Is this cricket?” This is a question that arises in the minds of many in view of the shocking happenings in the game concerning match fixing and such. But when one reads “The Making of a Legend: Lala Amarnath — Life & Times” by Rajender Amarnath, Lala’s youngest son, one wonders, “Was this cricket?”
Connections, unhealthy rivalry, jockeying, politicking, blind allegiance, “buying out” rival captains and players, figure in the pages of an era, nearly seven decades ago, which in the minds of many was the “golden age” of cricket. We learn how the Maharaja of Vizianagar, known as Vizzy, with no experience in first-class cricket used his resources and connections, to lead the Indian team on its 1936 tour of England.
That was not all. Groupism in the team was encouraged and rewarded, no one trusted anyone. “It was a house divided, with each player looking for an opportunity to pull the other down,” the author says. He goes on to elaborate that trust in one other had evaporated to such an extent that they did not believe in taking singles for the fear of being run out. Once in a county match, a senior player of the opposite camp called Vijay Merchant for an easy single but the latter refused, which led the former to yell loudly: “Don’t worry, Vijay, I won’t get you run out.”
The atmosphere reeked of distrust so much that players exchanged few words in the dressing room for fear of being misquoted. And this is exactly what happened following Lala’s mumbling aloud in Punjabi to the effect that he had played enough cricket in the last four years and was no fool and that he knew what was happening.
This is the journalist son’s first book, and one can sense the seeds of more to come. Like Lala’s cricket, there is hardly a dull page. Let me hasten to add that the book is not all about the England tour. It is written about at length because it represents what ailed — and what still ails — Indian cricket. The chapter on the history of Indian cricket, though short, is comprehensive, saying what needs to be said. One can discern a son’s respect for his father, but it is difficult to fault him with partiality. There are incidents which would make any Indian, or for that matter, any cricket lover, proud, and wish the game were played in that spirit. When Lala became the first Indian to score a century on debut or otherwise in the opening Test match against England in Bombay in December 1933, C.K. Nayudu walked down the pitch to congratulate him. The ball was still in play and it landed in the wicket keeper’s gloves, who looked at his captain for his approval to run Nayudu out, but the English captain signaled disapproval.
After the Test, the young daughter of a famous Bombay jeweler entered Lala’s room with a bag full of diamond jewelry and asked him to elope with her. Lala tactfully refused. Lala was drawn to the game as a child when he saw some Englishmen playing cricket in Kapurthala and demanded a bat. With none available in the small town, his mother had one made by a local carpenter. It cost one paisa.
Those interested in Lala’s career statistics, will not be disappointed even though these only go up to 1960. All in all, a second reading would be as interesting.
