Pritchard won silver in the 200 metres and 200 metres hurdles (since discontinued) at the 1900 Paris Olympics, apart from competing in 100 m., 110 m. hurdles and 60 m. (also since discontinued) and was one of the world’s leading track athletes of his time. He later become a star of the stage in England? and the silent screen in Hollywood (taking on the name Norman Trevor) where he died in 1929.

Now after nearly four decades of research, wi??th invaluable help from UK-based genealogy researcher Natalie Cook and cricket historian and collector Martin Chandler this writer has managed to track down Pritch?ard’s descendants in England—and there is a strong connect to both Kolkata and cricket.

Gilbert Norman Pritchard Cann is the grand nephew of Norman Pritchard and lives in Middlesex. His name recalls that of his illustrious relative. Gilbert’s father Trevor Pritchard? Cann was the son of one of Norman’s two sisters, Selena Francis and was born in (then) Calcutta in 1902. Trevor’s first wife died in 1937 and he remarried Jessie Majorie Shirt (born in then-Bombay) in Calcutta in 1943. Trevor, who both studied and taught at St. Xavier’s, Calcutta moved with his family to England in 1961 ?and died in 1964.

In a vid?eo interview with this writer, Gilbert (born in Calcutta on 10 January 1945) fondly recounted his schooldays in North Point, Darjeeling an??d then St. Xavier’s where his famous grand uncle Norman Pritchard also studied in the 1890s.

Gilbert, now a retired government official was amazed when told this writer had traced his brief moment of glory for East Zone in the Cooch-Behar Trophy national schoo??ls tournament in the 1959-60 season.

East were narrowly beaten by 17 runs in the final by South in th?e final at Poona (now Pune), “a match we really should have won�recalled Gilber??t with a tinge of regret even after nearly 60 years.

But it was in the semifinal, also at Poona in January 1960 that Gilbert saw his side to victory against West by just two wi?ckets in the very last minute of play.

West, who had a vital first innings lead of 12 runs resorted to time wasting tactics with East—captained by Pankaj Roy’s younger brother Nimal and including nephew Ambar–chasing 224 runs in 230 minutes for victory on the final day.

“Do you remember the game gulli danda?�Gilbert asked as he vividly recalled those tense moments. “The West bowlers kept bowling down the leg side and I took my stance wide of the stumps in order to counter their negative tactics.�/p>

The erstwhile Indian Cricket Field Annual 1959-60 edition, edited by the late Dic??ky Rutnagur has a detai??led match report.

“This dramatic success which ended West Zone’s seven-year monopoly over the championship was made possible by a 15-year-old Calcutta-born Australian Gilbert Cann, who scored a mercurial 51 not out. His side required 84 runs for victory when Cann entered at number six and he put the versatile West Zone attack to the sword in no uncertain manner. Cann was chaired back to the pavilion by his jubilant team-mates, and the spectators, forgetting partisan interests cheered every stroke by the little Australian as he steered his side to a sensational victory. For a long time after the match ended, the entire Deccan Gymkhana vicinity echoed with cheers for young Cann.�/p>

In the final Gilbert had less success, scoring 11 and 15 as East set 156 for victory collapsed to South’s bowling—including future Test all-rounder Abid Ali—for just 138.

But what is the Australian connection? Gilbert has an amusing story about this. One of his closest friends in the team was Mario Donnetti, Madras-bo??rn with Italian parents. “I was too shy to speak to the media after the match so Mario who was a prankster spoke on my behalf and pulled a fast one by telling them I was an Australian. Australia was a top team at the time and they were famous for their fieldin??g. Since I was known for my fielding, Mario (who also lives in England) fooled the media with that line� said Gilbert chuckling.

Gilbert also played his part in the 1960-61 season where East were beat??en in the semifinals by West Zone.? The versatile Gilbert kept wickets in one match and also captured a wicket in another game.

Former Bengal and East Zone captain Raju Mukherjee remembers his school friend ‘Gilly�(as he was nicknamed): “He was an exceptional athlete and very good fielder in the deep. Maybe something to do with his genes. Apart from being a very good athlete, he was primarily a pace bowler, a hard-hitting batsman and a brilliant fielder in the deep. My elder brother Deb [also an accomplished first-class cricketer] was his team-mate in the Cooch-Behar Trophy.�/p>

It was Raju Mukherjee in fact who in 2002 stumbled upon the stage and screen name—Norman Trevor—when he came across a write-up of Norman Pritchard’s most famous Hollywood movie Beau Geste (1926) in the school alumni magazine. He was listed in the magazine as having studied at St. Xavier’s in 189?1. Till then his s?creen name had been a mystery to researchers.

Like his illustrious ancestor—who also excelled at rugby and football—Gilbert too was an all-round sportsman. He won a bagful of gold medals in both track and field events in his final year in school in Calcutta in 1960 when he was cap?tain of the football, hockey and cricket team. He was also the youngest to play first division hockey for Calcutta Police as well as cricket and hockey for Dalhousie Institute which he remembers fondly.

Though he has never been?? back to India, he hopes to do so in the near future with one of his daughters who is settled in Australia. Born in Elgin Nursing Home, Gilbert lived with his family at Belvedere House at No??. 6 Chowringhee Lane and recalled the various tram routes in the city. My chat with him he says brought back very fond memories of Calcutta and he is greatly looking forward to his visit.

Gilbert also has a request which he asked me to pass on to the sports loving peopl??e of Kolkata??. He has for many years in vain been trying to get a copy of his birth certificate which he lost. Can anyone help please?

(A version of this article was earlier published at bbc.co.uk and also in The Statesman, Kolkata)

As most avid cricket fans are aware, cricket was played at the Olympics?? just once and that was in Paris of all places, in the second Olympics of ??1900.

‘Great Britain�beat ‘France�in the only match for first and second place,? the former consisting of English club cricketers from the Devon and Somerset Wanderers club which was touring France at the time. For the record, ‘Great Britain�won by 157 runs after ‘France�were skittled out for a measly 26 in their second innings (the match ??was played 12-a-side).

The British team had been founded by William Donne of Castle Cary six years earlier and was centred round the Castle Cary Cricket Club which provided five players as well as former pupils of Blundell’s School in Devon. The club in 2011 celebrated its 175^th anniversary with a reenactment of the famous match. The French club was known as the Union des Societes Francaises de Sports Athletiques team. It was made up of players from the Standard Athletic and Union Club?s though other reports indicate it consisted mainly of British expats from the Embassy in Paris and included just one Frenchman.

Initially teams fr??om France, Belgium, Holland and Great Britain were to participate but the organization of the Paris Games was chaotic and finally it was left to just these two teams.

But now Wales-based International Society of?? Olympic Historians (ISOH) member Hilary Evans has discovered cricket was slated to be played at the third Olympics at St. Louis, USA in 1904 as well

The dates released in the preliminary programme were September 12-13 and 14-15. So why was it cancelled, never to? ?return again to the Olympics fold?

Evans has unearthed a report from the St. Louis Republic daily dated 18 July 1904 which states: “The Olympic cricket championships will be held the second week September…and will form an important part of the month’s programme. Entries have already been received from the Associated Cricket Club of Philadelphia [the bastion of cricket in America at the time] and many other prominent cricket clubs throughout the Eastern States and it is expected that a prominent Canadian cricket club will take part in the championship. England, the home of cricket, will probably send two or more teams to compete for the championship banner.�/p>

It is a fact that after the successful staging of the first games of the modern era at Athens, Greece (where ancient Olympics originated) in 1896, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, wanted Athens to be the permanent venue for all future Games. That of course did not happen and the 1900 and 1904 Olympics at Paris and St. Louis, which were staged in conjunction with the ‘World’s Fair�were so cha??otic that the entire modern Olympics movement was imperiled virtually at its birth.

There were very?? few National Olympic?? Committees (NOCs) till the 1920s and before that many entries were from clubs and individuals.

A report then appeared in the New York Tribune dated 30 August 1904 that cricket had been cancelled. �em>Good wicket couldn’t be got ready in time, it is announced�was the headline for the report that stated: “Although every effort has been made to get a ground in readiness, it was found impossible to prepare a wicket suitable for matches to decide the championship of the United States (sic), and rather than play these on a poor ground, it was decided to abandon the whole project.�/p>

The teams that were to be entered from England are not known but according to Evans, it is doubtful if these would have been county sides since the Olym?pics were strictly for amateurs, and so were probably amateur sides like I Zingari ??club side and others of its ilk.

One notable name was to represent Philadelphia. As reported in the famous journal Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game (1 Sept. 1904), wh??ich was published from 1882 to 1914, John Barton ‘Bart�King was part of the team. A fast bowler famed for his late in-swinging deliveries, he is considered even today the greatest cricketer to come from a non-Test playing nation, being also an exceptional batsmen.

King had great success while ?touring England three times with the ‘Philadelphia Gentle??men�side (1897, 1903, 1908) and on his first tour he bowled the legendary KS Ranjitsinhji (‘Ranji� for a first-ball duck while playing against Sussex.

The ICC is still hopeful that cricket cou??ld be included in the 2028 Olympics, venue yet to be decided. But t??here are formidable challenges ahead.

Gulu Ezekiel is an independent sports journalist and author based in New Delhi and has written over a dozen sports books.

As per the Laws of the game, the follow-on target is then brought down to 150 runs. And last week’s Test match between Pakistan and Ireland was one of the very rare occasions this has happened since the first occasi??on in 1971.

Pakistan after declaring on 310 for 9, dismi??ssed hosts Ireland for 130 on the third day at Malahide, Ireland’s maiden Test match which they eventually lost by five wickets on Tuesday.

With a lead of 180 Ireland were asked to bat again by Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed as the first day’s play had been washed out on Friday, reducing this effectively to a four-?day Test. In a standard five-day Test the target is a minimum of 200 runs.

The first time?? this happened was at Kingston, Jamaica in the first Test between India and West Indies (Feb. 18-23, 1971) when the opening day’s play was washed out.

It was Indian skipper Ajit Wadekar’s first Test as captain and the first time I??ndia had forced their form??idable opponents to follow on.

Thanks to 212 by Dilip Sardesai—the first double century by an Indian batsman on foreign soil—India totaled 387 in their first innings. They then dismissed the home side for 217 with off spinner EAS Prasanna claimin?g 4 for 65 including the prized wicket of skipper Garry Sobers for 44.

Following?? on 170 runs behind, Windies saved the Test with veteran Rohan Kanhai remaining ??not out on 158 as they ended the Test on 385 for five.

The circumstances surrounding the follow on were certainly dramatic as narrated by Wadekar in his 1973 autobiography My Cricketing Years. “There was a stunned silence in the West Indies dressing room when I asked them to follow on.�For the mighty Caribbeans it was utter ?humiliation as India were then considered one of international cricket’s lightweights.

It transpired that Sobers was unaware of the rules regarding the follow-on when there is no play on the first day and initially challenged Wadekar’s decision. It was only after consulting the two umpires that he realized the Indian captain was right after all and had no choice but to comply.  The trauma of following on left a deep scar on the psyche of Sobers and his?? team and there were even calls for his sacking after the Kingston Test.

Wadekar was aware of this effect, as narrated in his book, and had overruled his teammates ?who felt it was better to utilize the time lef??t in the Test for batting practice.

This played a large part in India winning the second Test at Port of Spain, Trinidad, the first time they had beaten West Indies and that too on their own soil. India hung onto the 1-0 lead, drawing the next three Test matches to record their maiden series victory against Windies and only the second abroad si??nce beating New Zealand 3-1 in 1967-68 under the captaincy of Tiger Pataudi.

That ??same year India also beat England for the first time in England, claiming the series 1-0 after sensationally winning the third and final Test at the Oval. But Kingston and that follow-on decision was what set the ball rollin??g for the year that changed the history of Indian cricket.

Between Kingston 1971 (Test match number 680) and Malahide 2018 (Test match number 2303) there has? been one other instance when the first day’s play was washed out and the follow-on target was reduced and that was at Lord’s in 2001 when England led Pakistan by 188 runs in the first ??Test. England scoring 391 led Pakistan by 188 runs, forced them to follow on and won by an innings and 9 runs.

Later that same year at Hamilton there was another case where New Zealand led Bangladesh by 160 runs, enforced the follow?? on and won by an innings and 52 runs. This Test was peculiar and unique however in that the first two day’s play was washed o?ut without a ball being bowled, reducing the match to three days where the follow on rules are the same as a four-day match.

      

–An earlier version of this piece stated the Malahide Test follow-on was only the second since 1971. It has been updated and corrected.

It was a throwaway line in a recent review of another Dhoni bio—mine was the first, many more have since followed—by Martin that gave me the impetus to bring out an update of this book (thanks Martin!) that has sold over 40,000 copies in English alone?? (there have been other editions in ??numerous Indian languages and mobile downloads as well).

My review of the Sachin Tendulkar biopic (Sachin: A Billion Dreams) was published in the August edition of The Cricketer. But in that movie/biopic/documentary it’s ??only his early years that are depicted by actors. ??The rest of it is actual stock footage which we have all seen countless times.

I always find it charming to see actors playing real-life sportspersons and can’t wait to the catch the Borg–McEnroe movie just released. The Channel Nine TV docudrama on WSC (Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War) is delightful for that reason alone—where do you find a 6ft 6in blonde guy with a South African accent to play To??ny Greig, for crying out loud?!

The casting is excellent here especially?? a teenaged Yuvraj Singh, complete with chubby cheeks, curly hair and swaggering attitude, played expertly by Herri Tangri—it was eye-popping to see an actor who looked like the young Yuvraj’s doppelganger.

With the clever use of CGI, the SFX people have juxtaposed actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s f??ace (he is outstanding)?? onto actual footage of Dhoni in action to excellent effect

I must admit to getting e??motional watching the small-town struggle of a talented youngster and how he rises to the top through dint of sheer talent and determination despite a system that is not always supportive. Being a small-town boy myself (excluding three years in London) and having paid particular attention to that part of Dhoni’s life, I felt a real connect as if I was part ??of the story.

I spent a year in the small industrial town of Ranchi where Dhoni was born. It was 1973, I was 14-years-old and my elder brother and I were involved for the first time in organized matches with our club which I named K5â€?em>Krazy Kool Katz Kricket Klub (I was the wicket-keeper; bro the captain)–hey, it was the psychedelic 70s and I was already a fan of David Bowie, OK?!

I have vivid memories of that one year and many places where the movie was shot in Ranchi –the cricket grounds, schools, markets, roads, and the office blocks where our Dad worked, all looked uncannily familiar to me and had me awash in nostalgia.

The ‘untold�part of the movie is the depiction of Dhoni’s first romance with a young lady, Priyanka Jha—this was something that skipped my?? attention when I was researching and writing and indeed startled his fans and the media.

Priyanka was killed in a car accident in De?lhi in 2002 before Dhoni made it to the national team. But with the kind of artistic license usually associated with sporting biopics, she is shown as having died in 2004 after he had made the big time. Apparently the tragedy nearly derailed the MS Dhoni story before it really began and full credit to him for allowing it to be depicted so vividly—the movie after all has been produced by his manager and his agency.

A few delightful vignettes must get a mention here—Mahi’s father played beautifully by famed actor Anupam Kher who is bald in real life—he starts off with hair (a wig of course) and as he ages, reverts to his natural bald look; his school coach Bannerjee’s wife’s haggling in the fish market and her repeated queries of �em>chai khaabo?�/em> (Bengali for “do you want to drink tea?� for all occasions, both high and low! And Dhoni’s first meeting with ??future wife Sakshi when she is a trainee receptionist at a Kolkata hotel and does not recognize him (though going by some reviews, this is also “artistic license�in action).

If I had to give it a st?ar rating, I would go with 8 out of 10.

—Gulu’s biography of Dhoni, Captain Cool: The MS Dhoni Story (Westland–4^th updated edition) with a foreword by Farokh Engineer is due for release later this year

 

 

BS Chandrasekar
The modest match winner

Chandra, the smiling assassin
Deadly with ball in hand
Off the field, none gentler than this gentle man.
Googly, wrong un, top-spinner.
India’s greatest all-time match winner.
Polio withered his wiry right hand
Like a whiplash would make the ball land.
Charging in with brutal intent
Now with age, all passion spent.
At Brabourne, Oval, Port-of-Spain, MCG
Chandra in his pomp for all to see.
It was in the summer of 1971
That he had the Poms hopping and on the run.
‘Chandra, Chandra, Chandra�the Oval crowd chanted
A famous victory his legendary bowling granted.
Even the mighty Viv turned to ‘keeper Kiri in horror
‘Quicker than Thommo is your master bowler.�br /> Childhood trauma, setbacks, accidents he suffered
But Chandra, you braveheart you kept smiling, never demurred!
Lover of Mukesh’s melodious tunes
??When will we see the like of the magnificent Chandra again?

GR Viswanath
The Pocket Dynamo

Vishy, the wristy maestro, Little Big Man
Indian cricket’s most beloved across this vast land
It all started at Green Park in the winter of �9
In the first innings came a zero but in the second you become our hero
Twenty-five boundaries peppered that glorious 137 and you never looked back
To the bowlers throughout your career you took the attack
That square cut hit like a whiplash
In a jiffy to the fence the ball would crash
The late cut, delicate as a summer breeze
Hit with such precision, the fielders would suddenly freeze
Green Park, Eden, Chepauk, Christchurch, Port of Spain, MCG�br /> Another like you the cricket world will never see.
When captain in the 1980 Bombay Golden Jubilee Test
You showed India at its glorious best
England’s Bob Taylor you did recall
Even though it meant that India would fall
Two glorious innings against the rampaging Andy Roberts you did play
Never again will we see such as this we did say.
With wrists of hardened steel and a heart of solid gold
the nation’s imagination for over a decade did you hold
Modesty thy middle name
But success did not go to your head, nor fame
Vishy, you bloody beauty

EAS Prasanna
The Canny Offie

Pras, the portly sweaty hangman,
Tossing the ball up as if on an invisible rope.
Just as the batsman would step up to drive,
Seemingly came a gentle tug…the poor guy really had no hope!
Was it sorcery, illusionism or just something out of the blue?
The batsman, the fielders, the ‘keeper, none of us really knew.
No doosra, no teesra, just the master of flight and spin,
With those tricks in your bag, how many Tests you helped India win.
The Kiwis and the Kangaroos you foxed and had them on the hop
As that tantalizing floater would suddenly dip and drop
Batsmen with twinkling footwork like Chappell you loved to bowl to
The best offie they ever played of you they said so
Elder statesman of the legendary quartet of spin
Memories of watching ??the master at work will never dim.

MAK Pataudi
The Prince of Indian Cricket

Tiger, Tiger burning bright
Our beloved skipper who never gave up the fight
Pataudi, Pat, Mansur, Nawab or Tiger they called you
But really, what’s in a name?
The prince of tiny Pataudi, the king of a mighty game
Records and runs flowed from your bat when young
Then came the accident that shocked and stung
Months later you were back with just one good eye
A century in your third Test much to our delight
Another accident this time, to Contractor
and suddenly you found yourself elevated to skipper
Pride, passion and lover for the nation
Your commitment to the cause brought Indian cricket great ovation
That gallant 148 at Leeds guided the rocking ship steadily
No wonder they dubbed you the Nawab of Headingley!
Then months later it was at the MCG
two mighty innings despite a leg injury
Proud son of a proud father, who stood up to Jardine
India’s finest captain by a country mile!
Your death left a huge void in our hearts
But from our memory you will never depart

This is a family photograph – GE knows not why Tiger has such a troubled look about him!

Bishan, silent killer with the ball
Chucking quietly as one by one they fall.

Gentle executioner, they called you
A spin wizard, thru and thru.

Weaver of dreams, here you stand
A poet with red cherry in hand.

Not white or pink for you, only red
That beautiful arc, leaving batsmen stranded with fe????et of lead.

Flights of fancy, luring them to their doom
Like a spider to a fly, cramped for room.

Like a vision in white, you appear in a dream
No finer sight on a cricket field h??as ever been s?een.

Lion of Punjab, you call a spade a shovel!
No fear in your heart
Now the seventh decade of your life you start.

Yes, Bish you turn 70 today
But for billions of cri??cket lovers around the world, you remain immortal

With thanks to? Mark Ray for permission? to use his photograph

Within four years he had returned to India as captain of England, but that reign was short?-lived. And his Indian connection continued with the IPL for which he has been a vocal advocate, representing three different franchises since its launch in 2008?.

Back in 2004, England A had two Test players (Ed Smith and Simon Jones) in their ranks and a few others apart from Pie?tersen who would shortly make their international debuts including wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

The tour was a disaster for the tourists but Pietersen, on the cusp of international cricket, was the one shining exception. While the tourists lost seven out of their eight?? matches, including both their Duleep Trophy matches and a 3-0 whitewash in the one-day games at the hands of India A, Pietersen left a lasting impr?ession with four century knocks marked by striking strokeplay.

Controversy has never been far from Pietersen and even ten years back he was being shielded from the press by the English team management as he was on the verge of leaving English county Nottinghamshire after a stormy season. So infuriated were his teammates by his attitude back then that Notts captain Jason Gallian at one stage flung Pietersen’s kit bag out of the dressing room window!

The South African-born batsman joined Hamps?hire the next year but here too he ruffled feathers before moving on to Surrey in 2010. As a teenager he had abandoned South African cricket, claiming he was being denied chances by the racial quota system in place there and joined Notts in 2000.

England A were beaten in their opening Duleep Trophy match at Gurgaon by South Zone who sensationally chased a record 503 to win with six wickets in hand. Pietersen’s centuries in both innings went in vain but he left a lasting impression and immediately drew comparisons with another South African-born English cricketer from the past, Tony Greig. Both were blonde, tall, possessed exaggeratedly high backlifts and were aggressive on and off the field.

He also scored 94 in another losing cause against East Zone at Amritsar in the next match which saw England A dumped from the tournament. Both teams did the tourist route – the Attari/Wagah border, the Golden Temple and the Jallianwalla Bagh memorial.

It was in the Amritsar hotel that I witnessed an amusing incident when Pietersen excitedly approached a hotel guard with a ‘durban’ lapel on his coat. Born in Durban (South Africa), Kevin was obviously missing his home town and accosted the befuddled guard, asking him: “Durban, Durban, are you from Durban? I’m from Durban!” I had to pull him away and explain that durban in Hindi means guard.

Less than 12 months later he would make a sensational return to South Africa where – despite the hostility of the crowds towards him – he smashed three centuries for his adopted country in the seven-match ODI series. But just as with the late Tony Greig, Pietersen’s South African roots were always held against him and led to numerous conflicts.

What lies ahead for England’s highest run scorer combined in all three formats remains the subject of conjecture. But surely controversy will never be far behind.

By Gulu Ezekiel

Shane Warne, a Clarke confidant, called it a “disgrace” –
not the abu?se, but the fine. And he is not only Australian cricke??ter to hold such views.

Serial sledger and legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee in his 2003 autobiography Menace wrote that abusing an opponent is not against?? the spirit of the game. Instead, he chose to condemn leaving the stump mike on and broadcasting the sledges.

Former England all-rounder Vic Marks writing in The Guardian compared sledging on the cricket field to speeding – everyone does it but only those that get caught are fined. That was Clarke’s fate.

That brings me to an incident involving Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, dubbed a “serial cheat” by Australian umpire Darrell Hair.

It was during the fiery India-Pakistan clash at Centurion, South Africa during the 2003 World Cup that Afridi was caught using Urdu/Hindi gaalis (abuses) on air directed at umpires David Shepherd of England and South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen. Both of them were of course blissfully unaware that they were the target of Afridi’s foul mouth, and so was Match Referee Mike Procter of South Africa.

Afridi must have thought he had gotten away scot-free. And he would have if not for a cricket fan in New Delhi, Ka??pil Ram??pal reporting the matter to the ICC.

Rampal (then 27), who runs a PR agency mailed the ICC two days after the match. Has ICC taken note of the volley of abuse which originated from Pakistani cricketers? It was loud enough for everyone to hear. The Indians were abused and even the umpires were not spared, though they could not understand what was being said. Afridi, after his appeal for a catch [against Mohammed Kaif] was turned down screamed loud enough to be heard in millions of homes ‘teri maa ki.. (“your mother’s”). I’m sure that deserves some attention. You can view the TV replays to view what I write.

He got his reply the next day from the ICC. ICC does not condone foul language on the field of play. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

A couple of days later Rampal was informed that the Pakistan C?ricket Board had acted on his complaint, forwarded by the ICC, and Afridi received a ban from the three-nation Sharjah tournament which was to start a month later, and was also fined half his match fee for the Centurion match.

Kapil, a friend of mine, gave me the exclusive. It was carried on the front pa????ge of The Statesman daily in their New Delhi and Kolkata editions of 14 March 2003.

Tailpiece: The 2007-08 tour of Australia was almost scrapped by the BCCI after off spinner Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling coloured Australian batsman Andrew Symonds a monkey in the Sydney Test match. After initially receiving a ban, he was let off as the stump mikes were not on. Ironically, Harbhajan claimed he had uttered the same Hindi/Urdu gaali and the Aussie players who overheard him and lodged a protest had mistaken it for “monkey” –
And the Match Refer??ee at Sydney? None? other than Mike Procter! History certainly repeats itself.

Eventually, the book took up around 125,000 words at a time when Tendulkar had 12 years of international cricket behind him. Two updates followed in 2010 and 2012, the second to m?ark his 100th international century.

Controversies? Just a tinge. It was a big letdown back in 2000 when Tendulkar did not take a more proactive role against the scourge of match-fixing that broke out that year with the revelation of the H?ansie Cronje tapes. A couple of years later came the business of import duty on his prized Ferrari gift. And that was about all.

Not for Tendulkar the shenanigans of two of his most famous contemporaries and friends, Aussie Shane Warne and We??st Indian Brian Lara who for all their dazzling cricket achievements, made as many headlines in the gossip section as the sports pages. Matrimony and fatherhood came early to SRT. The responsibility of a young family and his solid middle class values meant that despite the deluge of riches, fame and adulation, the boy from Bandra was always firmly focused on cricket.

His story is well known by now and the stuff of legends (and maybe the subject of a movie somewhere down the line). The child prodigy, son of a Marathi professor and poet, guided by his elder brother Ajit, coached by the legendary Ramakant Achrekar who never changed his natural style, breaker of records while still a teenager. And nearly a quarter of a century later holder of all the major batting records both in Test cricket and ODIs, something that will never even be approached as international cricket is rapid?ly being sidelined by the mushrooming of 20/20 leagues across the world.

And yet, the lingering feeling is that he jumped before he was pushed. The last two years had been bleak, the runs had dried up. The shoehorning of the series against the West Indies at home by the BCCI in order to allow him to play his 200th Test match at home – assuming he avoids another of his numerous injuries – gave the first hint. Was this a stage managed swansong, a not-too-subtle hint that at 40 and with no more worlds to conquer, it was time to bow out?

The perfect farewell should have been at his beloved Wankhede Stadium on April 2, 2011 as his long c?herished dream of being part of a World Cup winning India was finally fulfilled.

The cr??icket world was at his feet, the nation in ecstasy as MS Dhoni followed in the footst??eps of Kapil Dev 28 years earlier. The long wait was finally over and what a glorious occasion it would have been for Tendulkar to announce the end of his international career that heady night.

But it was not to be. For at the end of the final against Sri Lanka, the great man was stuck on 99 international centuries. And what followed in England, Australia, India and finally Bangladesh was an agonizing wait for that elusive ton?? that was to place him in a club of one ? another feat that will never be matched.

It had been 33 innings and over a year without a century in Tests or ODIs until the landmark was finally achieved in painful fashion at Mirpur in the Asia Cup on March 16 last year. The unfortunate fact that India lost the match to Bangladesh was almost a sidenote as Tendulkar’s sigh of relief on reaching three figures was echoed by millions of his fans.

West Indies bowlers should provide easy meat for Tendulkar next month, a stage-mannered farewell hardly befitting his saintly stature. Almost three years and 22 Test matches without a century – his leanest trot – just goes to show that not even the greatest can fight Father Time.

Though his last couple of years have been bleak, it would be harsh to judge such a glorious career by such a narrow yardstick. For Tendulkar was the one great unifier who brought the nation together like no other figure post Independence. No film star – certainly no political leader – has quite had that ability. He was left untainted even by the petty parochialism stoked by the Indian Premier League. Wherever in India the Mumbai Indians played, the crowds wanted to see Tendulkar succeed.

His arrival on the international scene in 1989 was a freak of timing. For within a year cable television had come to India. And in 1991, the then Finance Minister Dr. Manhoman Singh opened up Indi?a?s markets to the world.

These three seemingly disparate moments in time came together to elevate Indian cricket to where it stands today, the cash-rich beast that seeks to devour ev??erything before it. Who would have imagined 25 years ago?

A massive number of Indian cricket fans have no idea of what cricket is without Tendulkar since 60 per cent of the population is un?der? the age of 30.

What lif??e will be for them without Tendulkar is hard to imagine. What Indian cricket will be without him is even harder to envisage. But what life will be for Tendulkar without cricket is the most perplexing question of all. The nation wishes him well.

This article was first published in dna daily.

They were spotted by a handful of Australian journalists who were working late into the night for their newspapers back home and the revelations have cast something of a shadow – “dampener” would perhaps be more apt – over England’s remarkable triumph. There are calls for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to take some sort of action against the alleged culprits. Now here is the clincher – Pietersen in the September issue of the UK monthly The Cricketer has stated in an interview that he would never urinate in public!

It was during the open bus parade of the English team through London’s Trafalgar Square following their breakthrough “Ashes” victory at home in 2005 that Pietersen stopped the bus to take a toilet break in a coffee shop.

“A lot of people think I’m just this muppet who walks around doing silly things,” Pietersen told The Cricketer. “Put it this way, I’m not that silly. I’ll know I can enjoy myself, have a laugh, but I’m not that silly. Freddie (Andrew) Flintoff would have pissed on the bus. I decided to stop it and do something normal.” Eight years later Pietersen presumably considers it normal to urinate on a cricket pitch!

He was right about one thing though: Flintoff, one of England’s stars of that series, was reported to have urinated in the backyard of No 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister (then Tony Blair) who was hosting a reception for the victorious team the day after the series ended at the Oval with the home side taking the Ashes 2-1.