The challenge of cricket

Former India cricket captain Nari Contractor, now 73, has been selected for the Col C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bestows annually on former Indian players. The Award consists of a trophy, a citation and a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs (revised from the earlier five lakh).

BCCI president Sharad Pawar, former Board president In­derjit Singh Bindra, secretary Niranjan Shah, former captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and veteran Hindi journalist Prabhash Joshi comprised the selecting committee. "He was a great captain and a great role model,” Pataudi said. "I played under him for the first time when we beat Ted Dexter’s side 2-0 in 1961-62. I learnt a lot from him.”

Nari Contractor: Lifetime Achievement awardee

Contractor was chosen India’s Test captain against Pakistan in 1960-61, at 26 the youngest player to be appointed to that post, states Cricinfo (a part of ESPN), in a web report dated September 27, 2007, when the Award was announced. Contractor played 31 Tests for India and his Test career was brought to a premature end when he was struck a near fatal blow on the head by a ball — nasty, brutish and short — from West Indies speedster Charlie Griffith in a match against Barbados in the West Indies in 1962. A stunned eyewitness at the other end was all-rounder Rusi Surti. Contractor was taken off the field, bleeding profusely and slipped into a coma, remaining unconscious for several days. After many critical surgeries and with a metal plate in his skull, Contractor recovered and returned to first class cricket with determination and courage two years later.

"I was not gifted but I was committed,” Contractor told Nagraj Gollapudi, assistant editor, Wisden Asia Cricket, in an interview in 2005 when he was involved in coaching. "The greatest pleasure I’ve got after my playing days is from coaching…It keeps me fit, it keeps me alert. I like exchanging views with the boys.” For several years, Contractor was the director of the Cricket Club of India’s Cricket Academy. "I was coaching up to last year,” Contractor told Parsiana. The gutsy cricketer was also Talent Resources Development Officer for West Zone for the National Cricket Academy.

Cricket’s level playing field was different in money mathematics during Contractor’s career. "We never played cricket to receive anything. We were shelling out money to play cricket. We used to get Rs 250 as remuneration and I remember when we won the series against MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in 1961-62 in Madras (Contractor’s last game in India), we got Rs 300 as remuneration for winning the series!” Contractor told Cricinfo. "When I opened for India against New Zealand (which was his debut in Test cricket in 1955), I had never opened in the past, but I took it up as a challenge. I always enjoyed the challenge in cricket and that’s why I came back to the game after being injured.”

Contractor clutches his head after being hit by a Griffith ball and (inset) in his playing days

Contractor’s 92 against the West Indies at Delhi in ’58-59 had focused attention on his batting. He rates highly his 81 at Lords on the ’59 tour because he continued to bat despite suffering two broken ribs after being hit by fast bowler Brian Statham when he had not even opened his account!

Born in Godhra in Gujarat on March 7, 1934, Contractor started his first class career by playing for Gujarat against Baroda in the 1952-53 season. A left hand bat, he scored a century in each innings, equaling the record held by another left hand batsman Arthur Morris. His first class career continued up to 1970-71, with 22 hundreds, 8,611 runs and an average of 39.86. Though he was keen to play Test cricket too after his injury, the selectors never handed him the India cap again, probably fearing for his safety. His Test average stands at 31.58, with one century in a total of 1,611 runs, as per the statistics provided by Cricinfo.

"The urge to play cricket started in school for me — at Boys’ Town, Nasik. We used to carry the matting to the ground, lay it, and after play roll it back and then go home. We did it for the love of the game. Can you ask today’s kids to do that?” Contractor queried. Presently there is no Parsi player he knows of who is a likely candidate even for first class cricket, he tells us matter-of-factly.

Known to be straightforward and forthright, Contractor told Gollapudi: "I’ve always spoken what I felt. I don’t care tuppence about whether it is accepted or not. I believe in today and tomorrow, not yesterday.”