Vinay Nayudu
Mumbai
Some of India’s finest cricketing legends came together on Friday evening to celebrate the launch of the book of one of India’s gutsiest cricketers of the 70s, Aunshuman Gaekwad at the famed C.K. Nayudu Hall at the Cricket Club of India here.
The bespectacled Gaekwad, son of former India cricketer Dattajirao Gaekwad, gloriously stood tall against the West Indian pace bowlers – first at home in 1974 and later on India’s tour of the Caribbean in 1976 excelling as an opener.
Later post his playing days, Aunshuman Gaekwad was also a respected figure in his roles as coach, selector, Cricket Advisory Committee member, and even played the role of a matchmaker for one of India’s pace bowler.
The book aptly titled “Guts Amidst Bloodbath” – a biography, written by Aditya Bhushan and edited by Sachin Bajaj, chronicles Gaekwad’s arrival to Test cricket on a ‘blood-soaked’ pitch and his battle against the mighty West Indians and the eventual success. It also deals with Gaekwad’s life off the field and inside tales - of his 55-year-long cricketing journey as a player and as an administrator.
Gaekwad had become a household name in the 70s, and later till the 90s, for the sheer courage and determination he displayed in taking on the opposition and in particular the much-feared West Indies in those days.
As a tribute to Gaekwad’s legacy, as many as six former India captains – Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Gundappa Viswanath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar besides Roger Binny, President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Karsan Ghavri, Bharat Reddy, Yajurvindra Singh, Zaheer Khan, Nayan Mongia and Abey Kuruvilla were in attendance to mark the celebrated occasion, moderated by sports writerand columnist Ayaz Memon.
With each former star going down memory lane, delightful tales regaled the packed venue.
Leading the path was batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, opening partner in 29 of Gaekwad’s 40 Test matches and who has also written the foreword of his book. “The reason why we’re still very good friends is because we never ran each other out,” said Gavaskar, leading to a raucous laughter.
He added: “’Aunshu’ has given Indian cricket everything as a player, coach, administrator, selector… you name it, and he has done everything. He is liked by all – not only players of his time but also by players after his time is a tribute to how well-liked he is.”
Viswanath, who was Gaekwad’s first batting partner when the latter walked out to bat at the Eden Gardens replacing an injured team captain Tiger Pataudi against the West Indies in 1974, recalled how Pataudi left the pitch bleeding and how Gaekwad arrived with blood on the pitch. “My first job was to cover the spots of blood by scratching the soil. In his next innings of 80 at Chennai, Aunshu helped us level the series,” said Viswanath highlighting how Gaekwad possessed nerves of steel.
Vengsarkar threw light on how Gaekwad was nicknamed ‘Charlie’. “During the tour of New Zealand (also 1976), we were at a restaurant and a waitress asked him, ‘What can I serve you Charlie?’ I asked why Charlie, and she said because he is wearing spectacles!”
Tendulkar, who later played under coach Gaekwad, paid glorious tributes to the man from Baroda now Vadodara (in India’s western state of Gujarat). “He was always there to guide us at all times and he was a man with integrity to the core,” said Tendulkar.
He also went to narrate an incident from New Zealand when Gaekwad, bored eating bland food, asked for something spicy. “We requested the chef to get the spiciest sauce they had. While I could barely take a quarter of a spoon and went to the moon and came back, our coach had finished two bowls of it. That made me realize he could deal with fiery food as well as fiery bowling spells,” Tendulkar joked, inviting laughter.
Former India all-rounder and coach, Ravi Shastri, also a member of the 1976 India team to West Indies, recounted the days he took Gaekwad for late evening outings and how he came with a spate of fifties fighting against all odds at the crease.
On the same tour, at Jamaica, Gaekwad was hit on his ear by a ferocious Michael Holding bouncer only to land in the hospital. Till date, Gaekwad has had problems with hearing in that one ear.
Speaking of his journey, the 70-year-old Gaekwad said, “I began as an off-spin bowler in 1967 and after initial years my father advised me to quit the game. But it was in 1969 that I got picked as a middle-order batsmen. So from being a non-cricketer to a bowler to a batsman who then played for India in 1974, shows anything is possible in life.
“I did whatever job came my way and without the attraction of money,” he stressed at the same time turning emotional on a fulfilling life-long cricketing journey.
Interestingly, Gaekwad also helped the family of former India bowler Zaheer Khan’s wife Sagorika when it came to match making by texting Zaheer to ask if he was indeed serious about it. Gaekwad later also assured the family of the prospective bride. Both Zaheer and Sagorika are happily married till date.
Gaekwad played a total of 40 Test matches and 15 One-Day Internationals. He also scored a superb 201 against Pakistan in Jalandhar in the 1982-83 series. The epitome of his success, however, remains his rocky defiance when fast bowlers dominated world cricket. Indian cricket’s first nicknamed ‘The Wall’.
