Gentleman cricketer gone

MUMBAI: The name Chhatrapalsinh Jadeja would not ring an instant bell in today's cricketing circles but in Jamnagar in Saurasthra and at Chowpatty in Mumbai they were mourning the death of a gentleman cricketer.
'Chat', as he was popularly known, played as middle-order batsman for Saurashtra, Delhi, Bihar and Tamil Nadu and for Air India and Fort Vijay on Mumbai's local cricket.
The logistics change is explained by his being posted for Air India and that included foreign fields like Dubai, Kuwait etc.
At Jamnagar, his hometown, the Jamsaheb, Shatrushalyasinhji, his cousin, his brothers Daulatsinhji, Sukhdevsinhji and a sister were there at the condolence.
At the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan there were Nari Contractor, Bapu Nadkarni, Karsan Ghavri,Umesh Kulkarni and Damji Hodar, all connected with him in one way or another.
Son Devraj said,"He just declared and walked. "A notice near the condolence book proclaimed,"Respected, Courteaous and Kind, that's how we learnt to spell his name." There were pictures depicting his rich life, one that caught the eye being of his being inducted in diamond king Nicky Oppenheimer's side in South Africa.
Rajendra Jadeja, BCCI match referee said from Jamnagar,"I met sir four days ago when he was campaigning for the BJP which he had joined. He had gone to Ahmedabad to campaign for Narendra Modi.' 'Ahmedabad was the place where Chhatrapal he breathed his last dying in his sleep.
That was God's way of rewarding one who believed in only giving, not taking. As an Air India senior manager he helped any manner of people. Karsan Ghavri said, "As a kid I saw his bat and field." Ghavri talked of a tour of West Indies where Chhatrapal was to go. "He went to the homes of all Mumbai-based players got their family bytes on video and on reaching Trinidad and Barbados played them before the players."
Chhatrapal was a class batsman and Umesh Kulkarni, the India fast bowler said,"He was a great fielder at point, probably the best in West Zone in his time."
Long before the ICC code of conduct came and MCC Spirit of Cricket Chhatrapal expressed his anguish about the way the modern game was going. So he arranged a game between gentlemen cricketers at the BPCL ground. One team was led by brother Sukhdev the other by Bapu Nadkarni. The likes of Ait Wadekar, Hanumant Singh, Dilip Sardesai, Karsan Ghavri played. There was no wrong appealing, no gamesmanship just playing the game in the spirit
Not About the Result. It will be hard to find another like him. RIP