Chal meri Luna!

Nostalgia spreads far and wide in this world of WhatsApp and social mediaA 1973 advertisement in Sportsweeek magazine announcing BS Chandrasekhar 35 wickets and Farokh Engineer 415 runs as winners of Luna mopeds for being top performers in Indiarsquos victorious 197273 home series against the MCC England toured under the name Marylebone Cricket Club till 197677 went viral last weekIt landed up in Engineerrsquos phone too while he was preparing to make a trip to Guwahati for a function organised by the Assam Cricket Association academyEngineer expressed his delight at the page from the past going viral ldquoEven Chandra sent me this alongwith thousands of othersrdquo he told meEngineer is never short of a back story to an event In this case a postevent story He said ldquoThe presentation took place at CCI Brabourne Stadium immediately after the India v England series 197273 where myself and Chandra were presented a Luna bike each as the highest runscorer and highest wickettaker in the series I had to catch a flight to UK in a few hours so I asked the first fan who came for my autograph whether he would like to have my bike as a gift from me since he told me he had specially come by train mainly to see me play There was so much happiness in his heart and on his face which made it all the more worthwhile for me to give him the bike When I was next in Mumbai he contacted me to offer me money for the same as he said the bike had got him a lot of good luck combined with a job The bike had changed his whole life for the better I naturally told him I never ever wanted any money from him and just wished him continued good luck and success It was indeed very touching to see him almost in tears as he thanked me againrdquoLike Engineer and Chandrasekhar former Test star Sandeep Patil was announced as the winner of a Luna moped for his victory in a single wicket tournament in Vapi ldquoThe organisers said they would deliver it I am still waiting for itrdquo Patil told meThe following year he was declared man of the match in a benefit game at Kolhapur The award was an Atlas cycle ldquoI cycled around the stadium and the organisers said they will send it to me in a tempo no sign of tempo or the cyclerdquo Patil revealedAlan Knott Englandrsquos first choice wicketkeeper for a good part of the 1970s claimed the manofthematch award after the touristsrsquo game against Central Zone at Jaipur in December 1976 for his whirlwind unbeaten 108 in MCCrsquos second innings Knott was given an OCM suit length after the game the honours being done by Khalid AH Ansari whose magazine Sportsweek can be credited for organising such rewards for cricketersGifts and rewards for cricketers were not restricted to postmatch ceremonies In Sunny Days Sunil Gavaskar came up with one of the most welltold anecdotes concerning the 1971 tour of the West Indies where Dilip Sardesai pranked Salim Durrani into believing that someone was going to present him with a tape recorderIt was a time when there were niceties aplenty with not too much aimed at publicity I still get great pleasure in seeing pictures of the 197273 and 197677 MCC teams as well as Glenn Turnerrsquos 197677 New Zealand team at Happy Home department store near my previous home at Worli where they were given gifts A large photograph of the 197273 English team adorned a wall at the entrance of this storeThe 1974 Indian team that travelled to England were given HMT watches following which the watch company put out an advertisement that said lsquoIndiarsquos star cricketers are proud possessors of Indiarsquos star watchrsquoAnd the Indian womenrsquos team were given shoes by Gola for their 197677 tour of New ZealandReading about awards like mopeds and cycles takes us back to a time when cricketers did not earn big bucks The cash presented as playerofthematch awards appear modest at bestEnglish spinner Derek Underwood who was declared man of the match for MCCrsquos 200run victory in the third Test at Chennai where Tony Greigrsquos 197677 team took an unassailable 30 lead in the series got R1500 BS Chandrasekhar got similarly rewarded in the next Test at Bangalore for his nine wickets in Indiarsquos 140run winFour years prior the master spinner and Eknath Solkar were given R1001 each by Punjab National Bank for their fine performances in the Delhi Test against the MCCIn the 197879 home series against the West Indies Kapil Dev was given R5000 by Punjab National Bank for his performance in the Delhi Test where he scored his maiden Test century By the 1980s cash rewards for player of the match increasedThe West Indian tourists of 198384 received several awards for their sparking performances However interestingly Michael Holding was richer by R10000 as man of the match at the Ahmedabad Test while Vivian Richards received R5000 for his century effort in the drawn Test at MumbaiWas it because Richardsrsquo ton did not eventuate in a West Indies victoryPS Richards is reported to have walked off after receiving the trophy from Mumbai Cricket Association president SK Wankhede only to be reminded by his manager Wes Hall that there was a cash award too Makarand Waingankar who reported on the incident for The Sportstar magazine wrote that Richards ldquothrew the packet to Holding That was the end of the functionrdquomiddayrsquos 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