A book release filled with elegance, anecdotes and untold stories

By K.R. Nayar
From MIG Cricket Club

Mumbai. With three cricketing veterans on the same dias, it was a magical Friday evening at the MIG Club in Bandra. There was elegance from former Indian captain Vengsarkar, as he was known for as a batter; there was history and knowledge from Ratnakar Shetty, a former professor who held the prestigious position of BCCI’s Chief Administrative Officer; and there was Prabhudesai, a former media relations officer and biographer.

Ratnakar Shetty, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ajinkya Naik and Devendra Prabhudesai release the book. Photos by K.R. Nayar  

It was the release of Prabhudesai’s 10th book as an author, titled Running Between the Wickets: The Story of the Indian Men's Cricket Team, at the MIG Cricket Club, Bandra, on Friday evening.  All three have been part of many historical cricketing moments—one as a cricketer and the other two as administrators.

When they speak, interesting anecdotes from the history of Indian cricket surface. As a writer, nothing can be more exciting. Having recently authored the book 318 Whispers of the Indian Test Cap, which is about little-known stories of the 318 men who wore India’s Test cap and became part of Indian Test history, this function revealed that there are many more unknown tales still floating around.

Team India captain used to be elected by AGM

Shetty, while addressing the large number of invitees known for their close connections with the game, revealed that, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has a long history of nearly 100 years. There was a time in Indian cricket when the captain of the Indian team was selected by votes in the board’s Annual General Body (AGM), which was very funny. The selection committee used to be voted in later, but the captain was elected during the AGM. That’s when I understood how influential a captain could be, since he had the backing of the AGM. The selection committee then had to work with the captain. It was much later that the selection committee became powerful.”

Ratnakar Shetty addresses the gathering.

Interestingly, Shetty had to be aware of these historical facts since he had to represent the BCCI in court before the Lodha Committee that was established in 2015 by the Supreme Court of India and headed by former Chief Justice R. M. Lodha to recommend massive, mandatory reforms to the BCCI administration following the IPL spot-fixing scandal. 

Did Mahatma Gandhi stop the Pentangular tournament?

If that revelation raised eyebrows, what followed stirred curiosity. Shetty spoke of an anecdote from Prabhudesai’s book—one that sits delicately between history and hearsay. It was an interesting story about the Ranji Trophy. “When the Ranji Trophy was started in 1934, the first few years of this event were challenging. There were fewer crowds for the Ranji Trophy than for the Pentangular (a tournament played between Hindus, Muslims, Parsees, etc.). Soon, a story was floated that somebody had influenced Mahatma Gandhi to make a statement that he was unhappy with a communal tournament and the communal colour of the Pentangular, and that’s how it was stopped and the Ranji Trophy took off. Nobody knows how far this is true, but it is one story that you can come across in this book (by Prabhudesai),“ he noted. 

Devendra Prabhudesai receives Dilip Vengsarkar for the function.

How BCCI ended Doordarshan’s monopoly and turned rich

Shetty also revealed that Indian cricket history is a never-ending story and that it was after the 1983 World Cup triumph that the common man felt that cricket was a sport to be followed closely, and Indian hockey, which was the national sport, became secondary to cricket. He also revealed that in the earlier days, Doordarshan had the sole authority to telecast India’s matches.

Dilip Vengsarkar addressess the gathering.

In 1991, when South Africa returned from a 21-year apartheid-related sporting exile to play a series in India, Ali Bacher, manager of the South African team, offered to pay for the telecast of the matches in their country. He offered to pay $40,000 per match (the Indian cricket board was actually planning to ask for only $10,000 per match)! BCCI received $120,000 for the three-match ODI series, and the rest is history. Today, the BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world. Later, for the 1993 India-England series, BCCI sold the rights to TransWorld International (TWI) for $600,000, breaking Doordarshan's monopoly. 

Vengsarkar on Samson’s batting style

Vengsarkar took the audience on a journey of his working relationships with former BCCI Presidents Sharad Pawar and Jagmohan Dalmiya, and how he has witnessed many changes in the BCCI while holding various posts. However, this function was also an opportunity to ask him about Sanju Samson, hero of India’s T20 World Cup, and his batting style.

Dilip Vengsarkar surrounded by the local media.

He revealed that Samson’s orthodox strokes are worth observing closely and that youngsters should follow them. “I tell players in my academy about his orthodox shots. They are not like a reverse sweep or the kinds of shots normally played in this format. He scores runs off orthodox shots, and when you play those flamboyant shots, the margin for error is very limited. So, one should learn from Samson to be as consistent as possible. He has always been a good player—there’s no question about it.”

Ajinkya Naik addresses the gathering. 

Mumbai Cricket Association’s President Ajinkya Naik also graced the function.

Prabhudesai’s books

Prabhudesai now holds the prestigious post of Curator of the Sharad Pawar Mumbai Cricket Museum. His first book was An Umpire Remembers – The Autobiography of Piloo Reporter. One of his books ‘A Biography of Rahul Dravid: The Nice Guy Who Finished First’, which was so successful that it required a second edition. 

Devendra Prabhudesai presents the book on Rahul Dravid to the legend nearly six years ago

Some of his other books are  SMG: A Biography of Sunil Gavaskar, two books on Sachin Tendulkar, one titled Think and Succeed Like Sachin Tendulkar and the other being his biography, On Board – My Innings in BCCI by Prof. Shetty, The Trail of Cricket’s Holy Grail: The World Cup from 1975 to 2019, and Cricket World Cup: Cherish and Relish.

Devendra Prabhudesai's books displayed at the function.

And with this latest book, the innings continues—rich, layered, and far from over. Prabhudesai announced that his next book would be on the legendary Eknath Solkar.