Vilas Godbole, former Mumbai first-class cricketer, revealed to mid-day on Monday that he knew the tabla maestro, the late Zakir Hussain, since he was a little boy who had wanted to pursue the game of cricket.

“Zakir lived in Mahim then. He was a wicketkeeper and was keen to take up cricket seriously, but his legendary father Alla Rakha dissuaded him from doing so as he feared Zakir would injure his hands,” said 82-year-old Godbole, who played for Bombay against the visiting Ceylon team in 1964-65 for his sole first-class cricket appearance. He was also a Bombay University player.