There was an air of aristocracy about the cricket played at Hyderabad in the seventies. The most influential figure in the cricket of the twin cities was Modganahalli Laxminarasu Jaisimha, tall, slightly built but strong of muscle and lithe of movement, an aesthete in all he did on the cricket field, tennis court or golf course. He was the undoubted nawab of Hyderabad cricket, with his Marredpalli Cricket Club a throwback to the village cricket ambience of the England he had last visited in 1959, as a member of Dattu Gaekwad's Indian team (thrashed 5-0 by Peter May's England). 

Quintessentially amateur in its membership and the cricket it played, Jai's MCC was a collection of Sunday cricketers coming together for the love of the game and not for any trophies. It would surprise you every now and then with the high quality of the cricket it played, depending on the availability on the day of players of calibre--for example Cambridge blue Santosh Reddy, or the Nawab of Pataudi on a rare visit to the city. 

Jai himself added a touch of class by his impeccable batting, rarely allowing even the bowlers in Hyderabad to get through his defences, and playing breathtaking shots of beauty, precision and power. He was also a clever bowler of medium pace swing or off spin, as the occasion demanded, and an astute strategist as captain. Though the rest of the eleven could be made up of strictly club level cricketers and his son Vivek not yet into his teens, Jai marshalled his resources quite adroitly to beat the top teams of the city whenever he caught them napping.

An unusual feature of Hyderabad league cricket was the extent of participation by school and college teams. Nizam College, which has produced several outstanding cricketers over the decades, Osmania University-meaning campus colleges-and Hyderabad Public School, for instance, fielded teams in the A division of the league. 

The year I went to Hyderabad, Nizam College had more than a couple of stars in its eleven. Kenia Jayantilal, the stocky opener, who had scored tons of runs for Osmania in the Rohinton Baria, and made tremendous progress in the Ranji Trophy, had just had a disappointing tour of the West Indies, where he was not given a fair trial. Playing in the first Test, he was caught brilliantly close-in by Gary Sobers before he had scored too many runs, the same Gary Sobers who would drop young Sunil Gavaskar repeatedly as the young Bombay batsman made history scoring 774 runs in four Tests. Jayanti had been panned by the press some of whose members gunned for him without consideration for his youth and inexperience. He would never play for India again, but in domestic cricket, he continued to amass runs for years.

Abdul Jabbar was another talented Nizam College youngster. The left hand batsman made an enormous impact with his studious but fearless approach to batting, marked by powerful pulls and cuts, as well as brilliant running between the wickets. He was also an impressive medium pacer those days, and an excellent fielder anywhere. That was to be his last season at Hyderabad. He soon migrated to Madras, where he joined State Bank of India. His career mirrored mine-while I never played for Tamil Nadu, turning out instead for Hyderabad in the national championship, in Jabbar's case, the exact reverse was the case.

In the very first match I played against Nizam College, I won a bet with a friend of mine by dismissing Jayanti early, but returned footsore and legweary at the end of a long day, with Abdul Jabbar making 172.

Also by the author: Chennai Chat, Curdrice Cricket

Profile of V. Ramnarayan