It's fine to take it personally!

I have a fleet ndash four Rolls Royce cars five sports cars plus two tongas said Imran Khan in an intimate interview with Cricketer Asia magazine in early 1983 In the same publication around that time India stars Dilip Vengsarkar Ravi Shastri and Sandeep Patil mentioned Fiat in their responses to the Own Car questionSunil Gavaskar had a Premier President car thenAnd when it came to Mohinder Amarnath he revealed he didnt own a car Amarnath told me on Tuesday that he bought his first automobile in the early 1990sWhats all this car talk about you may well wonder Let me tell you intimate interviews were probably the only way cricket enthusiasts would know the personal side of our favourite cricketers something which our current stars are not coy to do on social media And while we hope the current cricketers continue to do so even after the lockdown ends it was interesting to read about what the stars of the 1980s and 1990s revealed of their personal livesFavourite Animal was an oftenasked question in such interviews Carl Rackemann the Australian fast bowler threw in a slice of humour to his answer My dog Trooper Hes black but nobody knows what he is Yashpal Sharma the steady batsman for India in the 1980s revealed he had two dogs named Chappell and TigerAnd Viv Richards in 1983 wished for a German Shepherd while dogs was the reply to my question to Sanjay Manjrekar and Anil Kumble in 1990 on what they feared Manjrekar feared snakes too ditto his idol GavaskarPatil was candid even in those days To a question on Likes the dazzling middleorder batsman remarked in Cricketer Asia Pretty girls Besides Favourite Relaxation he said Drinking beer with my girlfriendsAnd talking about the opposite sex when it came to replying to the Marital Status question Sarfraz Nawaz the big Pakistani fast bowler of the 1970s and 1980s said Dont like to disclose His colleagues Abdul Qadir and Mohsin Khan were less direct to the magazines interviewer Mohsin who married Indian actress Reena Roy stated The future Mrs Khan while Qadir just said Forget about itIn the same interview the late wily legspinner wished he could meet actresses Bo Derek and Sridevi somedayOur current cricket stars often post photographs of their holidays mdash brief ones mdash due to their tight schedule But some cricketers of another era didnt know what a holiday was about Greg Chappell told Cricketer Asia magazine that he didnt go on enough holidays to mention his Favourite Holiday Resort To the same question Rackemann said hed go to Los Angeles if he could afford it For 17yearold Sachin Tendulkar in 1990 his Bandra East home was his favourite resortManjrekar answered my questionnaire with great thought in the same year Fried sesame prawns he inscribed under Favourite Dish To the question on Most Embarrassing Moment he referred to seeing my photograph in my birthday suit in Sportsworld magazine Manjrekar the find of the 198889 tour of the West Indies was left trunkless by his teammates on a Caribbean beach for a brief moment and a cameraman captured itMiandads Most Embarrassing Moment was seeing comedy actor Sakhi Kamal imitating him on a television show while Navjot Singh Sidhu told Sportsweek amp Lifestyle in 1988 that he was most embarrassed when he had to propose to his wifeBest Friend was also a question asked in intimate interviews Thirty years ago Kumble said to me that his best pal was brother Dinesh In 1983 Patil and Shastri listed each other as best friends while Wasim Bari tickled Cricketer Asia readers when he mentioned his peon Mohammad Ilyas as his best friendTendulkars best friend was the game of cricket while Manjrekar said it was his batSyed Kirmani was humourous in his replies to Cricketer Asia When it came to spelling out his Favourite Relaxation all he said was Not for publication His Favourite Singer in 1983 was Pakistani opener Mudassar Nazar and when asked for the colour of his hair the bald wicketkeeper shot back What hairMohammed Azharuddin had two namesakes mentioned in his intimate interview to me in 1990 His favourite singer was Mohammad Rafi while boxing legend Muhammad Ali was one person he wanted to meet His superstition was a bit different to the common one about cricketers putting on their left leg guard first His was not to wear anything new for the first time on the day of a big matchUnder Own Car Azharuddin mentioned his Honda Accord All cricketers mentioned in connection with their cars now own luxury carsAutomobile lovers would be delighted to hear about what the current Indian cricketers drive around in mdash a good time to emulate their coach Ravi Shastri as it were since Shastri recently spoke about the Audi he won as Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in 1985 For those who are not aware the car in which he drove his teammates around the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 10 1985 was damaged by his jubilant teammates spikes and so Audi had to ship a new oneOh by the way Imran said he was joking about those four Rolls Royce cars five sports beauties on wheels and two tongas If that list were true it would be no laughing mattermiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch 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 middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news