Vijay Samuel Hazare was truly one of the greats of thegame produced by India, and but for the Second World War, which robbed him andmany others including Sir Donald Bradman vital playing years, would have scoredmany more runs and centuries in Tests.
The fact that Hazare, who drew attention in undividedIndia since the late 1930s, had to wait till the end of the War and India's tourof England in 1946 to make his Test debut at the age of 31, tells its own taleof missed opportunities.
Born on March 11, 1915, Hazare played only 30 officialTests, between 1946 and 1953 and scored 2192 runs at 47.65 per innings.
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In the 1930s and 40s, the two Vijays strode the cricketfields in the sub-continent like colossus, Merchant and Hazare, and thecompetition between the two to outdo one another in the Pentangular and RanjiTrophy matches is still talked about in awe in cricket circles.
Hazare, like Merchant, was a technician par excellenceand the forerunner to Rahul Dravid in his technical perfection of playing eachball on merit.
His defence was immaculate, according to players,writers and observers who have watched all three players in action.
Like Merchant, Dravid and another great Indian batsman,Sunil Gavaskar, Hazare's concentration too was intense and unwavering whichhelped him score double and triple centuries in domestic cricket withregularity.
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Hazare played and shone outstandingly with the bat in an era when the protectivearmour for the willow wielders, unlike today, consisted mainly of the pads toprotect the leg and the abdomen guard. There was no protective head gear, whichhas made batsmen fear the faster bowlers of the game less and less over theyears, and the players needed to take evasive action by swaying out of harm'sway or duck underneath the bouncers which were not restricted to two per over asat present.
Hazare also played when uncovered wickets were invogue, which made the ball deviate alarmingly off the wicket in helpfulconditions. His achievements should be looked at with this perspective in mind.
The right-handed batsman's runs included seventhree-figure knocks (two each against England, Australia and the West Indies andone against Pakistan).
He also captured 20 wickets with his medium-pacebowling.
Hazare's Test break-up country-wise is as follows: 12 vs England (3 in 1946, 5in 1951 and 4 in 1952), 5 vs Australia (all in 1947-48), 10 vs West Indies(1948-49 and 1952-53), 3 vs Pakistan (1951-52). He averaged above 40 againstevery country he has played, with his best being 111.50 opposite Pakistan athome in the first-ever cricket series between the two countries post-Partition.
Hazare was discarded after a personally poor tour tothe West Indies as captain in 1953 when he could gather only 194 runs, averagingless than 20 per innings, in the five-Test series. He was also, by then, 38years old.
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Against the same Calypso charmers, he had led thebatting averages five years earlier at home by accumulating 543 runs (at 67.87),which included a match-saving and gutsy knock of 134 not out in the second Testat the then Bombay's Brabourne Stadium, his favourite hunting ground, afterIndia followed on.
When the two teams met again at the same venue in thefifth and final match of the series, Hazare's plucky 122 helped India to anear-victory. The hosts were denied of a sure win by the West Indians' timewasting tactics.
Hazare also represented the country in 24 unofficialTests against Lord Tennyson's visiting team in 1938, the Australian Services XIled by Lindsay Hassett in 1945 and the three Commonwealth teams that toured thecountry between 1949 and 1953.
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He led India in 14 Tests in the early 50s and wassacked after the team's return from the West Indies despite it doing well as awhole and earning plaudits for its fine fielding.
PTI
