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.”