On India’s tour to West Indies in 1961-62, Indian skipper Nari Contractor faced what was probably the deadliest bouncer till that point. A quick short-pitched delivery by pacer Charlie Griffith hit Contractor on the head. He never played international cricket again.
The unfortunate incident came months after the Indian skipper led the country to its first series win against England.
On his 85th birthday, ThePrint recalls the story of the former Indian captain whose career ended in unforeseen circumstances.
Early years
Despite having his family roots in Bombay (now Mumbai), Nariman Jamshedji Contractor was born on 7 March 1934 in Godhra in present-day Gujarat. The story of his birth is interesting.
Contractor’s mother was travelling in a train from Dahod to Bombay. As she went into labour, the train’s driver, who coincidentally was her brother, stopped the train in Godhra where she gave birth to Contractor.
About two decades later, as luck would have it, Contractor ended up playing for his state of birth despite trying to break into the Bombay team.
In his first-class debut in 1952, Contractor scored twin centuries, only the second person to do so after Australian cricketer Arthur Morris.
Into the limelight
In December 1955, Contractor made his debut for the Indian team against New Zealand at Bombay. He scored 16 runs.
As a batsman, Contractor’s greatest legacy was the fighting spirit he showed consistently.
Four years after his debut, during the second match of India’s tour to England in 1959, Contractor suffered a broken rib at Lords. However, he stayed on and scored 81 runs against the likes of Fred Trueman, Brian Statham and Alan Moss.
The rest of the Indian batting order collapsed and the team folded up in the first innings with just 168 runs on board. India lost the match by 8 wickets.
During Australia’s tour of India in 1959-60, Contractor scored a total of 438 runs at an average of 43.80, including a century.
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The captain’s shoes
It was perhaps due to his performance at Lords that Contractor was rewarded with Test captaincy. He was all of 26.
His first task as captain was to lead the touring Indian side against Pakistan in 1960-61 — all the five matches ended in a draw.
In the same year, Contractor’s team created history after it won a series against the touring English side for the first time. India won the five-match series 2-0.
Overall, in the 12 tests that he led, India won and lost two Tests each.
Unfortunately, his career was cut short due to an unfortunate on-field injury.
Kensington Oval
During India’s tour to West Indies in the 1961-62 season, India played a local game against Barbados. It turned out to be Contractor’s last in Indian jersey — the Indian captain was hit by a delivery from pacer Charlie Griffith.
Some experts termed the ball a bouncer while others termed it just short of a length.
However, Wisden was certain. It said, “Contractor did not duck into the ball. He got behind it to play at it. He probably wanted to fend it away towards short-leg, but could not judge the height to which it would fly, bent back from the waist in a desperate, split-second attempt to avoid it and was hit just above the right ear.”
Contractor was severely injured — a perforated steel mesh went inside his skull — but was pulled out of danger after several operations.
A day before the tragic incident, West Indies skipper Frank Worrell had warned Contractor.
According to an interview in Mid-Day, Contractor said, “…Frank Worrell told us there was a bowler in the Barbados side called Charlie Griffith and he’s a chucker. And as we had so many injuries before the game, he suggested that it would be better to get out than getting hit.”
As a result of the incident, the first of its kind, a widespread call to ban the bouncers emerged.
However, Contractor himself was against such proposals. A month after the incident, he had said, “I wouldn’t like to create a situation that would allow anybody to point a finger at me and say, ‘Because he was hit, he is a cry baby.’ If the ICC decide to ban or curb the bouncer, let them do so. But let them do it because they think it is good for cricket. I don’t want to end my career in a mess of complaints.”
Career after injury
Contractor bravely recovered from his injury. Within 10 months after the incident, he played for Maharashtra Chief Minister XI and scored 37 runs.
He never got the chance to play an international match again, even though he came very close to do so courtesy his domestic performance. But it wasn’t meant to be.
After his injury, Contractor’s first class batting average — between 1962-63 and 1970-71 — was 38.40.
In his Test career spanning 31 matches, Contractor scored 1,611 runs at an average of 31.58, including 11 half centuries and a century.
In his final first-class match in 1972, Contractor scored 93 runs.
Almost 35 years later, the former Indian captain was awarded the CK Nayudu Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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