The passing away of K S Indrajitsinhji from one of the most famous cricketing houses, Nawanagar, now known as Jamnagar, was so untimely and sudden
The passing away of K S Indrajitsinhji from one of the most famous cricketing houses, Nawanagar, now known as Jamnagar, was so untimely and sudden.
He was considered to be a better wicketkeeper than Farokh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan, but unfortunately their batting prowess played a vital role in 'Inder', as we called him, being left out of the Indian side on many occasions.
Inder was a student of the famous Rajkumar College, Rajkot and his basic cricket skills were developed in the hallows of the school that boasts of two of his world renowned grand uncles, K S Ranjitsinhji and K S Duleepsinhji.
The first time I saw Inder was when Saurashtra was playing Mumbai in November 1962 at Rajkot. I was a tiny tot in the school, who fell sick and was admitted to the school hospital. I had two well known cricketers as my neighbours in the next room, Mohamed Zahid, the captain of the team, and Indrajit. In those days, first-class cricketers were not given luxuries like today's players get.
Both were preparing for the match the next day and no influenza was going to keep me away from the room next door.
Inder so pleasantly asked me to help him in sandpapering his bat and once he found out about our family connection, there were oodles of affection and charm that so wonderfully emanated from him towards me.
Every run that he scored the next day made me feel like a fellow contributor. In school, we all religiously followed his progress and were proud that one of our old boys was playing for India.
My next encounter was even more satisfying. India were playing Australia in 1964 at the Cricket Club of India and as my family was staying at the Patiala Pavilion, I had the privilege of interacting with all the Indian Test players.
This was the firstu00a0 Test match that I watched and still remains one of my all-time favourites because India won by two wickets. Chandu Borde and Indrajit endured a tense partnership to take us to victory. Both were carried off the ground to the pavilion on the shoulders of the public.
What an emotional moment for all of us! Sparkling moments like these make one pursue the royal game of cricket. Inder made a very useful contribution to the Associated Cricket Company and played his part in the emergence of several Saurashtra players playing cricket in Mumbai, famous India all-rounder Karsan Ghavri being a prime example.
Inder had an astute cricketing mind and knew the history of the game rather well. We had some wonderful exchanges on the game it was always a pleasure to get his views on present-day cricket.
Unfortunately, batting performances these days play an important role in the selection of the wicketkeeper. For Inder, keeping wickets was a specialist role and modern cricket is taking its importance away with makeshift stumpers. Inder and his strong views on the game will be missed. RIP!
The author played cricket for India from 1977 to 1979. He passed away on Saturday (age 73) following a prolonged illness.
