Umrigar: An innings to remember

By John Cheeran and Agencies
Pahlan Ratanji (Polly) Umrigar, who died on Tuesday in Mumbai, was the Sunil Gavaskar of his times. What I would like to point out here is that he had his innings, an illustriousinnings both in life and at the wicket. What more a man could ask for in India?
Umrigar scored runs when it mattered most and came up with signal contributions in some of India's greatest wins.
Oldtimers recall him as a colossus. Umrigar was the second Indian cricketer after another all-time great Vinoo Mankad to score a century and take five wickets in the Port of Spain Test against the West Indies in 1962.
He was also the first Indian batsman to score a Test double hundred, his Test best score of 223 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1955-56.
In all, he scored 3631 runs in 59 Tests, the then Indian record in times where Test matches were few and far in between, and made 12 centuries and 14 fifties, averaging just over 42 per innings.
Sachin Tendulkar described Umrigar as a perfect gentleman and said that Indian cricket was "passing through a bad phase and the death of Umrigar was part of this cup of woes". "The time is not good for Indian cricket and the passing away of Umrigar is another sad event. He was a great cricketer and even more importantly a perfect gentleman," said Tendulkar.
National selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar said: "It's too shocking for words. He was our manager and I learned a lot from him. He was a fine human being apart from being a great cricketer. His death has left a void which will be difficult to be filled."
Bishan Singh Bedi: "I would like to remember him as the most perfect gentleman the game has ever seen. He was a giant of Indian cricket and was a true servant of the game in every possible capacity. I didn't see him play but interactedwith him a lot when he was the manager during the West Indies tour (in 1970s) where I was captaining the side."
Gundappa Viswanath: "He was one of the pillars of Indian cricket, if not world cricket. He was our manager on the tour to West Indies and Australia and he was the main inspiration behind us."
Brijesh Patel: "He was on the board that started the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore in early 2000s) and he helped me a lot to take it in the right direction. He was a good administrator as well and was always there to take the best out of any player. Umrigar is immortal. He may be no more with us but the memories that he has left behind will inspire another generation."
The many intrigues and in-fightings that were part of Indian cricket in those days resulted him in captaining the country in only eight Tests when he, with his shrewd cricket sense, deserved to lead in many more matches.
A strongly built man with palms like buckets, the right-handed Umrigar was essentially a front-footed batsman who had all the strokes in the book. Making his debut against the all-powerful West Indian side led by Trevor Goddard in 1948, Umrigar created a few national records which were etched in gold till they were overcome by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar much later.
Umrigar, born on March 28, 1926, was the first Indian batsman to score over 3,000 runs in Tests and the first to cross the double figures in the number of Test tons. Nicknamed the 'Palm-tree hitter' by the West Indian crowds, Umrigar and his close friend Gulabrai Ramchand - who passed away before him - qualified for the term all rounder quite well in the 1950s.
Umrigar, who used to bowl off spin with which he grabbed 33wickets, and was a safe catcher in the slips too and pouched 35 of these in his career. The man with the booming voice toured England (1952 and 1959) and the West Indies twice (1952-53 and 1962) and Pakistan once on the country's first-ever visit in 1954-55.
Umrigar also led India in eight official Tests and was one of four captains in the bizarre happenings during the five-match series against the West Indies at home in 1958-59. He was the mainstay of a middleorder which was prone to frequent collapses against the fast bowlers in the days when there were no protective equipment to talk of barring leg and pads, batting gloves and abdomen guards.
Umrigar, who also represented India in 17 unofficial Tests between 1949 and 1956 amassing 1263 runs at just over 52 per innings, turned his attention to cricket administration and pitch preparations after hisplaying days were over.
He was part of the Mumbai Cricket Association's administration, was its secretary too, before becoming manager of Indian teams -notably to the West Indies in 1976 and Australia in 1978 where his calm demeanour and playing experience stood the team in good stead.
He later became a pitch curator, often preparing wickets for Tests and domestic first class matches at the Wankhede Stadium, national selection committee chairman before becoming the Indian cricket board's executive secretary in the mid-1980s.
For his services in various capacities to the game, he was conferred with the C K Nayudu award by the BCCI in 1998.