Utility Man

All-rounders have perhaps the most demanding jobs in contemporary cricket. Unlike batsmen or bowlers, who have only to play their assigned roles, cricketers like Kapil Dev or Richard Hadlee etch a spectacular array of parts on the field. Meet Chandu Sarwate, one of the great all-rounders of years past. Truly a Player for all Seasons.

Despite being located in the heart of the bustling city of Indore, C T Sarwate’s house is surrounded by tranquillity. Echoing the mood of its inhabitants. The ace all-rounder – in whose name stands the record last wicket stand of 249 runs with Shute Bannerjee – sits on the verandah, basking in the warmth of the winter sun, as he takes fresh guard to begin an eventful trip down memory lane. Having been an active participant in the game for long and having witnessed all its ups and downs, Sarwate draws immeasurable pleasure from delving into its past.

Born in Jabalpur, in 1920, Chandrashekhar (he is popularly called Chandu) Sarwate was drawn to cricket while still at school. With the passage of time, the interest became an obsession, and, later, a way of life.

Chandu was only 16 when he made his Ranji debut for C P & Berar as a leg-spinner. `In my maiden performance, I took five wickets giving away 33 runs, against Hyderabad’ he recalls, But his association with C P & Berar did not last long because the province did not participate in the Ranji trophy for the next couple of years. So the young law graduate moved to Pune, to play for the national champions, Maharashtra. In 1940-41, playing for the state against Madras in his maiden Ranji final that year, Sarwate was instrumental in Maharashtra – led by professor Deodhar- retaining the trophy. His bowling figures were 11-2-26-3 and 32-2-9-83-6.

A job in the docks in Bombay, saw Sarwate representing the metropolis. He was with them till a little time before a terrible fire that swept the dock area broke out. The sense of relief at his narrow escape has not faded even now, 40 years later. `Maharajah Yeshwant Rao Holkar wanted me to play for the Holkar team. So he sent Col C K Nayudu to invite me to Indore, and I went. A few days later, the fire broke out. The person who replaced me in my job was killed in that fire.’

In Indore, under Col Nayudu’s expert guidance , Sarwate blossomed into one of the finest all-rounders of contemporary cricket. Making his debut for the Holkars against Bihar in 1944-45, Sarwate hit a quick 72 and followed it up with match winning figures of 9 for 72. In the semi-final match versus Madras, at Madras, Sarwate bundled out the opponents single-handed, with a match haul of 13 for 149. He also chipped in with the bat, scoring 74 valuable runs. The Holkars won by 10 wickets.

`When I started playing, I did not pay much attention to my batting,’ reminisces Sarwate. `But after coming to Indore, I improved my batting so that I was opening the innings and later went in to bat at no 4. Even with the ball, I developed a quick, well-disguised off-break along with the stock leg-spin which proved fatal to many.’

Domestic cricket was dominated by the Holkars. From 1944-45 to 1954-55, the Holkars featured in the final of the Ranji trophy four out of five times, clinching the trophy on all four occasions.

In a match against Mysore in 1945-46, the Holkars posted a mammoth total of 912 for 8 declared. Sarwate’s contribution was 101. Mysore was bowled out for 190 in the first innings, with Sarwate claiming nine wickets for 61 runs. In a semi-final match against Delhi in 1949-50, the Holkars were struggling at 3 of 29 when Sarwate walked in to bat. Blasting 27 fours he amassed 235 runs carrying the total to 615. Sarwate and R P Singh notched up 236 for the eighth wicket, which is still a first-class record in India.

A magnificent double century by Sarwate overshadowed all other performances in a match against Bengal in 1950-51. Executing scintillating strokes, Sarwate scored 246 in 345 minutes and hit as many as 33 fours.

The 1950-51 Ranji final against Gujrat bore Sarwate’s stamp of supremacy. He scored a sparkling 234 runs – his second double century of the season – consisting of 29 fours in 350 minutes. The second highest scorer was Bhaya with 49 runs.

In fact, Sarwate could well be called the Vinoo Mankad of domestic cricket, owing to the obvious similarities in style, stature, and the star status both men attained. His aggregate in Ranji trophy matches reads like this: 123 innings; 4849 runs; highest 246; three double centuries; 12 centuries; 500 or more runs in a season – twice; 281 wickets at 27.42 apiece; hattrick – once; 70 or more overs in an inning – thrice; 10 or more wickets in a match – five times.

There was one drawback, though. Unlike Mankad,. Sarwate made little mark in international cricket. `The second world war robbed me of what could have been six years at the pinnacle of international cricket.’ he says. In all, he has played a mere nine Tests – against England, Australia and the West Indies. Nevertheless, there were two memorable performances. `In 1946, playing against the champion county side Surrey, at the Oval, we were down in the dumps at 160 for 9, when Shute Bannerjee joined me at the crease. We put up a match- winning stand of 249 runs for the last wicket, which is still a record, both in England and in India for the last wicket.’

Strangely, a year later, Sarwate featured in an opening stand of 124 runs with Vinod Mankad, at Melbourne, in the Test against Miller, Lindwall & Co. This one, however, was bettered 33 years later by Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan, again at Melbourne.

Sarwate’s most exciting moments in cricket were experienced in Australia. `Seeing Bradman in action was like a dream come true. He was a perfect batsman. Bradman was matchless in his footwork. He had a quick eye and would place his shots excellently. He never hit the ball straight to the fielder. I think he is definitely the greatest batsman cricket has ever seen.’ ,’ he sighs. Of the Indian equivalent he says, `Gavaskar is the greatest opening bastman I have ever seen. His greatness lay in the fact that he played for a side which often did not have even a genuine medium-pace bowler, whereas he had to face and perform against the quickest and most lethal pace attacks in the world. In the post-merger era of the princely state teams, Chandu Sarwate played for Madhya Bharat and then Madhya Pradesh which he led till his retirement in 1967. Thereby earning the unique distinction of playing for six teams in the Ranji trophy. Commenting on the players of his time, Sarwate says: `While Nayudu was always attacking, Merchant had a very defensive approach. Deodhar was somewhere in between the two. As a captain, Nayudu could really boost the morale of players even in the dying moments of the game, to make a match out of any situation.’

Sarwate’s association with cricket did not end with his retirement. `I could express myself well and had knowledge of the game. So I appeared for an audition as a cricket commentator,’ he says.
Since then he has been involved with the game in various capacities – commentator, selector, writer, administrator, adjudicator. He is also a professional graphologist.

The present-day metamorphosis of cricket does perturb the master all-rounder but he says confidently, `The show shall, and must, go on.’

HIS DREAM TEAM
Sunil Gavaskar (captain)
Vijay Merchant
Dilip Vengsarkar
Gundappa Viswanath
Vijay Hazare
Vinoo Mankad
Kapil Dev
Farokh Engineer (wicketkeeper)
Amar Singh
Mohammed Nissar
Bhagwat Chandrashekhar.

Merchant and Gavaskar, make the most competent opening pair, Both of them have the ability to face fierce pace attacks and can build a long innings.

Viswanath, Vengsarkar and Hazare can tackle any bowling attack in the world with confidence. Mankad and Kapil, both tremendous all-rounders, can add quick, useful runs. The fact that a batsman like Engineer is placed at no 8 speaks of the batting depth in the side.

Amar singh and Nissar are the nippiest pace-bowlers India has ever produced. Both are very quick and also quite accurate. Along with Kapil, they would make one of the best opening attacks in the world.
Vinoo’s left-arm spin and Chandra’s sharp googlies and top spinners could extract life out of even a dead track. On a turning wicket, they can be virtually unplayable. In fact, on a turning wicket, one more spinner, either Bedi, Prasanna or Gupte could replace a middle-order bastman to add venom to the spin.

Gavaskar is a astute player. He can lead the side well. Indeed this team could be an invincible XI.