wow - how little we hear of the Michael Ferreiras of India...
That team of 1971 taught India not to bow to the gora
Michael Ferreira
And apart from the cricket, 1971 had the War. I really don't remember how long it went on for since I was away in Malta for the world championships. On returning, I remember there was a bomb scare in Bombay and my son was very frightened.
The abiding image from the war was the severe curfew. We were not allowed to put the lights on, had to cover windows with brown paper with only a little space left on top for the light. We were even not allowed to drive with the lights on.
Once I had to drive the short distance from the Bombay Gymkhana to my place and I just could not figure out where the hell I was. That was 1971 - the curfew and the cricket.
And a lot of the cricket then, had to do with my good friend Dilip Sardesai.
We had mutual respect for each other as top sportsmen. He often understood and sympathised with my point of view that while I loved cricket, I deplored the mania for it in the country, which came at the cost of other sport.
Poor man, he is gone now and I miss chatting with him which we'd do a lot at the club. He had certain views and ideas about things and he stood by that. It was somewhat symbolic of the way he stood up to the West Indian firepower and delivered the goods.
I remember 1971 well. I was already notching up world records in my chosen sport, billiards. I was already a world championship runner-up then. And after working at my office with Tatas all day, I'd practice each day till 2 and 3 into the mornings. That was the perfect time too to catch up on the happenings in the West Indies over the radio.
The developments in the West Indies, took us all by surprise. If memory serves me right, Dilip scored a double century - (212, was it?) - in the first Test and then followed it up with another in the second. He did with such resolute batting, showing no fear. Brilliant stuff! It was a feeling of immense pride.
What changed with this team one which earlier only played to save matches was winning back to back series on difficult tours abroad? A lot in my mind has to do with the leader of the pack, Ajit Wadekar, who must have showed the way. Also, if Dilip represented the old guard, the emergence of younger talent, especially Sunil Gavaskar, brought about a change in the mentality.
In the earlier days of Fred Truman of England, we Indians, I guess, suffered from a gora complex. Instinctively, we'd bow down to the gora. Nineteen seventy one, changed all that. I remember once speaking to Ravi Shastri and he told me how in his time, they weren't afraid to give the white cricketer a mouthful, asking him to f*** off to the dressing room once they got his wicket.
Now Ravi came from over a decade from Dilip's, and much later, Sourav Ganguly did his bit in asserting the Indian identity and putting the white cricketer in his place, but I guess it all began off from 1971. And, from Sardesai, purely by the words of his deeds much like a Kapil Dev in 1983.
The proud, independent Indian was born then.
In my time, 1971 was a much easier time. We were making do with the inadequacies of life and we got along fine. The pressures were far less, and globalisation wasn't yet upon us. It was a time when Test cricket was appreciated and One-days were unheard of. India still had a handful of sportsmen who could hold their own on the world stage.
That had a lot to do with the big firms and companies choosing to support sports. There were companies like Mafatlals, the Ruias etc. I remember, my father was not too happy that I didn't choose to join his law firm and instead opted for Tatas since I felt they supported sport back in those days.
Now that does not happen anymore. Apart from football, Tatas don't do things on such a large scale anymore. May be it's a sign of changed times, but it is not to say they were not good employers. I, like a lot of sportsmen from the 70s, owe our latter-day comfort to these companies. We could pursue our chosen sport in peace because of them.
The former billiards world champion spoke to Siddharth Saxena
AuthorTopic: That team of 1971 taught India not to bow to the gora - M Ferreira (Read 311 times)
