Sport Today

Hi Indian-Domestic cricket lovers,

Being in Hyderabad, I thought of interviewing the legends of Hyderabad
Cricket whenever I get the time and so do they. The first interview
was that of Mr M.R.Baig, a former Services Player and a BCCI Coach who
has moulded the careers of several successful South Zone Cricketers.
The interview is featured at

www.cricketfundas.com ( www.cricketfundas.com/baiginterview.html).

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Extract:

Please tell us more about Rajinder Goel. We keep reading that he is
one of the best players who never played for India. We feel that it
was because spin talent in Indian cricket during those days was
extremely abundant. Are we right?

Baig: See..Rajinder Goel has more than 500 Ranji Trophy wickets!
(Cricketfundas.com reminds him that Goel has 750 First class wickets).
There was so much to learn from him. We used to plan dismissals very
carefully while bowling in those days. In my opinion, the spinners in
my era were much more competitive and very much better than today's
spinners. I never regretted the fact that I never made it big, because
the standards of spinning in that era were very high. During my time,
we had Venkataraghavan and Prasanna playing in the Indian team as
off-spinners and they were superb.

Another point I would like to make is that most of the cricket
followers call Shane Warne as the best spin bowler in the world. I
don't quite agree with the hype and their opinions. In my opinion,
Subas Gupte, who was the best spinner in my time, is also the best leg
spinner ever. I have nothing against Warne, but Gupte was a greater
spin bowler. He didn't get his due recognition, which is why he
migrated to the West Indies. He was the person who took 9 wickets
against a very good side of West Indies. Other great spinners who
inspired or played with me were Ghulam Ahmad, Chandu Borde and Salim
Durrani (who played for Rajasthan).
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Regards,
Srini {Yesterday I interviewed Arshad Ayub. Shall post the link after
the contents are compiled thoroughly}

A controversy involving a lady receptionist at Imperial hotel in Delhi
didnt help Gupte either!  he was suspended along with Kripal singh and
were out of the Westindies tour..

CiL
+++ Raju Bharatan ++++++
Subhash Gupte is to spin what Lata Mangeshkar is to song.
+++++

Great stuff, Srini. I'll look forward to the stuff on Arshad Ayub keenly. Are
there plans to interview Azhar, VVSL, Pataudi, Abbas Ali Baig (if still resident
in Hyderabad), Abid Ali, etc? If so, please let us know if you're looking for
questions - I'm sure we all have plenty.

Aditya

Aditya,

I am posting from google so my reply wouldn't be directly across to
your post..

As of now, I have 2 college kids helping me out getting some numbers
and trying to fix appointments. I caught up with Ayub in his coaching
camp and he was very affable inspite of knowing that I wasn't from the
media. It did help that I had a recorder and a laptop with me making
myself look more professional:-).

I am interviewing Mithali Raj, the Indian women cricket sensation
tomorrow in her camp. Hopefully I shall get more contacts and get to
interview all the legends..I am trying to reach MV Sridhar first...and
Yes..I do wish I get to talk to Azza the Dazzler, VVSL, Abbas Ali
Baig, Abid Ali, Rayudu and others!. I shall keep you posted as soon as
I get the appointments.

Thanks so much and please do send me a lot of questions. The trouble
is that I haven't read many biographies and hence don't really know
the spicy details and other knowledgeable tidbits that guys like
Sadiq, Pranshu, CiL, yourself and so many others know very well about
domestic cricket.. So I am relying on the scorecards and keeping the
interviews in a very generalistic framework..

do send me questions if you have some for Mithali Raj to

posted via email as soon as I get more appointments.

Statutory warning though: I am doing these interviews for myself and
***, but www.cricketfundas.com are hosting it. Note that this is
a .com:-), a fledgling one at that though:).

Aditya,

I am posting from google so my reply wouldn't be directly across to
your post..

As of now, I have 2 college kids helping me out getting some numbers
and trying to fix appointments. I caught up with Ayub in his coaching
camp and he was very affable inspite of knowing that I wasn't from the
media. It did help that I had a recorder and a laptop with me making
myself look more professional:-).

I am interviewing Mithali Raj, the Indian women cricket sensation
tomorrow in her camp. Hopefully I shall get more contacts and get to
interview all the legends..I am trying to reach MV Sridhar first...and
Yes..I do wish I get to talk to Azza the Dazzler, VVSL, Abbas Ali
Baig, Abid Ali, Rayudu and others!. I shall keep you posted as soon as
I get the appointments.

Thanks so much and please do send me a lot of questions. The trouble
is that I haven't read many biographies and hence don't really know
the spicy details and other knowledgeable tidbits that guys like
Sadiq, Pranshu, CiL, yourself and so many others know very well about
domestic cricket.. So I am relying on the scorecards and keeping the
interviews in a very generalistic framework..

do send me questions if you have some for Mithali Raj to

posted via email as soon as I get more appointments.

Statutory warning though: I am doing these interviews for myself and
***, but www.cricketfundas.com are hosting it. Note that this is
a .com:-), a fledgling one at that though:).

I think Gupte married a girl from Trinidad, and hence settled there.

Quick question on Gupte. Sandeep Bamzai's "Guts and Glory" (an informative, if
poorly edited, history of Bombay Cricket) has a photo of Gupte with Dilip
Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar and Sharad Kotnis (who was the original owner of my
copy of "Cardus in the Covers", I think). What I find interesting is that Gupte
is standing up only with the assistance of a metal walking-frame. It may be a
step-ladder, but the photo definitely shows him leaning on it as far as I can
see. Does anyone know if he was unable to walk without support during the 1980s
(Manjrekar looks young in the snap, so that would be my guess as to when the
photo was taken)?

Another question on superficialities. The photos I have of Eknath Solkar in this
book show him with somewhat varied skin pigmentation. Does anyone know what this
was due to? It looks like it might be burns, but he might just as easily have
been born with it.

Aditya [Raju Bharatan is to prose what Michael Jackson is to young children.]
Basrur