A good time to remember Marshall

With the Kanga League atmosphere prevailing in Mumbai cricket it is a good time to remember Dadar Union Sporting Clubrsquos departed stalwart Vithal lsquoMarshallrsquo PatilMarshall a nickname given to him by Test great Polly Umrigar holds the record for the most career wickets in the premier divisionmdash759 He once spoke to me at length about his Kanga League journey It all began in 1951 when he played for Brothers CC ldquoA senior player there used to take hours to return from lunch and I remember another chatting up his girlfriend on the boundary line I then decided that this is not the club for me and joined Dadar Union in 1952 even though I knew I would have to sit out most of the gamesrdquo Marshall saidHis wait for a place in the XI was shorter than he anticipated A game against CCI at Brabourne Stadium was not expected to start on time due to heavy rain at Dadar Some players did not turn up at the Churchgate venue and Marshall got his chance It kicked off an amazing run with the club that lasted until the early 1980s when the mediumpacer quit playingldquoPatil Sir was a very disciplined bowler People spoke about his swing but I didnrsquot see much of that His partner Urmikant Mody was a big swinger of the ball With due respect I didnrsquot have too many difficulties facing Marshall But he bowled a nagging line and length My father enjoyed batting against him more than me and he still holds the record for the highest wickets in the league He was also our selectorrdquo Sandeep Patil told me on TuesdayAt King George school Marshall had played only with a tennis ball The leather ball came into his life only after he joined Ruia College He was picked for two Ranji Trophy games in 195657 and 195758 but was dropped by the Mumbai thinktank It left him ldquoshockedrdquoThe Kanga League however became Marshallrsquos domain He foxed many a top batsman during Dadar Unionrsquos title triumphs One of his most cherished performances was 820 in the 1960s against Parsi Cyclists who had Test players such as Polly Umrigar Nari Contractor and Rusi Surti besides other big names in Mumbai cricket like Mehli and Behram IraniHis finest hour came on July 19 1981 when he went past Behram Iranirsquos Kanga League wickets tally of 743 at the age of 54 He claimed four of the five Khar Gymkhana wickets to fall as the suburban side chased a small target at Matunga after Dadar Union had been bowled out for 62 A late start prevented a resultThe record was his But Marshallrsquos contribution to Mumbai cricket went far beyond his wickets He guided cricketers during and after his playing days at Dadar Union And in Sunny Days Sunil Gavaskar captured his contribution to cricket in glowing termsldquoMorning and evening he would bowl to aspiring young cricketers find the chinks in their armour and guide them accordingly In later years his bowling lost its sting because the nip off the wicket was gone and the batsmen had enough time to change their strokes However his length never wavered If there is one man who has taken a great deal of interest in my cricket and encouraged me at every step it is Marshall Often he would drop in at our house late after dinner and say lsquoSunny century tomorrowrsquo I think he had more confidence in my cricketing ability than I had myselfrdquo wrote Gavaskar in his bestselling 1976 autobiographyAs coach of Podar College Marshall provided several collegians with an opportunity to play for Dadar Union Among them was leftarm spinner Salil Shah who was told one day at the Podar nets that he would be playing for the club ldquoDadar Unionrsquos regular leftarm spinner Ghulam Shaikh passed away at a young age and I was asked by Patil Sir to join Dadar Union It was merely a nice feeling then in the early 1980s but it turned awesome when I actually played for themrdquo Shah told me earlier this week Dadar Unionites Dilip Vengsarkar and Manjrekar too were his studentsAmong Marshallrsquos Podar students who played for other clubs were future Mumbai captains Ravi Shastri and Shishir Hattangadi His dedication as supervisor of the BCA summer camps was reflected in his travels to distant suburbs to ensure that the camps were run smoothly It was another example of a man who never seemed to tire of giving to Mumbai cricketMarshall gave the best years of his life to the game before passing away in 2014 And a lot of those years particularly the monsoon months were spent either bowling in the Kanga League or guiding Dadar Union There were wickets records and a couple of Ranji Trophy appearances But perhaps his greatest contribution was the generation of cricketers he encouraged and pushed towards the gameIt is as if Dadar Unionrsquos motto mdashUnion is Strength mdash was scripted for men like Vithal lsquoMarshallrsquo Patilmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper