Reporter, the sharp and witty one!

A good part of umpire Piloo Reporterrsquos September Sundays would be spent on the maidans of Mumbai doing what he did bestmdashofficiating matches efficiently mingling with the Kanga League fraternity eating the dry lunch prepared by his wife Homai and enjoying the glucose biscuits and chai served at tea time in the tentAccording to his doting granddaughter Freny Reporter bid us goodbye on his Parsi Roj birthday which fell this SundayBack to the Kanga League Cricket didnrsquot end with the 550 pm draw of stumps for Reporter who passed away at 84 It would continue by way of willow talk bonding laughter and a bit of regret on the train journey back home to Thane Regret because at times he made mistakes on the field of play and he wouldnrsquot be coy to admit them to the concerned player or to Homai when he got homeReporterrsquos demise means another Parsi cricket character has left us ldquoA Dikro as original as it gets Fine man a real character and a top umpire in his primerdquo Ravi Shastri told me on SundayDid it strike the Indian team management in Sri Lanka that it would be a nice touch to observe a minutersquos silence before the India v Nepal Asia Cup game in Kandy to mourn Reporterrsquos death Or probably perform that noble act in the dressing room We donrsquot know if they did but Reporter never failed to notice black armbands worn by players while watching cricket on his television Invariably he would call me to find out the reason for the armbandsAlso read Asia Cup Pakistan went out of the way to make us comfortable says Roger BinnyI had the pleasure of knowing him since the late 1980s and got to know him even more when I joined this newspaper the following decade He was a columnist and friend of the organisation answering umpiringrelated questions from readersOne day in April 1997 Reporter walked in to our then Lower Parel office to tell us about his benefit match to be held at Valsad in June He was discussing the names he wanted to invite so that the event would have some star value My immediate boss Nandakumar Marar suggested he calls Vivian Richards who was in Mumbai at the time Reporter loved the idea but wondered how to get in touch with the great man We provided him a number Nandakumar insisting Reporter makes the call immediately Reporter hesitated and sat on a chair before garnering courage to dial up Guess who picks up the phone at the other end Richards himself Reporter is stunned and rises from his seat to carry on the conversation They decide to meet the following Saturday Nandakumar wants me to accompany Reporter to interview Richards for Sunday midday A reporter accompanying Reporter on a visit to invite him to be part of a benefit game didnrsquot appeal to me After I was coerced I thought I should pose as Reporterrsquos media manager for his benefit gameWithin a few days we landed up at Richardsrsquos place Reporter carried a sweet box for Richards Me a file to give the impression Irsquom a wellprepared communications man In my bag there was a camera in case Richards agreed to be photographedWe enter the living room and are made to wait Suddenly we see Richards approaching us old swagger and all We rise He gives Reporter a bear hug I introduce myself as the PR manThey get talking I donrsquot remember if he told Richards that the benefit match was being held for himself and fellow umpire Dara Dotiwala but I do remember Reporter fearing that Richards wouldnrsquot agree to participate in his benefit as soon as he mentions Dotiwalarsquos name Richards was unhappy over Dotiwala adjudging him Leg Before Wicket in the first innings of the 198384 Delhi Test ldquoThe cups and saucers in the dressing room took a knock from a Jumbo bat flung in angerrdquo reported The SportstarRichards agreed to be in Valsad on June 1 Itrsquos now time for me to ask him for an interview He agrees When I reached Question No 5 or 6 Reporter pinches me to let me know to end it He fears Richards would blow up This was the same man who had to remind Richards to hold his tongue when he reacted sharply to Reporter turning down an appeal which would have sent Mohammed Azharuddin back to the Eden Gardens pavilion in the 198788 Kolkata Test ldquoI didnrsquot want him to apologise just remind him who the boss on the field isrdquo Reporter told me in an interviewWe left Richardsrsquos dwelling place in Andheri in good cheer He got Richards to agree to come for his benefit and I got my interviewAs everyone who knew Reporter would agree he could be strict on the field without forgetting to be pleasant and complimentary Richard Hadlee wrote in Rhythm and Swing about what Reporter said to him while congratulating him on becoming Test cricketrsquos highest wickettaker in the 198889 Bangalore Test ldquoTo complete my cricket education I have to umpire in England but today my education is completerdquo Hadlee called it a ldquolovely reactionrdquoThree years later Reporter became more popular when he thrilled spectators during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with his lsquosignaturersquo signal whenever a batsman hit a fourWhen Reporter responded to the eternal signal to leave us last Sunday he was a far lighter version of the active man we saw several times with or without his white coatHis contribution to the gamemdashjust like umpires in generalmdashshould never be undervalued And like Richards told him on April 12 1997 ldquoYou have been very much part of the gamerdquomiddayrsquos group sports 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