MUMBAI: In the passing away of Raj Singh Dungarpur, the game of cricket has lost one of its greatest lovers. In fact, it would be apt to use the expression "Aashiq" because this beautiful game was everything to him. It was his very lifeblood.
Being blessed with a royal lineage and his own munificent investment to fall back on, Rajbhai, as he was fondly called, plunged himself headlong into being a cricket addict right from his student days. Not surprisingly therefore, he held every conceivable position in the game's administration, from the chairman of the national selection committee, manager of the Indian teams on tours abroad to the presidentship of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
If Raj Singh had pushed his ambitions further, he certainly would have vied for a place in the Indian team as a fast bowler in the sixties. Tall and well-built, he captured many wickets for Rajasthan and Central Zone in the National Championships. But, as he said "I played just for the love of it and did not pursue any great ambition" he did not even go for the selection trials when called upon to do so.
Looking back, one thinks, he made the right decision because that was the time when pace bowlers were picked and dropped instantly. No one knew the future of pace bowling in India better than did Raj Singh, who in later years, as the BCCI chief, started a national cricket academy with a very special section for pace bowlers. The fruits of this venture are already there to be seen presently in the Indian team.
Rajbhai was also instrumental in bringing in the concept of a foreign coach for the Indian team, starting with Bobby Simpson, John Wright, Greg Chappell and now Gary Kirsten. This move greatly helped raise India's standing in international cricket.
Generous to a fault, Raj Singh was a wonderful host and many of the world's cricket luminaries enjoyed his hospitality at the Cricket Club of India, a premier institution for the game and facilities that were better than a five-star hotel. He himself frequently visited every cricket centre in the world. He was particularly very popular in Pakistan. That is because it was he who helped renew cricket relations between the two countries after almost two decades of hiatus.
A tremendous connoisseur of talent, he gave Sachin Tendulkar his first break at the tender age of 16 while picking the team for Pakistan tour in 1989. He was also instrumental in appointing Mohammed Azharuddin the Indian captain, confounding many senior cricketers and critics of the game. The Hyderabad cricketer enjoyed the longest and one of the most successful tenures as captain.
A gentleman to the core, Rajbhai resigned as the BCCI president when factionalism and intrigue began to rear its ugly head in the organization. He did not want to be any part of it. He was greatly disillusioned and disturbed and then a long illness overtook him. As far cricket is concerned, Raj Singh Dungarpur was a world citizen and was fittingly mourned by every cricketing nation.
