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Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Ravi Shastri's mother recalls him hitting six sixes in 1985: ‘I found out from our bhelpuri wala'
It's been four decades but Lakshmi Shastri's memories of a heady evening from January 1985 are still fresh. It was on that day in 1985 that her son, Ravi Shastri, created history by hitting six sixes in an over. It was only the second time in history this was done. In doing so — in a Ranji Trophy game against Baroda while playing for Mumbai — Ravi Shastri had emulated what the legendary Garfield Sobers had done in 1968 in an English County game for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan. While Ravi was occupied in commentary duties for the second Test at Edgbaston, Lakshmi was accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award on her son's behalf at Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai from the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai. There, she spoke of that day her son created history 40 years ago. And also gave a glimpse of where the former India cricketer and coach-turned commentator gets his skills behind the microphone. 'There are many treasured memories which Ravi has given us. But I would say that the one which stands out is when he scored six sixes in an over. I was blissfully unaware of the fact that he was doing it at Wankhede Stadium (nearby). I was told by my bhelpuri wala who was present there and witnessed this,' Lakshmi told the audience from the dias on Wednesday to much laughter. While Sobers had hit the six sixes at Swansea against Malcolm Nash, Ravi Shastri had struck Baroda's Tilak Raj in the 1984-85 Ranji Trophy season. The feat has since been matched by just a handful of batters like Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh. Continuing the anecdote from that day in 1985, Lakshmi said: 'When Ravi came home, he had to immediately leave for somewhere else. I asked him what happened today. You know his style, he never wanted to say the truth to me. So he said, 'you want to know what I did? Then tune in to today's All India Radio for the 7 o'clock news'. 'So since even the bhel puri wala (was talking about it), this thing was running in my mind. I was wondering why has he asked me to do this? So I informed my husband who was sitting in his clinic at that time and told him that he better come and hear the 7 o'clock broadcast in Marathi. He said why? I said this is what everybody is saying. So I came home and there to my great surprise, it was being announced that he had 'Sobered Sobers', and I'm quoting the banner that was put on Marine Drive the next day, hailing for equalling Sobers' record. These are precious memories that I carry with me.' Besides Shastri, Michael Ferreira, Anjali Bhagwat, Deepali Deshpande, Suma Shirur, Pravin Thipsay, Joaquim Carvalho and Mervyn Fernandis were among those feted with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lakshmi added: '1985 was a glorious year for him. He started with these six sixes, then he ended up at the Benson Hedges World Championship of Cricket where he was awarded this title, Champion of Champions and the famous Audi car which nobody, at least me, I didn't even know how to pronounce the name of that car and I'm sure many in India have not seen that and that memory of the entire team taking a round in the Melbourne ground will always stay in my memory.' She then thanked her son, 'Thank you Ravi, you have been a great son to us and we hope you will achieve much more.'
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
I argued they could pick Sachin or Miandad. But there was a hitch: Gavaskar's intervention in Yorkshire's iconic deal
In 1992, Yorkshire had signed a historic deal as they roped in 19-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who became their first-ever overseas player. But pulling off the deal took a bit of convincing on both sides. While it was Suleman' Solly' Adam to played the role in persuading the English County club to consider Sachin, his friend and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, convinced Sachin to agree to it. Suleman, a cricket fanatic, who travelled from Gujarat in the post-partition period to Karachi and eventually settled in Leeds, Yorkshire, turned host for many Indian cricketers over the years, having arranged county deals for most of them. Sachin was among them. Speaking to The Indian Express, Suleman recalled that in 1992, Australian pacer Craig McDermott had become the first overseas player to be signed by Yorkshire. Unfortunately, he became injured, which was a window of opportunity for Suleman. He immediately dropped by the Yorkshire office and convinced them to sign an Indian or Pakistani—Sachin or Javed Miandad—given the Asian diaspora in the town. It took a while, but the answer came 'Yes,' with the young Indian being their choice. "The minute I came to know, I ran to the Yorkshire club. I asked them, 'Why don't you sign an Indian or Pakistani? I argued that since Yorkshire has this large Asian diaspora, they could consider Tendulkar or Javed Miandad. That was the time the great Don Bradman had said that watching Tendulkar bat reminded him of his own batting. After two to three hours, they were convinced, they opted for Tendulkar," says Solly. But there was a problem. Yorkshire had no idea how they would contact Sachin, which is where Gavaskar came into the picture. Sachin was then in Australia in the middle of a series when the Yorkshire deal was offered, but he wasn't ready to accept it. Suleman then called up Gavaskar to convince the youngster and "history was made." Suleman said: "I told him that he was young and he could do it. Later I asked my friend Sunil (Gavaskar) to talk to Tendulkar. While playing for Somerset, Sunil had benefited. Finally, Tendulkar was convinced and history was made." Sachin played 16 first-class matches for the team, scoring 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.
Economic Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Economic Times
After eight years, cricket gives another chance to Karun Nair
Shubman Gill takes charge as India's new Test captain after Rohit and Kohli exit red-ball cricket Karun Nair, after eight years in domestic cricket and a heartfelt plea, earns a remarkable comeback to the Indian squad for the England tour. His journey includes stints in English County cricket and a pivotal move to Vidarbha, where consistent run-scoring led to a Ranji Trophy victory and reignited his international aspirations. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads On December 10, 2022, a hurt Karun Nair wrote on his social media handles: 'Dear cricket give me one more chance.' On May 24, 2025, cricket replied: 'Dear Karun, you will get one more chance.'The 33-year-old Nair got that opportunity for a career re-launch through his selection to the 18-member Indian squad for next month's tour of an extraordinary tale of comeback, of persistence and willingness to grind it out in the disheartening obscurity of domestic cricket over eight the toughest man can crumble under that draining drill, optimism getting sun-dried by each passing Nair dared to dream a comeback even when the world around him believed that all the hopes had been extinguished. After all, it's easy to forget old names amidst the rush of fresh one part in Nair remained unyielding, forcing him to explore various channels to return to run-making ways, and joining Northamptonshire in English County cricket was a wise first 2023, he made 249 runs from three matches at an average of 83 for Northants, including a hundred against eventual champions Surrey.A year later, Nair aggregated 487 runs from seven matches at an average of 49, including a century against Glamorgan for his County those numbers were not strong enough to spark a national return but were good enough to give him the confidence."Everyone knows, for Indian batsmen to go and score runs in England ... to play the moving ball is tough. So, I've learnt a lot more about myself as a batsman and finding ways to score runs and believing in myself," Nair had told PTI last real turnaround in his career came along with his shift to Vidarbha from Karnataka, where he was increasingly finding it difficult to get a place in the first who were on the lookout for a seasoned pro in their batting line-up then, welcomed Nair gleefully to their right-hander did not disappoint his new side either, racking 690 runs from 10 matches with two hundreds and three pushed his stocks another rung up in the 2024-25 season, amassing 863 runs from nine matches, averaging 54 with four top it, the Bengaluru batter scored 779 runs from seven matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament with five centuries, and his average stood at an astronomical was not just knocking on the doors but he crashed through them with those performances, as his inclusion in the Indian team became a topic of national debate."That's what he always wanted to do - score runs, get back to Team India. From Day 1 at Vidarbha camp, he would tell us that I have another 3-4 years of cricket left in me at the highest level. It's glad that he finally managed to achieve it, and we are all proud of him," Usman Gani, the Vidarbha coach, told stellar run helped Vidarbha bag the Ranji Trophy in the 2024-25 season, but unnoticed by many, it helped him come out of a dark was reborn. The confidence in his skills multiplied. He began to open up more to other players in the dressing room."I think the issue when he came to us (Vidarbha) was his apprehension over his abilities. But once he got a regular chance to play domestic cricket against quality opponents, the confidence returned."It can be safely said that he blossomed along with the team. He never looked like a stranger in the dressing room and we took extra care not to make him feel like an outsider as well. He just needed some big and consistent runs. He got it here along with a relaxed environment and it opened up him as a cricketer," said only parallel to Nair's exceptional comeback in the storied history of Indian cricket is VVS Laxman's stirring run in the 1999 domestic from the Indian team, Laxman went back to Ranji Trophy and hammered 1415 runs from nine matches at an average of 108.8 with nine that point, Laxman's career took a 'Very Very Special' turn for the next decade or is at a very similar stage, and during the course of the five-match Test series in England, he will get a chance to front up to a familiar rival against whom he had made a triple Nair touch those heights again? There would not be too many naysayers now.
