

Then I started playing for Rajasthan and moved from Jamnagar to Udaipur which was then the cricket headquarters. The day I joined the team, I felt the warmth of Raj Bhai who was studying in Indore. Raj Bhai got me the essential items and even cash. I still remember when he took me and my teammate Ramesh Shah to Dungarpur where we lived and practiced on a cement wicket. The prince of Dungarpur and his brothers, Mahipal Singh and Jai Singh would join us. At Dungarpur, he showed us films of the Bodyline series.

Both Raj Bhai and Chhotu Bhai (Hanumant Singh) gave me a lot of encouragement. Both watched my debut Test match at Brabourne Stadium in 1959 against against Richie Benuad’s Australian team. After that, I became a regular member of the Indian team. I took up a job in Mumbai. Since both Raj Bhai and Hanumant shifted their base in Bombay, we used to meet regularly. I still remember when I a got congratulatory message from Raj Bhai after I scored a century in the Port of Spain Test in the 1962 series against West Indies. Those were the days when you had to face the pace of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith.

In 1962 when we were in the Central Zone team that played against Ted Dexter’s team at Maharaja’s College ground in Jaipur on matting wicket, I was given a standing ovation by Raj Bhai when I returned to the pavilion after scoring a century.

I was always a beneficiary of Raj Bhai and he became a part of my family, guiding us on various issues. He was very sad when victory eluded Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy final against Bombay. The match was played in Udaipur and we were on the verge of winning it. I still remember how Raj Bhai pulled the team out of the woods, scoring 21 runs and taking Rajasthan to victory in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Mysore.

When he came into bat, 28 runs needed for victory with only two wickets at hand.

In 1966 I played the Bombay Test against Garry Sober’s West Indies team and hit a half-century. I also took two wickets. The next Test was in Kolkata. Since I could not reach the day before the match as my wife took ill and had to be hospitalised, I was dropped from the series by team manager Col Hemu Adhikari and chairman of the selection committee on grounds of indiscipline. Next year, when India toured England, I was not considered.

I was forgotten by the selectors even for the Australian tour in 1967 and this was a time when I found myself ruined. It was only Raj Bhai, who gave me the moral support and put me with him in his Mumbai house. He even supported me financially. In 1971 I had a terrific domestic season and I helped Central Zone win the Duleep Trophy. Impressed with my performance, late KN Prabhu, who was the sports editor of The Times of India wrote a piece on me with the headline Duleep Trophy or Durrani Trophy!. The selector could not ignore me.

Interestingly, it was the year when the India team for the West Indies was to be picked. Vijay Merchant was the chairman of the selection committee. Merchant used his casting vote to oust Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi from the captaincy for the tour in 1971 and made Ajit Wadekar the skipper.

Raj Bhai was a great admirer of Merchant, but he opposed Wadekar as skipper at the cost of Pataudi. I was chosen as a member of the historic team which played extremely well in the series to beat the West Indies team by 1-0.

It was landmark victory at Port of Spain where I snared Clive Lloyd and skipper Gary Sobers for duck. Raj Bhai was so thrilled that he often described it was ‘ball’ of the century which dislodged Sobers.

I was surprised to see Raj Bhai to greet the team when it landed in Bombay. There was no hard-feeling over the captaincy issue and he congratulated all of us. The team was taken to the Brabourne Stadium in open cars with thousands of fans cheering us.

Raj Bhai was often criticised as a selector. But I can tell you that he always selected the team on merit. Despite a good performance in domestic season, Raj Bhai did not select me as he thought I was not physically fit for Test cricket anymore. Isn’t this enough testimony? I did not agree with those who dubbed the selection committee headed by those who called the committee "a bunch of jokers".

Raj Bhai made me a member of the prestigious Cricket Club of India and when he became the president of the club, he started Rs 5,000 per month as pension. Later a similar pension came from Sunil Gavaskar.

In 1970s when I was hurt in a Ranji Trophy match against Railways and suffered eye injuries, Raj Bhai helped me get a job in the JK Synthetics. He made me skipper of the team which had Pataudi also as director of the team. I am 74 and we all have to see the end of our innings, but even in heaven I would like to be in the eleven led by Raj Bhai. Link...