City cricket loses some swing!

When college cricket was big in Mumbai top teams on the intercollegiate circuit had household names coaching them Some of these coaches became synonymous with cricketkeen collegesOne of the best examples of this was Hemu Dalvi who coached Jhunjhunwala College cricketers at Sunder Cricket Club ground in Cross Maidan for 35 yearsDalvi 86 passed away on January 13 leaving behind not only his wife and daughter son Sachin passed away in 2018 relatives and friends but also a legion of cricketers whom he guidedHe helped give the Ghatkopar college a good name in the willow game just like V S lsquoMarshalrsquo Patil did for Podar CollegeDalvi had a hand in the emergence of several club and domestic cricketers including two Test menmdashBalvinder Singh Sandhu and Paras Mhambrey Both swing bowlers originally belonged to the Ramakant Achrekar cricketing stableSandhu the 1983 World Cupper undertook trips to Dalvirsquos western suburbs dwelling to check on his health the last one in December included other Jhunjhunwala players tooIn a classic case of watchandlearn Sandhu used to observe how his coach swung the ball and then take his turn to bowl at the Jhunjhunwala nets in the 1970sOh yes Dalvi was a fine swing bowler who played for Madhya Pradesh in the late 1950s under Test player Chandu Sarwate and the Railways in 197071Also Read Coping hoping and winningAt Baroda the state of his birth he was in the Ranji Trophy reserves Legend has it that he once clean bowled master technician Vijay Hazare thrice in consecutive balls during net practice at Baroda No one I know has heard this from modest Dalvi That was the measure of the man and he went about helping cricketers without trumpeting the role he played in their successWe knew each other for over three decades but he never mentioned to me that he coached Ravi Shastri at a Bandra Gymkhana camp before the former India stalwart made his mark in schools cricket Shastri revealed this on the midday Mumbai cricket podcast last yearMhambrey meanwhile told me during the podcast featuring him how he gained from Dalvirsquos support ldquoWhen I came in Jhunjhunwala set up I was not very confident of my game was trying to understand my game and you needed someone to support you to believe in yourdquo said Mhambrey indicating his gratitudeThere came a time when Dalvi had to make a choice between Mhambrey and another cricketer in the team Dalvi chose the former Mhambrey hasnrsquot forgotten ldquoThe other guy was good too but had I not got the support from Dalvi my journey would have been delayedrdquoDalvi knew what was best for his wards Raju Shirke a maidan toiler recalled how he wanted to learn the art of outswing bowling from Dalvi at the Jhunjhunwala nets in the early 1980s ldquoI was essentially an inswing bowler whom batsmen had worked out I was desperate to learn to move the ball the other way When I approached sir he said I should continue bowling inswing for the time being He feared I would lose out on both skills in the midst of the season and suggested I work on outswing in the offseason I did what sir prescribed and was better for itrdquoBoth Mhambrey and Shirke were chief architects of Sunder CCrsquos a club for which Dalvi was secretary triumph in the 1990 edition of the Kanga League lsquoArsquo divisionShirke got a Ranji Trophy callup in the 199091 season while Mhambrey made the firstclass grade in 199293 Both also benefited from the BCAMafatlal bowling scheme where Dalvi was one of the coaches before former England fast bowler Frank Tyson arrived to herald a fast bowling revolution in Mumbai cricketCoaches like Dalvi struck an emotional chord with their students His daughter Sujata told me on Wednesday that the last call her kidney failurebattling father made to anyone was exTest player and Railways man Sanjay Bangar early last week Dalvi told the former India batting coach that it would be his last call to himThe following recollections of Vilas Godbole 80 the former Mumbai firstclass batsman cause me to return to the coachcollege combinations ldquoAcross eras Mohini Amladi Madhav Mantri and PK Kamath coached Ruia College Vinoo Mankad helped Elphinstone cricketers CT Patankar served Wilson and Ruia for a couple of years as the former India wicketkeeper and Ruiaite told this columnist Podar had MS lsquoManyarsquo Naik and later VS Patil for many years Dattu Phadkar did a bit of coaching at Elphinstone while the Ruparel team were looked after by former Maharashtra player Kamal Bhandarkar and exMumbai captain Manohar HardikarrdquoGodbole himself coached Ruia College at some point in time in the 1970sAmong all these names it shouldnrsquot be forgotten that Naren Tamhane the former India stumper did a lot for the emergence of Rizvi CollegeAll these men left their mark on city cricket and their contribution shouldnrsquot be forgotten Remember a coach PK lsquoJoersquo Kamath played a leading hand in the making of one of Mumbairsquos and Indiarsquos most successful captains Ajit Wadekar And Madhav Aptersquos college coach Mankad made him an opening batsman for Mumbai and India Incredibly coach and ward opened the batting for India in the 195253 series against PakistanCricket is replete with such fascinating occurrences The sport is also blessed with tireless humble mentors Never should they be lost in a crowd of memoriesMeanwhile well bowled Hemumiddayrsquos 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