Can a Vengsarkar-like player emerge?

Four rookies have been given a berth in Mumbairsquos Ajinkya Rahaneled Irani Cup squad Not all will make it in the playing XI against Ruturaj Gaikwadrsquos Rest of India band at Lucknow But there could be one if not two who will make the cut on TuesdayOver the years stars have emerged from this annual event between the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and the rest of the countryrsquos domestic cricket cream In Mumbairsquos case the best example of emergence through the Irani Cup is Dilip Vengsarkar He did so with a spanking hundred in the 197576 fixture against a Rest of India attack which had Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna at NagpurVengsarkar 19 carved his maiden firstclass century on the third day of the game after the first day and a part of the second wereruined by rainYajurvindra Singh who made himself famous for holding on to a recordequalling seven catches on debut in the 197677 Bangalore Test against England was part of the Rest of India team in the 197576 Irani Cup game ldquoDiliprsquos shots against Bishan and Pras were most impressive He smashed them out of the ground Yes they didnrsquot bowl all that well but it worked for him I remember Bishan continuing to flight the ball and Dilip thrivedrdquo Yajurvindra told me on WednesdayMumbai won on the first innings easily surpassing Restrsquos 210 in which Yajurvindra got a duck ldquoPaddy Padmakar Shivalkar got me caught and bowled for a duck and although I stayed unbeaten in the second innings with 46 the first innings was importantrdquoShivalkar claimed nine in the game continuing his fine performances in the fixturemdashhis eighth since 196566 The leftarm spinner ended up with 51 Irani Cup wickets in 10 games the last being in 197778 in which he went wicketlessVengsarkarrsquos 110 got him into India reckoning immediately for the 197576 twin tours to New Zealand and West Indies ldquoIn fact there was talk about him going on those tours the very evening of his century When one of the Rest of India players complained about our poor bowling Prasanna got up and assured us that he would get Dilip out within four balls the next day And he didmdashcaught at leg slip by Vishy Gundappa Vishwanathrdquo revealed YajurvindraIn the 1976 Indian Cricket annual their cricket correspondent R Mohan waxed eloquent ldquoIt was Vengsarkar coming in at number five who stole the show He stroked his way fluently to 110 in only 113 minutes and his knock was punctuated by seven sixes and 11 fours He put to sword the spin of Prasanna and Bedi handing out the sort of rough treatment that the pair had not received in many years even in international cricket This electrifying knock put in the pale the earlier efforts of Gavaskar and Ramnath Parkar and the youngsterrsquos reward was a place in the Indian side for the first lsquoTestrsquo against Sri LankardquoYajurvindra meanwhile couldnrsquot stress enough on the importance of the Irani Cup ldquoIt was a makeorbreak game for a player I know that I fared well in the 197677 Duleep Trophy but Irsquom sure that my 61 out of 173 for Rest of India against Mumbai at Delhi played a big role in my India selectionrdquo he saidIncidentally Yajurvindra was captain of Rest of India for their Irani Cup game against Bedirsquos Delhi at Jullandur in 197980 but the match was washed out The Sportstar magazine reported Bedi as saying ldquoOnly swimming can be done here not cricketrdquo when the Punjab Cricket Association secretary HR Mohla voiced an optimistic tone about the possibility of play Rain ruined the chances of promising youngsters like Saad Bin Jung Ashok Malhotra Yograj Singh and Rajendra Jadeja of exhibiting their skills on a bigger stageYajurvindra also told me how he was not even considered as a player let alone captain for the following seasonrsquos Irani Cup game contested between Sunil Gavaskarrsquos Rest of India versus Delhi at the Kotla Probably the selectors forgot they had named him captain in 197980Back to Vengsarkarrsquos arrival ton It was not a bed of roses for him He didnrsquot enjoy a good outing against the visiting Sri Lankans and it took a while for him to cement a place in the Indian team In a 1988 interview to Sportsweek magazine he put his start in perspective ldquoYou come in with a bang adept at playing on the up on the easy home wickets and form the wrong notions that everything else which follows will be equally easy It is not so at the Test level Earlier you may have played all the strokes with equal facility and you donrsquot know then of the big difference when you have to face bowlers like Richard Hadlee or Andy Robertsrdquo Well said However the Irani Cup has contributed to dreams being realised and disappointments drying up A week before his sizzling Irani Cup show Vengsarkar was despondent with a duck on his Mumbai Ranji Trophy debut against Gujarat at BulsarThat Irani knock was a gamechanger Not only did Vengsarkarrsquos great career take off it also moved a writer at the match to call him Colonel since his stroke play reminded him of Colonel CK NayuduVengsarkar has been quoted as saying ldquoI donrsquot like it one bitrdquo But hersquod probably love the fact that when he ended his career no Mumbai player had scored as many runs 779 in nine games as he had in the annual fixturemiddayrsquos 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