Madhav Mantri, Indian cricket's grand old man, passes away at 92

MUMBAI: A glorious innings has concluded. Madhav Mantri, India's oldest-living Test cricketer till Friday morning, died after a heart attack at a private hospital. He was 92.
Mantri, who remained a bachelor till the end, was a massive pillar of Mumbai and Indian cricket. He was the man who introduced a certain Sunil Gavaskar, his nephew, to the game.
A wicketkeeper-batsman, Mantri only played four Tests for India in the 1950s, and was one of the batsmen dismissed for a duck during a fiery spell by Fred Trueman as England reduced India to zero for four during the Leeds Test in 1952.
He was much more successful at the domestic level, captaining Bombay to three Ranji titles, and scored 2976 runs at an average of 53.14, besides taking 69 catches and 23 stumpings.
He was admitted to the hospital after the first attack on May 1.
Mantri was a national selector from 1964 to 1968 and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president from 1988 to 1992 -the only time a former cricketer held that position. He was also manager of the Indian team on the England tour in 1990, and was a BCCI treasurer between 1990 and 1992.
Leading the tributes for 'Nana Mama,' as Mumbai's cricketers would fondly call him, was Gavaskar, currently BCCI's IPL president.
"I never knew this day would come. The way he lived his life, I thought he was indestructible. He was the last of the disciplinarians. Even his last rites started at exactly the perfect time! Everyone at Hindu Colony in Shivaji Park knew he would leave for office at 8.30 am, would cross the 'first lane' there at 8.35 am, and reach Dadar station at 8.40 am," Gavaskar recalled.
Reminiscing how his maternal uncle inspired him to play for India, the legendary opener said: "I learnt my first 'lesson' in his house. He used to have lots of caps and sweaters, so I asked for an India cap one day. 'You will have to work hard and earn this cap, he said. When I asked for the sweater, he said the same thing. Before my first tour (to the West Indies), I got a cap and a sweater from the BCCI. However, I didn't wear them in the tour games, but only in my first Test, because he told me you have to earn it."
Gavaskar also credited his uncle for making him realise the importance of not throwing his wicket away.
"I had scored around 280-290 in a college cricket game, and had a 400-run partnership with Ramesh Nagdev. However, when I told him that I was out after playing a lofted shot to the deep mid wicket boundary, he asked me: 'How much did your partner score?' 'He is batting on 300, I replied. 'Then why did you get out? He asked again, before saying: 'Never give your wicket to a bowler like that. He isn't giving you full tosses or half volleys. So why are you doing a favour to him? Let the bowler earn your wicket," he said.
Gavaskar also clarified about the 'legend' that it wasn't Mantri, but another uncle of his, Narayan Surekar, who identified him in time after he accidentally landed up with a fisherwoman in the hospital where he was born.
"There is a little hole in my ear, which was missing when this uncle visited my mother in the hospital. They looked around anxiously, before my uncle spotted me with a fisherwoman.
"This is why I keep joking that my habit of fishing outside the off-stump comes from there!" he remembered.
Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar revealed that he owed his career to Mantri.
"I got into the Indian team because of him. All the selectors, except 'Nana Mama' were against my inclusion. He convinced (Tiger) Pataudi about me, subsequently, I was there. Even in college, I was the 12th man in the team, before he included me in the XI, since he was the coach," said an emotional Wadekar, who won praise from Mantri despite the former belonging to Shivaji Park Gymkhana, a bitter rival of another local club from the famed Shivaji Park area, Dadar Union, which Mantri represented.
It was at Mantri's insistence that former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar had refurbished the Dadar Union Club some time back.
Vengsarkar too had played for the club, whose building was in a dilapidated state at that point. "He would come to watch every match, at every level. Because he had been a cricketer himself, he was an outstanding administrator. He helped the Mumbai cricketers immensely," felt Vengsarkar.
"Very few people know that he was tough from outside, but soft from inside. Just a few days back, I watched the Mumbai-Maharashtra Ranji quarters with him. Cricket will miss him," said former India batsman and current chief selector Sandeep Patil.