Ex Cricketers - Russi Surti

Ex Cricketers – Russi Surti –

I had the good fortune to meet Russi Surti, the former Test Player of the 60’s, for Drinks and Dinner, and talk to him about what cricket was like in those days, the money, the perks, life and dames, and what he told me was very very interesting .


How we met – Next to mom;s house in Mumbai is Sportsfield, the building where most cricketers of Maharashtra who played Test matches have been given a flat free by the State Govt.Those who reside there are Eknath Solkar,Polly Umbrikar (both no more),Bapu Nadkarni,Umesh Kulkarni,Ajit Wadekar,Vengsarkar,Gavaskar( dosnt stay here )and a few others.


I was curious to meet Bapu Nadkarni,because he was one to send down 30 overs over a stretch without conceding a run.I wanted to ask him his views on 20 – 20 ,and tell him he would be very successful in this game, as it is not about taking wickets, but containing batsmen.


But how do I meet him ? Keni, a gentleman my age,staying closeby,said he knows one cricketer named Umesh Kulkarni, in Sportsfield, and he knows Nadkarni well.He introduced me to Umesh,and Umesh said Nadkarni is busy, but Russi Surti is in town( he stays in Australia since the last 30 years), and would I like to meet him instead.


Russi is my childhood idol, alongwith Pataudi, Durrani and others, and we agreed to meet in my club over drinks and Dinner ( NSCI) at Worli the next day.


The meeting – Four of us met that night.Keni,me,Russi and Umesh.All drinkers and non veg guys,and Russi wanted to know how serious I was, and asked me a few pointed questions, which only a follower of cricket would know the answer.I told him as a kid, I used to hear on Radio the commentary.He asked the commentator;s names and I promptly answered, Vijay Merchant,Dicky Ratnagir,Chakravarthy,Anandi Dosa,Talyarkhan,Vizzi, and later Suresh Saraiya, and Raju Bharatan.that satisfied him and we carried on from there.


Test Career – Played 26 or so Test Matches for India.Highest Score 99.He was a medium fast bowler,spin,good Bat, and a superb Fielder.Played with Hanumanth Singh,Pataudi,Salim Durrani,Bapu Nadkarni and others.


On Pay – Paid 350/- per Test Match.He said they played for the love of the game, and for the country.Most Test Cricketers were employed by the Tatas , in their company ACC.Umesh said they used to stay in the suburbs then, and board the local train, the same couch but from different stations.Nadkarni,Umesh,G Ramchand, and a few others used to meet in the same compartment, and the other passengers used to stand up and give them the seats.Can u imagine Tendulkar travelling in a local train today ? Umesh used to be paid 400 pm and Nadkarni being the senior paid 450/-But the amount was good enough to run the family, when the school fees in a convent was 5/- pm for a child,when 4 kgs of cocovite oil was 20 bucks in all, and flats available for 10 to 30 bucks a sq feet ?

West Indies Tour – Early Sixties – When Nari Contractor was hit on the head by a bouncer from Charlie Griffith,Surti was at the non striker’s end.He ran as Nari fell down.Nari asked him if any blood was coming out from his head, to which Surti said No.As Surti lifted his head from the ground, blood started to gush from the other ear.Nari was operated on his brain , an operation lasting 5 hours, and saved ultimately.Surti says the whole team was sure, that Nari would not survive.

I asked him if he felt scared as he had to continue batting, and he said, he literally peed in his pants.the whole Indian team collapsed for some 120 runs or so in that match.

Because Nari the Captain was injured, they made Nawab of Pataudi the captain.He was just 21 years, the youngest captain then.His son is Saif Ali Khan, the filmstar.


Sledging – He said Aussies are the worst in this.The recent First test in Brisbane, Russi went all the days.He says Harbhajan is a saint in comparison.Russi is the only Indian to have ever played Shield Cricket in Australia, some 40 matches over a 6 year period,and he says sledging then was worse than it is now.Players from the slips would abuse loudly, so that the well settled batsman gets distracted.Very soon he learnt the tricks, and gave it back to them good and proper.

On Bapu Nadkarni – Bapu used to bowl maiden after maiden.his figures used to read like
35 – 32 – 3 – 0 .I asked him if Bapu would be an ideal bowler in today;s times The idea is not to take wickets in 20-20, but to contain the batsman.Russi said, since 20 overs are distributed between 11 players, they would come out and lift Bapu, and Bapu if he changes his length, they can go back and hit him, so not much of a chance of him being successful in this form of the game.


No Helmets – Russi said, the wickets then were left uncovered,and everyday the pitch would act differently.And helmets were not invented in the sixties,you had to play by your instinct.The pads were made of rubber,unlike todays pads,and chest guards were just not there.


Pretty Girls chasing them – I told Russi, that there were 3 eligble cricketers namely Pataudi,Farookh Engineer and Russi Surti, and girls used to chase them.Pataudi got married to Sharmila Tagore, what about him and his affairs ? We were on to our third drink when I popped this question,Russi said what I tell u is offthe record(I told him at the start, that I write blogs, and I will write about the meeting with him.He told me, some things will not be written, and so it is.


BCCI – Russi says BCCI has been very very good to ex cricketers, and gives a handsome pension every month,the amount I cannot mention, but much more than initially announced.And a free CCI membership, which stands in good stead.No other board in the world does even a fraction of what BCCI does, which pleased me no end.

Watching movies - Russi said he used to go watch a movie for 2 bucks, because the Govt trailer before the movie started used to show movie clips of the matches played, say a minute or two,and there was no TV then,so go watch a movie to see yourself batting on the big screen.How times have changed since then .I too used to love watching these clips, when all u had was a radio really.


On the way back to drop Russi at his parential home in Dadar,we cracked a few non veg jokes, and heard the taxi driver smiling away.Russi said, Kamal, this is one of the most enjoyable evenings ever,I was very touched.I found him to be a very warm person,witty,and at 70 plus still hale and hearty,lean but not mean.


He called me a few days after that,to thank me once again, and he told me he is leaving for Australia where he lives, in a weeks time, and we will be in touch by phone and email.And he asked me when he comes down the next time to Mumbai, can I come down too, and I said Yes Boss.


Umesh Kulkarni,who introduced us, has become a very good friend too.He played 4 tests for Indian, 3 against Australia in Australia, and one against NZ in NZ.He got the flat in Sportsfield,which I visited ,and its quite big, facing the sea.He is retired, now also 70 plus,but hale and hearty,and a damn great friend now.He;s promised me a meeting with the other cricketing legends stayin the building, and this time I will have lots to do in Mumbai.

When Umesh returned from a tour to Australia, the BCCI gave each player a bonus of 10,000 bucks, which Umesh said was a lot those days.He bought a 500 sq feet flat for 5000/- in Borivili, in the late sixties, at 10/- a square feet.Sounds like a dream isn’t it ?


PS – I had heard about Sachin Tendulkar also being offered a flat in the same building.But it seems 1600 sq feet seemed too less to the gentleman, he declined, and bought himself 10,000 square feet Two floors flat in Bandra, where below him stays Aishwarya Rai, and upstairs Prahalad Kakkad.Now I know what Sachin does with his crores.


I had a great time with Russi Surti and Umesh,and over drinks, there are so many things I have forgotton what I asked, and some I have edited for obvous reasons.


I just hope I have not bored u guys with this long blog of mine.Like Sachin and Ganguly are to you, Surti and Pataudi were to guys of our generation.Ciao.


KAMAL MAHTANI

Dear Kamalji
That was a nice piece of information about the old time cricketer. and yes even today's cricketers so that now a days these guys don't play like the old ones, as they know even if they loss the match, still some bucks will warm they pockets.
Waiting to hear about the next legend meet with the cricketers

Aruna,

Values have changed today.Then they played for te copuntry, and today u see the difference.But well thats the way the cookie crumbles.Regards.kamal

And i have many personalities lined up.I want to interview, Wadekar, nadkarni,Pran the actor and so many to know what went on in their days, and the difference today.

Wish me luck.Regards.kamal

Dear kamalji
Sorry for the late reply. All the Best.
Let your wish be granted so that even we will come to know about these oldie goldies.
But I am sure, how these old people struggled hard and to get they fame I don't think today it is the same. With less money they still enjoyed they work and dedicated themself for they profession. But today Money speaks about ones fame. Today if you will pay you will get the filmfare award, but during pran's time I think all the hard work those actors put in was given the award.
Let us know from you.........with katti methi baatai

Originally Posted by Kamalji

Aruna,

Values have changed today.Then they played for te copuntry, and today u see the difference.But well thats the way the cookie crumbles.Regards.kamal

And i have many personalities lined up.I want to interview, Wadekar, nadkarni,Pran the actor and so many to know what went on in their days, and the difference today.

Wish me luck.Regards.kamal

Aruna,

Rightly said.I read that the test we now lost in Ahmedabad, the senior cricketers did not turn up for practise for 2 days, bcs they were shooting ads for the Sponsers of their teams.

Now whether u lose or win , u will still get yr match money, so why bother at all.where is the pride to play for yr country.

I heard Kumble said, we learned something positive from this match.What positive ???? Kick the cricketers on their backsides really.Regards.kamal