Ranji Trophy: Ex-Railways man Contractor says well done

Nari Contractor. Pic/Suresh KK

Former India captain Nari Contractor had good reason to be happy on hearing that the Railways came up with an unprecedented 10-wicket win over Mumbai in the Group B of the Ranji Trophy on Friday.

"I congratulate them for their win. They played very well," Mumbai-based Contractor, 85 told mid-day over the phone. Contractor, who was employed with the Railways, played two seasons for them (1958-59 & 1959-60) in a side that included stars of Indian cricket like Lala Amarnath, BB Nimbalkar and Dattu Phadkar.

Like most Railways players across eras, he played a lot of his matches for them at the Karnail Stadium in Delhi. Contractor didn't seem surprised by Mumbai's poor showing. "This is cricket. They [Mumbai] are not doing well and nothing shows that they will do well," said Contractor.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates