What ‘Marshal’ meant to Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri turns 60 tomorrow While on one side his family and friends are all set to raise their glasses to celebrate a milestone that is reached in a sterling manner he on the other wonrsquot forget to remember the people who have played a major role in his lifersquos journey Doubtless he will be thinking about Vithal lsquoMarshalrsquo Patil who was more than just his Podar College coachPatil was an early mentor to Shastri When he was dropped from the Mumbai U22 side in the late 1970s he urged him not be disheartened because the other people who mattered apart from the selectors knew how well he had batted in the selection netsShastri figured in the numerous conversations I had with Patil He could never stop emphasising how disciplined and dedicated he was as a player He once said ldquoOur college nets used to start at 7 am and end at half past nine We had to stop our activity there and then because the groundsman would want to water the wicket at that time But Ravi would always come to me and say lsquoSir some high catches please Sir some slip catches nowrsquo rdquoShishir Hattangadi who was Shastrirsquos teammate at Podar remembers visiting the late coach along with Shastri after University cricket tours ldquoHe would know the basic performances but would discuss the deeper aspects of the matches and tours who performed and who didnrsquotrdquo Hattangadi told me on WednesdayAnirudh Nansi another Podar batsman who went on to represent Maharashtra and India in water polo recalled one March 1981 day when Shastri picked him up from Podar College and drove his Fiat car to Patilrsquos residence at Dadar EastldquoRavi spoke to Sir about his maiden Test tour to New Zealand and before we left Sir told Ravi that whatever one achieves in life they should never forget their roots and the people who have helped them reach where they are Knowing Ravi all these years I can safely say that he walked the talk with this advicerdquo Nansi told mePatil was a senior selector His dedication to the game knew no boundaries If at all there was a whiff of criticism it would be about him taking more interest in players from Podar and Dadar Union Sporting Club And while that may or may not be true one can safely say he insisted on his boys keeping those performance charts glowing Nansi provides an example ldquoI was at the Podar nets after having endured a poor run of scores in the 198081 Rohinton Baria Trophy tournament in Udaipur I was preparing to represent Bombay University against Bombay Gymkhana in the Police ShieldOur side was depleted because the bigger players were at the Vizzy Trophy Sir pulled me aside and told me in no uncertain terms that I would be dropped from the Podar College team if I didnrsquot get runs in this game I knew immediately that this was not an empty threat I got 70 and helped Bombay University win Had it not been for Sirrsquos words my poor form would have continuedrdquoBack to Shastri When his Audi car rewarded to him for being Champion of Champions in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket in Australia arrived in India he drove it to Patilrsquos residence He not only showed the car to his coach but also took him for a drive a moment Patil described as ldquoso memorablerdquoA few days after Patilrsquos June 2014 death Shastri recalled how his coach would ensure his batsmen faced the best of bowlers in the nets ldquoSuddenly yoursquod see some new bowlers at the nets from Ruia College Dadar Union MB Union How he would manage that yoursquod never know but he got the best bowlers to bowl at his batsmenrdquo said ShastriTo say Patil was proud of all his Podar boys would be as obvious as saying he was a fine Kanga League bowler no one took more wickets in Mumbai cricketrsquos most celebrated league than Patilrsquos 759 That pride rubbed off on his wards Patil told me in an interview how Shastri tried calling him from the West Indies in 1989 while he was at Podarrsquos net practice and only got through on the fourth attempt to share the joy of fellow Podarite Sanjay Manjrekar scoring a hundred in the Barbados Test By the way Shastri takes great pride his very own Test centuries in the Caribbean at Antigua in 1983 and Barbados in the same Test as ManjrekarAlex Fernandes who has been a close friend of Shastrirsquos for a number of years now remembered ldquoterrific coachrdquo Patil for spelling out often why he felt his student should have been one of the youngest permanent India captains and that mere oneTest opportunity against the West Indies at Chennai in 1988 didnrsquot do justice to his captaincy and leadership skillsHowever Shastri is never known to brood He went on to scale higher heights post1988 with the bat and rocked an India head coach stint like no other And who is to say that Vithal lsquoMarshalrsquo Patil wasnrsquot part of the recipemiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper