Full stop! Vasant Raiji says bye

However gutted death can make you feel when it concerns a cricket personality can trivia be far away Only to prove it cant Vasant Raiji until the wee hours of Saturday the worlds oldest living firstclass cricketer 100 years 139 days passed away on the birth anniversary of KS DuleepsinhjiRaiji figured in only eight Ranji Trophy matchesmdashtwo for Mumbai and six for Barodamdashbut his greatest contribution to the game was in the sphere of literatureThis was not restricted to India Australian cricket historians will remember his book on Victor Trumper which was recently highlighted by that countrys top cricket writer Gideon Haigh in his book on the secondmost significant legend in Australian cricket after Sir Donald BradmanTalking of Bradman whom Raiji regularly wrote and received letters from there is a passage written by our Walkeshwar man which should earn more plaudits than it has gotBradman as Indian cricket fans will tell you did not step on their streets Raiji compared Bradmans decisions to Gods will when he wrote Indians worship a multitude of gods In Sir Donald Bradman they have their God of cricket God is perfect In the eyes of the Indians Bradman is the perfect batsman God is unseen Indians have not seen Bradman play Gods ways are inscrutableOn the way to England in 1948 the ship Strathaird carrying the Ashes tourists stopped at Mumbai but Bradman wouldnt get off amidst rumours of a plague In 1953 he had to stop at Kolkata en route to report on the 1953 series in England He and Lady Jessie enjoyed some Indian hospitality from cricket officials at the airport So Indian fans never got to see Bradman Bluntly put he was scared about contracting a disease hence kept away even from the 1987 World Cup which his country ended up winningThe body of former India firstclass cricketer Vasant Raiji being carried at the Banganga crematorium on Saturday PicBipin KokateRaiji wrote on an array of Indian cricket stars of yesteryearmdashNayudu and Mushtaq Merchant and Deodhar Amarnath Hazare and Phadkar He worshipped Nayudu to such great lengths that he compiled a book on him in 1990 As a child he watched Nayudu lead India in their inaugural home Testmdashagainst Englandmdashat the Bombay Gymkhana in the December of 1933Raijis 100th birthday on January 26 this year was celebrated with visits from Sunil Gavaskar Sachin Tendulkar Steve Waugh Nari Contractor and Russi Cooper 97 who is now the oldest living Indian firstclass cricketerWhen Sunday midday met him at his home in January Raiji didnt seem to remember all his favourite cricketing exploits in great detail but you got the feeling that all those firm strokes delicate glances deceptive deliveries quicksilver fielding and the obduracy displayed by the toughest of players in the Ranji Trophy Pentangulars and of course Test matches at the CCI were playing out in his mind even during the last days of his life Doubtless LP Jai as wellmdashthe Mumbai batsmanmdashon whom Raiji wrote a bookRaiji leaves behind wife Panna 94 as well as daughters Brinda and RenukaMarcus Couto his friend of 37 years was the one who thought it deserving to publicise Raijis life century In his several recent conversations after the slices of cake were savoured and digested Raiji expressed a wish of celebrating Coutos October retirement from the CCI where he serves in the administration department with a cakeRaiji left his lifes crease before sunrise Like one of his cricketing heroes Duleepsinhjimdashin his sleepCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso 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