Flashback to 1974. There was a camp for under 16 cricketers in wankhede stadium , mumbai . Keki Tarapore was in charge of the camp. There was a young kid from the north , tall and broad shoulder who bowled quick. When food was being served, he went up to Keki and told him
Boy " Sir I need more rotis " .
Keki " Why ? "
Boy " I need strength . I am a fast bowler "
Keki " Huh ! We dont have fast bowlers in India. In India we have only spinners "
and scoffed at him.
The boy ? Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj . who went on to become India's wisden cricketer of the century . Kapil has privately mentioned that this incident went a long way in steeling up his determination to bowl fast .
Image courstey Wikipedia
1 comment:
True story.....but it doesn't end there. What happened thereafter was that an employee of CCI (Cricket Club of India who run the Brabourne stadium) came up with an easy fix. The rotis and rice were stacked up in a buffet system rather than being served on individual ration. The thinking was that most with a preference for either rice or rotis would naturally go easy on the other (.....as most Indians would know). ....Most seemingly tough problems have easy fixes. how do I know this story?......well the CCI employee is my uncle, Late. Arvind Kantak.
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