My destiny was to be a fisherman in a koliwada instead of "Little Master". It so happened that after my birth Natukaka come to see me in maternity home. While observing me minutely he come to know that I have a hole on my left earlobe as a birthmark. He came again the next day. When he saw me he noticed that the child near my mother did not have birthmark. He brought this to the notice of my mother. A search was launched and I was found near a fisherwoman. The nurse used to take four children in a group to give them bath. After the bath the child was returned to their mothers. At that time the exchange had taken place. If Natukaka had not seen my birthmark, of on the next day he had not paid any attention to it, then literary I would have been a captain on some fishing boat.
My mother used to bowl me underarm with a tennis ball. She was struggling for making me interested in cricket from an early age. Once I hit the ball if I was hitting a hook shot. It hit my mother and the nose. It broke. Without uttering a single word, she went inside. She washed her bloodstained face. And prepared for bowling to me again. With her act, she taught me if same incident took place on the field, how I should behave with grit.
I went to London tour with the school team. At that time I was not using thigh guards. One ball hit me on thigh so powerfully that I received great pain. I saw the captain of the opposite team to signal the bowler to bowl similar ball. Then I remembered the incident with my mother. I was determined and played his bowling properly. On the tour, I scored 309 runs in four Tests. On returning from any game, my mother used to inquire how many runs I had scored. If I had hit a century then she used to pay me Rs. 10. I valued that note than any award from the vices of the big cricketers.
We were touring West Indies. I was offered a glass of liquour. I declined it politely. They informed me that nobody can remain on the pitch without a drink. I just smilled at them. I did not touch liquour and I thrashed the West Indies bowlers.
You must be logged in to post a comment.