da realbet： Suresh Menon pays tribute to Ashok Mankad – a Ranji legend, an astute captain and an inspiration to many
da wazamba： Suresh Menon01-Aug-2008
Ashok Mankad’s contribution to cricket will be measured by what he inspired others to do © Shailesh Mule
In some ways Ashok Mankad was a bit of a riddle. It was difficult to decidewhether he was a limited player who overachieved or a gifted player whounderachieved. His Ranji Trophy average of nearly 77 suggests the latterwhile his Test average of 25 hints at the former.At 16 he was good enough to make his first-class debut, and in his secondTest series, against Bill Lawry¹s Australia, he had scores of 74, 64, 68 and97. At the end of that year, 1969, with Gundappa Viswanath having just madehis debut and Sunil Gavaskar yet to come, Ashok was on the verge of addingfurther lustre to the Mankad name.His father, the great allrounder Vinoo, had come on to the field at theBrabourne Stadium to greet his son as he returned to the pavilion after that74 against Graham McKenzie, Alan Connolly, John Gleeson and Ashley Mallett.There was an element of a generational baton-exchange about the gesture.Yet the younger Mankad never lived up to that early promise. Years later hesaid that he got carried away by his early successes, and that he lacked,for instance, the equanimity of his opening partner Gavaskar. But perhapsMankad should not have been opening the batting in the first place. In anera when few Indians volunteered to go in first, Mankad was converted from apromising middle-order batsman into a shaky opener. His 22 Tests were spreadover a decade; he had no fixed slot in the middle order. The early successhad come as an opener, and that, in the long run, may have contributed tohis inconsistent run in the team. Right results in the wrong position can beas devastating as wrong results in the right position.Mankad – known affectionately as “Kaka”, the same nickname as his favouriteHindi movie star Rajesh Khanna – will, however, be remembered for more thanhis batsmanship. He was one of the most intelligent captains on the circuit,and there was even a suggestion at one time that he might make aBrearley-like figure for India, picked purely for his captaincy abilities.He loved talking cricket, and understood the game better than most. Possiblythis intimate knowledge worked against him, as he was only too aware of thepitfalls of batsmanship, and lacked the nonchalance of a Virender Sehwag,for instance, who doesn’t clutter his mind with possibilities.In Mankad’s final Test in England he made 43 before a Chris Old deliverycaused him to jerk and drop his cap on the wicket. That probably summed uphis essential weakness as batsman: he couldn’t hook, and he couldn’t getaway in time. At the highest level, fast bowlers need no furtherencouragement.He was one of the most intelligent captains on the circuit, and there was even a suggestion at one time that he might make a Brearley-like figure for India, picked purely for his captaincy abilitiesHis real contribution to cricket, however, will be measured not so much bywhat he did as by what he inspired others to do. Generations of Mumbaiplayers, and those who played for his team, Mafatlal, look upon him as theirguru. The India bowler Dhiraj Parsana has spoken about how he might havebeen a better bowler had Mankad continued to lead him. Mankad’s handling ofPadmakar Shivalkar brought that bowler close to playing for India despiteBishan Bedi’s presence in the side, and his nurturing of ParthasarathySharma saw that player make it into India’s middle order. Raju Kulkarni,Chandrakant Pandit – the list of India players who owe him is long.Kaka was a great character who told a tale well and loved to both laugh andprovoke laughter. He was an avid movie-goer. Gavaskar tells a story of howMankad stood up and cheered in the hall while watching .Mankad married former Asian tennis champion Nirupama Vasanth; their sonHarsh played Davis Cup tennis. In recent years Mankad coached, acted asconsultant for a media group, watched his son’s career grow, and played golf – lots of golf. He will be missed in each of his avatars.