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I witnessed another international debut from close
quarters, two years after I had made mine. The
Delhite Rajen Mehra was my colleague in the second
Test of the 1986-87 series against Sri Lanka in
Nagpur, the Orange city.
Rajen was reasonably confident on the eve of the
game. He had played first-class cricket and even
captained Delhi for a season. I assured him of my
support.
The Test was won by India, but not before some
acrimony. The Sri Lankans behaved pretty poorly,
and matters came to a head on the second afternoon
when they started wasting time quite deliberately.
Rajen and I decided to walk off the field and
confront their Manager. We came off the ground, but
the Manager could not be seen anywhere. Kapil Dev,
captain of the Indian team and Bapu Nadkarni, the
Indian Manager, promised to locate the absent
official and requested us to return to the middle.
I was impressed with Rajen's handling of the
situation.
Two seasons later, I had another debutant as my
partner; S.K. (Biltu) Ghosh of Bengal. The venue
was Bangalore, and the match, the first Test of a
series against New Zealand. Biltu was a little
nervous on the evening before the game. I called
him to my room and offered him a drink. We had a
good discussion, wherein I reminded him that he
would be doing the next day what he had done for
twelve years. So there was no need to panic. He
went on to do a fine job and was reappointed for
another Test.
An unforgettable memory is that of umpiring the
Kolkata Test of the 1992-03 series against England
with 'debutant' S. Venkataraghavan, who became the
first Indian Test cricketer to umpire a Test match.
He was as confident as he had been in his playing
days and did not need a pep-talk. His unique
distinction was recognized in the form of a silver
salver, which was presented to him on the morning
of the game.
Venkat had a long and successful stint as umpire at
the international level, during the course of which
he was a part of the ICC's Elite Panel. An Indian
who emulated him was A.V. Jayaprakash, the former
Karnataka all-rounder, whom I saw make his ODI
debut at Gwalior in the same 1992-93 series against
England. Like Venkat, I had already stood with him
in Ranji Trophy games.
S.K. Sharma, the son of former Test umpire H.P.
Sharma, was my 'debutant' colleague in a one-dayer
between South Africa and Zimbabwe that was part of
the five-nation Hero Cup in 1993-94. His debut was
unfortunately ruined by rain. The match was
abandoned after only nine overs of play, but Sharma
still made a mark. He got an opportunity to make a
decision, declaring South African opener Andrew
Hudson leg-before off Heath Streak. Not a bad start
at all!
My last international game, a one-dayer against Sri
Lanka at Rajkot in the same season, was the first
for Jose Kurushikal. He was extremely courteous and
sought my guidance. I remember discussing some
points in the playing conditions with him, the ICC
Referee Everton Weekes, and rival captains
Azharuddin and Arjuna Ranatunga.
When we were going through the other formalities
like pitch-marking, checking the new and old balls,
wicket alignment, Jose requested me to watch him as
he went about the task. He did a fine job and I
felt that he had the makings of an excellent
umpire.
He made a fine debut. Both sides were impressed by
his decisions. Once Kapil patted him on the back
when he adjudged Ranatunga caught behind off a
faint snick. Even I nodded from square leg and gave
him the 'thumbs up' sign. He was the first
international umpire from Kerala. He was a great
prospect, but I heard a few years later that he had
settled in the Middle East. All I can say is that
Indian cricket lost a good umpire. |