GK knowledge and sporting prowess

The Indian team arrive for their 1952 tour of England The BBC crew sent to cover the arrival of Vijay Hazares men start asking the visiting team members their names and educational qualifications When its his turn a young batsman reveals his identity followed by MA without hesitation A little later a senior teammate asks him what the MA was about MA mdash Matric Appeared he repliesThis is one of the many stories Gopal Krishna GK Menon regaled me with in between his drags of beedies when I worked at The Marine Sports bookshop in the 1980s GK passed away on Tuesday in suburban Mumbai He was more than just a fine story teller He was an incisive writer who knew the intricacies of sport and the background of people who played it Cricket was his forte and one moment he could mix with some of the games biggest stars and the next a group of club cricketersOld timers reveal that GK at times was part of the XI in the starstudded Shivaji Park Gymkhana SPG team which included Vijay Manjrekar and Subhash Gupte two men dear to his heart He would never tire from waxing eloquent on Manjrekars technique and how he would bat all day even in street cricket When Manjrekar passed away in October 1983 GK was in the forefront where the funeral arrangements were concernedInvariably Manjrekar and Gupte would return from overseas trips with little gifts for their GeorgeIndia pacer Ramakant Desai who many reckon was discovered by GK and Madhu Patil India batsman Sandeeps father were his other favourite cricketersGK always felt that it was the maidans that produced quality players for Mumbai Many talk of the Brabourne Stadium the proud Bombay Cricket Association BCA possession Wankhede Stadium the Hindu Parsee Islam Bombay and Catholic Gymkhanas but these institutions pale in significance when one talks of the growth of Bombay players The cream of them belong to the maidans he wrote in the then BCAs 1980 Golden Jubilee Commemoration VolumeWhen not assisting the SPG team GK would do the Kanga League rounds as a reporter visiting tents talking to cricketers young and old and highlighting their performances in the next days newspaperHis sporting versatility saw him become manager of the 195253 Mehli Iraniled Bombay University team which included five future Test players One of them was Nari Contractor who would go on to captain India That was a great team with a great manager I still remember the party he organised after we won the championship GK was great company and took the teams ups and downs in his stride Contractor told me on Wednesday Dr Chandrakant Patankar the wicketkeeper in that team recalled Menon kept the team in good spirits throughout our onemonth stay in Bangalore for the Rohinton Baria Trophy He was great company and performed his managerial duties in a friendly mannerHowever he was far from friendly when Australia captain Bill Lawry lashed out at GK when he stepped on the Brabourne Stadium turf in the midst of a riot Mistaking him for an intruder Lawry let off steam but he may have been surprised when GK who was reporting that game for The Indian Express wouldnt take it lying down Lawry apparently used an expletive in the heat of the moment and GK responded similarly reminding Lawry that his nose resembled a parrot GK was on the ground to inform the umpires that the scorer in the press box couldnt see their signalsOne cannot say that GK put the Lawry incident behind him but in 1983 World Cupper Balvinder Singh Sandhus book he loved cricketers dearly As a reporter his criticism was constructive I did not bowl well in one of the matches during my Ranji Trophy debut season of 198081 and he wrote that something was amiss Around the same time I was on the massage table at Wankhede Stadiums dressing room when Vasant Amladi noted coach was talking to our leftarm spinner Ravi Thakkar about a technical issue in his bowling I heard front foot and I realised that my front foot was coming far too across I worked on it and got wickets after that GKs criticism played a role in that success Sandhu told me while expressing his disappointment over the COVID19 pandemic preventing him from visiting GK in his final daysToday sporting failures are often viewed insensitively but the ebb and flow of sport was never lost on him and damn good player were words he used for those whose skills he admired The last time I heard him use that was for squash great Anil Nayar whose February book release function I had attended before visiting GK in hospital We spoke for a while and when it was time to leave I was convinced that I would not see GK again But his chest congestion was not going to win that easily GK fought on for a few more months and even going past his 93rd birthday on May 21 He could be that resilient that firm that sharp no matter who it was mdash illness or great cricketers Like David Gower Englands captain on the 198485 tour to India According to popular commentator Fredun De Vitre in his book Willow Tales Gower was reluctant to address the media after Englands loss in the opening Test at Mumbai where some umpiring decisions were not appreciated by his team He was finally coerced into doing a press briefing on the assurance that it would only involve reporters from his country But Gower discovered a few Indian journalists in the group and exclaimed I thought this was to be an English press conference And GK was quick to respond It is How many other languages do you speakRest well GKmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel 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