Cricket’s heads and tales

Book release functions or events related to the promotions of new books throw up gems that embellish cricket folkloreLast week a compilation of articlesmdashtitled lsquoThe Sardar of Spinrsquomdashcelebrating the 75th birthday of Bishan Singh Bedi was launched in New Delhi From friends in attendance I hear that there was no shortage of stories revolving around Bedi to amuse the audience including the birthday boymdashwho has recently recovered from a strokeWhile I shouldnrsquot have missed the mention of it in Fortune Turners the book on the great Indian spin quartet written by Aditya Bhushan and Sachin Bajaj it was exciting to learn only the other day how former India opener and coach Anshuman Gaekwad got his nickname CharlieGaekwad who was on stage for Bedirsquos function in the Capital recalled to his audience the day he wasnrsquot in the mood to leave his room and join captain Bedi and his teammates in a Christchurch bar on the 197576 tour of New Zealand Bedi cajoled him to come and when he arrived an elderly lady serving the drinks asked Gaekwad ldquoCharlie what can I give yourdquo Bishanrsquos laugh brought the bar down in Christchurch and Gaekwad has lived to tell his birthofanickname storyTalking of bars Sanjay Manjrekar spoke about his playing days during a promotional event for Timeless Steel a book on Rahul Dravid released nearly a decade ago ldquoWhen we finished playing cricket for the day we used to all turn up at the bar and listen to Ravi Shastri talkrdquo Manjrekar said this while wanting to know from Dravid whether there was less postday cricket talk among the players than what he saw during his career Dravid said he thought so and pointed to how professional the game has become After play players need to go to the physio have ice baths etc Also there is so much more to do in terms of entertainment than to hang around in ldquosmellyrdquo dressing rooms Dravid reckonedDravid may not be dramatic and flamboyant behind the microphone but he can tell a story well which will attract a fair share of amusementmdash just like he did at the book release function of Sachin Born to Bat a book that Khalid AH Ansari put together on Sachin Tendulkar in 2012 Dravid recalled a story that Manjrekar had told him about Tendulkarrsquos passion for the game According to Dravid the West Zone didnrsquot have enough spinners for a match against South Zone at Chennai and while the senior pros Shastri and Manjrekar deliberated on whether they should summon a spinner for the turning track Tendulkar in his squeaky young voice said ldquoMein daalegardquo The CK Nayudu Banquet Hall of the Cricket Club of India cracked upTendulkar himself has been entertaining at book launches and always manages to tell his audience something that is not old hat Just like he did while talking about his 198990 debut in Pakistan during the launch of Shadows Across the Playing Field written by Shashi Tharoor and Shaharyar M Khan at the Taj in August 2009Tendulkar spoke about his first day of Test cricketmdashNovember 15 1989 mdashwhen he was so knackered that he slept through the evening on his return from the ground The following day he walked out to bat and remembered facing four bouncers in a row from Wasim Akram when each time he expected yorker length deliveries ldquoFour in a row which was the welcome I got to Test cricketrdquo Tendulkar revealedSunil Gavaskar who shares space with Tendulkar in the pantheon of batting greats decided to give his audience a taste of what happens at West Indian grounds while launching former opener Madhav Aptersquos bookmdashAs Luck Would Have Itmdashat the Wankhede Stadium in May 2015 Apte it can be recalled scored a mountain of runs on Indiarsquos 195253 tour to the CaribbeanOn the 198283 tour India had to contend with Clive Lloydrsquos fast bowling quartet for four of the five TestsmdashAndy Roberts Michael Holding Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall In one of the games said Gavaskar Marshall bowled a few deliveries which missed the bats of himself and Gaekwad This caused one of the spectators in the crowd to remark ldquoHey Maco hey Macohellipenough of foreplayhellipenough of foreplayhellipletrsquos have some penetrationrdquo Just before that lsquodeliveryrsquo from Gavaskar at the function he spoke about how a spectator yelled at Eknath Solkar just as he was about to take a catch on the 197071 tour ldquoHey Solkar hey Solkarhellipif you drop that catch you can have my sisterrdquo Solkar held on to it and was asked by his skipper Ajit Wadekar whether he had heard what the spectator told him ldquoYes I heard but I havenrsquot seen the sisterrdquo retorted SolkarTwo years ago at a book launch in Mumbai former England captain Mike Gatting related how his career was given a fillip by his skipper David Gower before the 198485 series in India Gatting hadnrsquot scored a century in 30 Tests ldquoDavid asked what number I would like to bat at I said I would be happy to bat at three Not only did David agree he also told me that I would play all the Testsrdquo Gatting went on to get his maiden Test hundred in the opening Test and although that effort went in vain his 207 in the fourth Test in Chennai ensured England couldnrsquot lose the seriesDespite the pandemic there has been a steady flow of new books and I canrsquot wait for an opportunity to attend a launch that will lead to the further enrichment of cricketrsquos reservoir of anecdotesmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper