Eknath Solkar played a very important role in thesuccess of the famed Indian spin quartet of the 1970s because of hisextraordinary reflexes and bravery while fielding close to the bat at forwardshort-leg.
Without the protection of a helmet and shin guard, Solkar's extraordinary reflexes and bravery at the 'suicidal' forward short-leg played a crucial role in the success of the famed Indian spin quartet in the 1970s.
Eknath Solkar played a very important role in thesuccess of the famed Indian spin quartet of the 1970s because of hisextraordinary reflexes and bravery while fielding close to the bat at forwardshort-leg.
Solkar, who died in Mumbai following a cardiac arrest,rose to represent India from humble beginnings - he was the son of thegroundsman at the P.J. Hindu Gymkhana in south Mumbai, showed extraordinarycourage by standing at hand-shaking distance from the batsmen to pouch catchesout of nothing off the great spin exponents - Bishen Singh Bedi, ErapalliPrasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and S. Venkatraghavan.
In those days there were no helmets to protect theclose-in fielders and there were no shin protectors, but Solkar - whovolunteered to stand at the suicidal position when Mansur Ali Pataudi was theIndian captain - showed tremendous guts and selfless courage.
The all-rounder, was a very gritty lower-order batsmanwho was difficult to dislodge and a pretty useful medium pacer.
Solkar, who followed in the footsteps of Bapu Nadkarni, Salim Durrani and RusiSurti to occupy the all-rounder's spot earned plaudits by twice dismissing thegreat Geoff Boycott when India toured England in 1971. He could bowl left-armslow stuff too. His Test record is nothing great at 1068 runs in 27 matches and48 innings with only one century against the fearsome pace battery of CliveLloyd's West Indies in the first-ever Test played at the Wankhede Stadium whichwas the deciding one of the five-match series in 1974-75.
Solkar also captured 18 wickets at a costly 59.44 perwicket in Tests, besides representing India in the inaugural edition of theWorld Cup in 1975.
But he would be forever be remembered for hisextraordinary close-in fielding. In fact, he used to earn his place in the squadfor his fabulous catching.
His fantastic fielding played a big part in India'sfamous victory at The Oval in the 1971 series against England which earned AjitWadekar, who later became a member of Solkar's building society in Worli, thedistinction of being the country's first-ever victorious captain against Englandin the latter's backyard.
In fact, when England visited India for the returnseries in 1972, Solkar once again played a big part by snapping up catches offBedi, Chandra and Prasanna to help his team score another series win for amemorable back-to-back Test series triumph.
Solkar formed a great partnership with Wadekar at slip,Abid Ali at backward square-leg or short fine-leg and Venkat at gully to givethe cutting edge to the great spin bowlers during that glorious period in Indiancricket.
PTI