The smooth progress of Indian cricket has frequently been hampered by the whims and egos of the people in power. It happens now and it happened in the past too. Back when Indian cricket was in its nascent stage, the most powerful people in the sport were the wealthy Maharajas. Two of these royal figures, namely the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram and the Maharaja of Patiala, played a key role in promoting the game but they also indulged in petty politics and treated cricket as their personal fiefdom.
Moreover, the two of them were also at loggerheads with each other and each one tried to become the topmost figure in Indian cricket.
Former diplomat Natwar Singh, who also served as Minister for External Affairs, has written an interesting book about the Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh. Nobody knows the facts better than Natwar Singh because his wife was Princess Heminder Kaur, granddaughter of the Maharaja. There are some interesting anecdotes mentioned by Natwar Singh in his book titled The Magnificent Maharaja.
The ruler of Patiala was an avid cricket fan and did many things to develop the game in India in the 1930s. But he was also given to sudden mood changes like many rulers who enjoyed tremendous power. According to Natwar Singh, the Maharaja used to refer to ace cricketer Lala Amarnath as a “chokra.”
On one occasion he was annoyed with Lala for some reason. He instructed the famed fast bowler Mohammed Nissar to bowl bouncers at Lala and hit him on the head. “If you can hit that chokra on the head, I will give you a village as a jagir,” the Maharaja told the fast bowler. The towering Nissar, then considered being one of the fastest bowlers in the world, tried hard to do the job that the Maharaja had assigned to him. But Lala Amarnath was too quick and skillful. He avoided the ball every time and Nissar had to remain without his promised gift.
Then there was another occasion when the Maharaja’s mood changed in favour of Lala. “Listen here, chokra. For every run you score today I will give you a gold coin,” said Bhupinder Singh. Lala gladly seized the opportunity, scored a century and got a bagful of gold coins from the Maharaja.
As for the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram, he was a person whose internecine political games often ruined the progress of cricket. His quarrel with Lala Amarnath was famous and is talked about even today. Well known author Mihir Bose has written: “If Vizzy had been content with being a cricket sponsor, his name would be one of the most revered in Indian cricket. But he was consumed with the ambition to be a great cricketer himself.”
His wealth earned him great influence in Indian cricket. In the early thirties, he donated fifty thousand rupees to the BCCI which was starved of funds. It was a huge sum. With some manipulation, Vizzy got himself named as captain of India in 1936 when the Indian team went to England. The senior players in the squad, including Amarnath, C.K. Nayudu and Vijay Merchant were highly displeased with Vizzy’s methods and therefore the team became divided between Vizzy loyalists and rebels.
But worse was to follow. During India’s match against Minor Counties, Amarnath had a back injury. Nevertheless Vizzy made Amarnath pad up, but did not send him to bat. Other batsmen were sent ahead of him. It prevented Amarnath from resting. An angry Amarnath muttered in Punjabi, “I know what is transpiring.” Vizzy took this comment as an affront, and teamed up with the squad manager Major Jack Brittain-Jones to take revenge. Lala Amarnath was sent back to India for indiscipline. It is also alleged that once Vizzy offered Mushtaq Ali gold watch to run out Vijay Merchant.
Such misdeeds earned Vizzy a bad name and an inquiry held after the tour found that Vizzy was the guilty party in the quarrel with Amarnath. Thereafter, Vizzy maintained a low profile and later became an administrator. He also went into politics and became an MP from Visakhapatnam before he passed away in 1965.
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