A cricket enthusiast's friendship with legendary cricketers and his nostalgic meetings with them in England
By K.R. Nayar
Dubai-based cricket enthusiast Shyam Bhatia makes it a point to meet the great cricketing heroes of yesteryears during the various cricket series' he attends around the world. Over the years he has developed a friendship with them and enjoys going down memory lane with them during his meetings. Most of them have presented Bhatia with an autographed copy of their book whenever they have written one.
Shyam Bhatia with Graham Gooch (left) and Allan Lamb at the Lord's
Very few cricket fans can imagine spending time with
legendary cricketers and enjoying friendly conversations with them for hours.
UAE’s cricket enthusiast Shyam Bhatia has been fortunate enough to do that
often. He has developed close friendships with some of the greats of the game,
and hence can often be found seated alongside these legends in almost every
cricket-playing country when he goes there to watch a series.
During the ICC World Cups, I have very often met him with
some of the finest players and enjoyed their chit-chats during the breaks. In
the ongoing England-India Test series, Shyam was seen seated alongside Graham
Gooch, Allan Lamb, Andrew Strauss, and Michael Holding. On another day, he was
in an informal gathering with Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, and Clive Lloyd. In
fact, while at the Lord’s ground, a television footage of him with Lloyd went
viral on social media supposedly due to Shyam’s resemblance to Bollywood star
Amitabh Bachchan (Big B)! Fans titled the footage as “Lloyd at Lord’s
with lookalike Big B.”
Television footage of Clive Lloyd with Shyam Bhatia
Shyam's meetings with legends have often made me recall some
special stories about them. Gooch made 8900 Test runs and 4290 runs from One
Day Internationals. Many may recall his 115 against India in the 1987 Reliance
World Cup when he scored most of his runs through the sweep shorts. While
reporting this match from Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, I remember writing that
'Gooch literally swept India out of the World Cup'. Shyam, who makes it a point
not to miss any World Cup match, had watched this knock by Gooch from the
pavilion. It is amazing that Gooch still holds the record for being
the highest run-scorer for England in the World Cup with 897 runs from 21
innings. He is now closely chased by Joe Root with 758 runs from 17 innings.
Alan Lamb has scored 4656 Test runs and 4010 runs in One Day
Internationals. But not many know that he
holds the record for the second-highest runs scored in the final over of an ODI
match to ensure a win. Needing 18 runs to win against Australia at the
Sydney Cricket Ground in 1987, Lamb was batting on 59 runs from 97 balls
without having hit a single boundary when Bruce Reid came on to bowl. Lamb hit
2,4,6,2 and 4 to win the match with one ball to spare. In the next match, fans
made fun of Reid and created a banner that read: “Can Bruce Reid please call
Allan Lamb on 24624?".
Michael Holding presents his book to Shyam Bhatia
West Indies speedster Michael Holding, who was once the
chief guest for Shyam Bhatia’s annual awards in Dubai, presented Shyam with his
latest book “Why we kneel, How we Rise.” Holding autographed the
book with the remark: “To Shyam, a great friend, and supporter over the years.”
This book will be the latest addition to Shyam Bhatia’s museum that has many
books written by greats and autographed by them while presenting to Shyam. This
includes legendary England captain Andrew Strauss’s autobiography ‘Driving
Ambition’. Shyam had also met Strauss at the Lord’s during this
visit.
Shyam Bhatia with Andrew Strauss
In another informal gathering during the Lord's Test, Shyam had also met up
with Pakistan legends Asif Iqbal and Zaheer Abbas. Shyam’s relationship with
Asif dates back to the days when Asif was with the Cricketers Benefit Fund
Series in Sharjah, while Zaheer Abbas has been the chief guest for one of
Bhatia’s annual cricket awards in the UAE. Though Asif was one of the finest
batsmen, fans may recall that he holds the record for the third-highest
ninth-wicket partnership of 190 runs with Intikhab Alam against England at the
Oval in 1967. Iqbal hit 146 runs with Alam, who scored just 51 runs!
An informal meet with Asif Iqbal and Zaheer Abbas
Shyam has watched Zaheer Abbas, who was known as the Asian
Bradman, when he was in tremendous form. Zaheer still holds the record for the
second-fastest to reach 2000 runs in One Day internationals from 45 matches,
second to Hashim Amla who achieved it in 41 innings. It is all these close
connections that led Shyam to bring out his book 'Portraits of the Game'
where top cricketers speak about their great moments in the game.
Speaking to krbuzz.blogspot.com Shyam
said: “One of my big assets is the friendship I have with some of the legends
of the game. I have valued these relationships and whenever they have written a
book they have gifted it to my museum. When I sit with them, I often recall
witnessing some of their great performances and their heroic deeds. It is
always nostalgic living back those moments.”
Is there any other Cricket Enthusiast like this Big Bhatiasaab, Amazing! the stuff legends are made of.
ReplyDeleteZabardast Shyam Bhai ! Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteGreat.well done.keep it up
ReplyDelete