New Delhi: On 1 December, 1961, a 21-year-old made his Test debut against England at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
He was introduced to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a “young man who hails from Goa”. Nehru said, “Ah, Goa! Don’t worry, the Indian army will soon liberate your state.” Just a few days later, on 19 December, the state was liberated from Portuguese rule.
Dilip Sardesai’s Indian cricket career, therefore, started approximately at the same time when his place of birth Goa became a part of the Indian union. And to this day, his is the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of Goa-born cricketers.
In today’s time, 2001 runs in 30 matches at an average of 39.23 with five hundreds may appear ordinary, but in the pre-helmet era with no restriction on bouncers, they most certainly were not. Add to this the exemplary courage a young Sardesai showed on India’s 1962 tour of West Indies, and one can understand the champion player he was.
Then just two Tests old, the middle-order batsman agreed to open the batting after Indian team captain Nari Contractor was grievously hit by a Charlie Griffith bouncer on that tour.
In his first match as an opener, and third overall, Sardesai impressed everyone with his scores of 31 and 60. Even though India lost that match by an innings and 30 runs, Sardesai succeeded in announcing his arrival.
And eventually, he left behind such a legacy that noted sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan wrote about him, “There was a starched sense of morality to Sardesai. He represented nationalism of a beautiful kind. One that you could trust and respect…If he was my bank manager, I’d keep investing in that bank. If he was the head of a PSU, there’d be a certain sense of integrity about it.”
This integrity is evident in the perennial team player Sardesai was. More than any personal milestones, it was always the team’s victory that made him most proud.
His son Rajdeep, an eminent journalist, tells ThePrint, “Among all his records, my father was always most proud of the fact that he was never on a losing Ranji trophy side while playing for Mumbai for 13 years.”
How it all began
Rajdeep also provides a detailed biographical sketch of his father in one of the chapters of his book Democracy’s XI.
Sardesai was born on 8 August 1940 in a large Goan joint family. His father was an insurance agent and mother a homemaker. He attended the New Era School in Margao and was introduced to the game by a local tailor who would show him clippings of famous cricketers like Vijay Merchant and Vijay Hazare, and also gave him his first bat.
Initially, as was the norm for many then, he didn’t receive any formal cricket education. In 1956, his family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where Sardesai joined The Wilson College.
In 1958, writes Rajdeep, Sardesai got noticed by legendary Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad. Playing for his college team, Sardesai scored a 90 not out in a team total of just 120 against a Mankad-led Hindu Gymkhana side.
Highly impressed with Sardesai’s performance, Mankad went up to him, and said, “I am making you a member of the Gymkhana; from now on, you will play for us.”
In 1960, Sardesai was selected for the Combined Universities team to play against the visiting Pakistani side. He impressed everyone with a score of 87, and next year, made his debut at Kotla.
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‘The Renaissance man of Indian cricket’
Sardesai showed great promise during the first phase of his career, scoring a double century against New Zealand in 1965, and playing some other very crucial knocks.
However, in those days of limited Tests, his form took a beating on India’s tours of England and Australia in 1967. He again failed in the only Test he played against Australia at home in 1969, scoring just 20 and 3 in two innings.
Sports journalist Partab Ramchand describes Sardesai’s situation at that time, saying, “By 1971, however, successive failures, a couple of injuries and the reputation of being an ordinary fielder saw to it that he was a forgotten man.”
But fate intervened, and a determined Sardesai rose like a phoenix. Ajit Wadekar, newly appointed as captain, insisted on Sardesai’s inclusion for the West Indies tour of 1971. In that five-match series, Sardesai scored three centuries, including a double, and finished as the second highest run-scorer with 642 runs, only behind Sunil Gavaskar’s 774 runs, who was playing his debut series.
Gavaskar recalls Sardesai’s contribution to that tour: “My first Test was in the West Indies in 1971 when he was perhaps at his very best. He showed us how to play fast bowling and in doing so gave us the confidence we needed to beat the West Indies.”
Rajdeep recalls a story, told to him by Gavaskar himself, which sums up Sardesai’s role. “It was the first game of the tour, a side match against Jamaica. As the fast bowlers bowled five bouncers in the first over, Gavaskar and Vishwanath, the two rookies in the team, looked at each other and wondered how they would cope with such pace.
“My father was peering through the dressing room window, and let out an expletive in Marathi. ‘These are no bloody fast bowlers, the real pace was in 62 with Hall and Griffith, we will handle these popatwadi (a Marathi term for useless) bowlers easily.’ That was the moment, Gavaskar tells me, the mood in the dressing room changed from fear to confidence,” says Rajdeep.
Led by the performances of these two, India won that series 1-0, and it started a turnaround in its cricketing fortunes. For his role in that, one of India’s first cricketing greats, Vijay Merchant, termed Sardesai “the man responsible for the Renaissance of Indian cricket”.
Sardesai also played a crucial role in India’s 1-0 overseas series victory against England the same year. In the third match, which India won, he played a significant role with innings of 54 and 40.
After playing just one more match against England at home in 1972, Sardesai retired. Rajdeep explains the decision in his book: “I guess the mind was willing but the body wasn’t.”
Even retirement didn’t dim his enthusiasm for cricket
After his cricketing career, Sardesai started a commodity trading business, but it didn’t succeed. His health also started to deteriorate, and in 2004, he suffered renal failure. On 2 July, 2007, Sardesai, aged 66, passed away after suffering multiple organ failure.
Sardesai is today remembered as one of the few former Mumbai international cricketers who always went to the maidans to observe young upcoming cricketers.
Rajdeep remembers his father’s love for the sport. “He was someone who was passionate about life and the game. In his short pants and Kolhapuri chappals, he would scour the maidans of Mumbai looking for the next big talent.”
He goes on to say, “When he first saw Rohit Sharma, I remember him calling me excitedly, ‘you know, I have seen the next Mumbai player for India. Boy is good!’”
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