Interview conducted during the writing of 1971, a book by Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharyya
Q: Despite a match-winning spell in Trinidad, you did not get picked for the 1971 English tour. Did you find that strange ?
A: Strange is an understatement. It was a massive disappointment, and has stayed with me since then. I ended my career without playing in England.
Q; The explanation given was that you and Jaisimha did not get enough runs on the Caribbean tour.
A: I would think we got dropped because (Vijay) Merchant had this vision of grooming youngsters. He should have considered the reality that we were going to England, where experience mattered. As for not getting runs, yes, I disappointed myself. But I did get a hundred in the four-day game against Jamaica before the first Test.
This has happened with me so many times , that I performed and immediately got dropped. Once in a Brabourne Test match (against West Indies in December 1966), I got 55 and then they dropped me. In the 72-73 series (against England), at Chepauk, I got decent runs in both the innings (38 and 38). Yet, they dropped me from the next Test. But this exclusion (England, 1971) hit me the hardest. Even my mother and the family were shattered.
Q: Some say that your captains were never very vocal in terms of supporting you at selection meetings. That even included a certain Tiger Pataudi…
A; I know some said that after I did not find a place on the 1967 tour of England. But I won’t agree to that. Tiger was a fine man and a good captain. He wasn’t the type who would backstab.
Q: What were your initial thoughts when you landed in the West Indies with Wadekar’s team in 1971, armed with the experience of the earlier tour in 1962 ?
A: The most important difference was that the quality of their bowling had deteriorated considerably. That was one reason why they did not stand a chance of beating us. You can’t call Vanburn Holder or Grayson Shillingford fast bowlers by any stretch of imagination.
Q: Indian cricket lovers still talk about your back-to-back wickets in the Trinidad Test. Can you tell us the background ?
A: I was casually talking to Jaisimha as to how confident I was about removing them. Jai went and asked Ajit if I could be brought on after lunch. I had noticed that the wicket in the second innings had turned a bit slow. So you needed to bowl faster. There was a spot created outside the off stump which I had noticed earlier. I had decided to capitalise on that. Sobers, after getting out, just couldn’t believe it He went away muttering “Oh, Jesus!”
Q: You played against Sobers in multiple Tests. How good was he ?
A: He was incredible! I hear IPL commentary, and commentators talking about raw talent. Fresh talent. I only wish the IPL had seen Sobers!
Q: How good was Sunil Gavaskar on his maiden tour ?
A: Gavaskar was sensational. He showed supreme confidence in handling the West Indian bowlers. For a beginner to Test cricket, his reading of the pitches was top class, and game analysis simply brilliant. Personally, Polly Umrigar’s 60 (Jamaica, 1962) is the best knock I ever watched an Indian play. On that tour, West Indian wickets were very fast and Wesley Hall was in his prime. Still, Umrigar was hooking and pulling. But if I keep that one particular innings aside, Gavaskar is the greatest opening batsman I have ever seen.