Here are two of Polly Umrigar's finest Test knocks in his career

I had a fairly long cricket career and it is really difficult to pick out a couple of innings out of the many I have played in Test and firstclass cricket 1944 to 1967The first of these was against Fazal Mahamoodrsquos Pakistan team which toured India in 196061 The scene was the fourth Test match at Madras Pakistan batted first on a wicket which was underprepared due to unseasonal rains Although this would not have affected the side batting first the side that took second knock had to face a spinning attack on a wornout wicket India had a tough task ahead if Pakistan batted for more than a day As it happened Pakistan batted for two full days and declared their first innings closed at 448 runs for eight When our turn came to bat we lost four wickets for only 164 runsCritical situationChandu Borde and myself were the only recognised batsmen left and a lot depended on us to avoid the followon first and then to come as close to their first innings as possible One mistake from either of us and the spinners would have run through the tailenders like a knife through butter We started cautiously watching each and every delivery from their spinners and not taking any undue risks Gradually as the day wore on I felt confident and began making attacking strokes As I got into this mood all bowling came alike to me and I 117 kept the scoreboard moving quickly Chandu 177 not out patiently gave a stand which not only saved us from the followon but made the position safeTrinidad 1962The scene now changes to the sunny Caribbean islands We had lost the first three Test matches In the fourth Test MAK Pataudi lost the toss at Trinidad and we were on the field for almost a day and a half during which time West Indies had scored 4449 declared Very soon we were 30 for five Pataudi and myself took the score to 61 before the end of the dayrsquos play Next we were bundled out for 197 runs and Frank WorrelI promptly asked us to bat again Though we lost our first wicket at 19 Salim Durrani 104 and Vijay Mehra 62 made a stand and took the score to 163 when the second wicket fellGood supportAgain wickets began to fall and we were 236 for six wickets It looked as if I would be left without any partners but stouthearted Bapu Nadkarni 23 stayed with me at the wicket and we put up a partnership of 93 runs before Nadkarni was run out Then Budhi Kunderan 4 lent admirable support to me to enable me to take the total from 371 to a respectable figure of 422 I remained not out with 172 runs to my credit The Press reporters decided this innings as the most fluent seen on the Queenrsquos Park Oval ground Trinidad in a Test match for many years and certainly the best by an Indian in the West IndiesReproduced from Cricket Quarterly magazinersquos AprilJune 1978 issueRemembering Polly born 1926The word Mr Cricket was first used for Mike Hussey If there was one other person for whom it fit perfectly it was lsquoPollyrsquo Umrigar Not only was he one of the great all round cricketers the game has seen but after his playing days were over he became a selector a coach a team manager administrator and also to use a management term a Turf Executive His life was totally centered around cricket and he was happiest with cricketers of all ages just talking cricket Truly Mr Cricket Mr Palanji Ratansi UmrigarSunil Gavaskarrsquos tribute to Polly Umrigar on FridayPolly was a gentleman cricketer and liked by everyone who came in contact with him He was dedicated to the game If only had he been captain of India for a longer time That extended time would have helped the team greatly He was a great asset to any team and had good relations with not only his teammates but players from the opposition too Going by the number of capacities he served in you could say he was a true servant of Indian cricket I always miss the way he used to greet me ndash ldquoHi Chand how are yourdquoChandu Bordersquos tribute to Polly Umrigar on FridayUmrigar was certainly the most effective player of his time He changed his somewhat crouched stance in 1953 to a more upright one and in the process lost some of his offside strokes which are the glory of cricket But then he developed a sounder defence and his onside play improved day by dayThe late Rusi Modi in Some Indian CricketersPolly Umrigar with M MantriPolly always wanted to know more about cricket Not many of the current generation would know this but Umrigar hosted a popular television serial on coaching and reported on matches for a newspaperThe late Madhav MantriPolly was always solid ndash solid man and cricketer He was very helpful when I became captain by default in the West Indies in 196162The late MAK Pataudi who took over as captain from the injured Nari Contractor on that tourSpecial Polly Umrigar frame at MCA museumThe Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum at Wankhede Stadium was visited by the man himself mdash the expresident of the Mumbai Cricket Association on Friday Present chief Ajinkya Naik was present too The MCA to mark the birth centenary of Polly Umrigar has created a special Polly Umrigar frame right which is placed prominently at the entrance of the museum lounge Next week is going to be the Polly Umrigar Week at the Wankhede Stadium museum where visitors from Tuesday to Sunday will be enlightened about Umrigarrsquos deeds by the museumrsquos curator Devendra Prabhudesai