Hari Gidwani

कर्मण्ये वाधिका रस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।

मा कर्म फल हेतु र्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्व कर्मणि॥

Translation: You have a right to “Karma” (actions) but never to any Fruits thereof. You should never be motivated by the results of your actions, nor should there be any attachment in not doing your prescribed activities. 

There is a popular phrase in sports- "two/three/n horse derby", which basically means that the competition in that particular tournament is limited to a particular number of teams. When it comes to our premier domestic tournament ie "Ranji trophy", it is a four/five horse derby at max. During 1950- 1970s, there was no competition whatsoever. It was Bombay all the way, with Delhi, Tamilnadu and Karnataka striving to get better.

We have heard the tragic story of Rajinder Goel, who couldn't make the cut because of our lethal quartet, but what doesn't make sense is Hari Gidwani's story. He was a slick middle order batsman in the 1970s, which India was devoid of, yet he was never considered for the national team. We only had Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and Gundappa Vishwanath, if we talk about good batsmen. Some of the batsmen who happened to debut during that decade failed miserably, for instance Kenia Jayantilal, Pochiah Krishnamurthy, who averaged in single digits and then there were players like Parthasarathi Sharma, Hemant Kanitkar, Ramnath Parkar, Sudhir Naik, Yajurvindra Singh etc who averaged between 18-27, yet Hari Gidwani's name never found a place in the selector's discussions.

Hari Gidwani is an alumnus of Hindu College, Delhi, who made his domestic debut in the 1972/73 season for Delhi. He served Delhi for six years and switched his allegiance to Bihar from the 1979/80 season and hung his boots after 1991/92 season. His best score was 229 which came against Karnataka in the 1989/90 season. He was on a roll in two Ranji seasons when he scored five centuries in five successive tests, not once, but twice in the 1986/87 and 1987/88 season.

The closest he came to getting the coveted India cap when he scored a 100 and 48 against the touring Sri Lankan team in 1975/76, but sadly he wasn't considered. Apart from being a dashing stroke maker, he had a mean googly. He has 29 wickets to his name. After calling it a day, he became a selector for the junior team and was a part of Delhi selection panel till October 2015.

Currently, he runs a sweet shop in Old Delhi. So if you are a fan of the man, you can drop by and get a photograph/autograph.

Subimal "Chuni" Goswami

"Man is made by his beliefs. As he believes, so he is".

- Bhagavat Gita

This week's cynosure was a legend in his own right, even before he started playing cricket. A Padamshree awardee, for whom cricket was just a hobby, yet during his tenure, his team reached two Ranji finals. He couldn't get the India cap, but he left an indelible mark on Bengal cricket. Nevertheless, he was a capped Indian player, but in a different sport.

Subimal Goswami aka Chuni Goswami was born on 15th January 1938 in Kishoreganj, West Bengal. Yes, I know, I should have posted this on his birthday. His first love was football. He was the striker for Mohun Bagan and Indian team. He scored 9 goals in 30 international appearances. He was an Olympian who took part in 1960 Summer Olympics. He also led India to a gold medal in the 1962 Asian games and runner-ups in the 1964 AFC Asian cup.

He played for Mohun Bagan all his life. He joined the club in 1946, aged 8 and played his last game in 1968. A synonym of loyalty.

His cricketing career overlapped with his football career from 1962-68. If we ignore his football record and only consider his cricket record, even then he is a Bengal legend. Bengal used to be a pushover in those days, but during his reign, they reached the Ranji finals twice- 1968-69 and 1972 (when he was the captain), losing to Mumbai on both occassions.

He was a medium pacer who could wield the willow. His best performances were when he scored 96 and 84 in the 1968-69 Ranji final, which was no match to Ajit Wadekar whose century helped Mumbai to victory, on the basis of first innings lead.

In 1966, playing for combined east and central zone, he was rampant when he took eight wickets against the touring West Indies, who were blown away by an innings.

Dilip Doshi who was his admirer and a colleague, said in an interview that Chuni Dada wasn't a gifted cricketer. He wasn't team India material, but whatever success he achieved in the domestic arena was courtesy his discipline and aggression. Milind Rege, former Mumbai captain, who was his worst nemesis, when asked about Chuni Da said that he was an action-oriented player and full of aggression, which made him vicious. Chuni Da was the fittest athlete, Rege ever saw.

Chuni Da passed away on 20th April 2020, aged 82. His cabinet was flooded with prestigious awards, including Padamshree, Arjuna award, Mohun Bagan Ratna to name a few.

P.S.- Rege foxed Chuni Da in each innings of two Ranji finals which Bengal and Mumbai played.

9th Feb 1952- Madras- फक्र है ।

पराक्रमो विजयते ।

Translation- Courageous will win.

On this day, in 1952, a dream came to fruition, which we saw in 1932. 20 long years and 24 test matches. Seems like eternity, right? But "देर आए, दुरुस्त आए". The ascension started on that particular day and we have never looked back since.

It was the fifth test match of the five test series and we were trailing 1-0. We made five changes- stalwarts like Vijay Manjrekar and CS Nayudu were dropped and Mushtaq Ali, Lala Amarnath were brought in. Donald Carr won the toss and decided to bat. India struck early, but England managed to recover from that and they were able to survive Mankad's brilliance. At stumps, they were 224 for 5. During the day's play, King George VI passed away and the next day was declared a rest day.

When play resumed, it was all about Mankad spinning a web and the English batsmen looked hapless. He ended up with 8 wickets and the English folded at 266 from 244/5. India was buoyed up by Mankad's herculean effort and it showed in Pankaj Roy's fluent stroke play. Mushtaq Ali, Hazare and Mankad chipped in with crucial 20s, before Umrigar took the reins from Roy. Roy departed after scoring an incredible 100.

Umrigar was demoted to number 7 as he was struggling before this test match. He had a point to prove and he chose the perfect moment to do it. He and Phadkar irked the English bowlers and their partnership crossed 100 within no time. Umrigar who was a sturdy young man, had a mean pull shot. It was an exhibition of sorts to see Umrigar in full swing. The partnership was 104, when Hilton castled Phadkar and the wristy Gopinath walked in. Umrigar stitched another crucial partnership with Gopinath, who scored a hard fought 35. After Gopinath's departure, Umrigar decided to take matters into his own hands. He was 130 undefeated when Hazare decided that they had enough on the board and India declared at 457/9, leading by 194 runs.

In the second innings, English could never apply themselves because they were clueless against Ghulam and Mankad who took 4 wickets each and the English were bundled out for 186, which was 8 short of the deficit and Madras erupted with joy. India had arrived on the big stage. By the end of 1952, we had won our first test series against Pakistan.

However, no rewards were announced for the lads and they had to content with their match fees of Rs 250. In the next few months, Mankad was humiliated by the BCCI informing him that his place in the team wasn't confirmed and India could produce 10 spinners like him. He scored 223 runs and took 34 wickets in the series.

CD Gopinath is the only surviving member of that team.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-india-1951-52-61800/india-vs-england-5th-test-62729/full-scorecard