Vijay Hazare tribute: The man who Sir Don Bradman admired

Sydney Today marks the 101st birth anniversary of Vijay Hazare an alltime great cricketer A classy batsman with a faultless technique solid defense and elegant strokeplay he was a man of few words A crisis specialist he often came to Indiarsquos rescue in her darkest hoursVijay Hazare batting against England in the Manchester Test of 1952 PicGetty ImagesIndia achieved her first Test win under Hazare against England at Chennai in 1952 He was the first Indian to reach 1000 runs and 2000 runs in Test cricket scoring 2192 runs at 4765 in 30 Tests His most prolific home series was against the West Indies in 194849 when he collected 543 runs at 6787 including two centuries both in Mumbai His unbeaten 134 in the second Test saved India and his 122 brought India close to her first Test winVijay Hazare in 2000 Picmidday archivesMany of Hazarersquos best innings were played when most needed In the Leeds Test of 1952 India had lost their first four wickets for no run with Englandrsquos raw fast bowler Fred Trueman and master seamer Alec Bedser threatening to rout the tourists for the lowest total in Test history Hazare was nursing a painful injury but gallantly came out and blunted the attack scoring 56 In the same series at The Oval India was 5 for 6 with Trueman on rampage on a wet treacherous pitch Hazare scored 38 out of Indiarsquos 98 ldquoIt was the innings of my liferdquo he saidDon BradmanHis finest performance was in the Adelaide Test of January 1948 against Don Bradmanrsquos Invincibles India had lost the previous the first and third Tests by huge margins and appeared set for further humiliation after Australia amassed 674Hazare came to the middle with India 3 for 69 and facing oblivion Undaunted he scored 116 Forced to follow on India was 2 down for none when he made 145 He became the first Indian to hit centuries in both innings of a Test and that against the fury of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller These gutsy centuries moved Bradman to write ldquoHazare gave a display which ranks with one of the finest seen in this country There is no doubt Hazare was among the most accomplished batsmen ever to visit Australia and cricketlovers are indebted to him for the enjoyment he gave themrdquoRS Whitington added ldquoThe Archie Jacksonlike grace of Hazare fired the imagination of the Australian publicrdquoBobby Talyarkhan described him as ldquoimmaculate in appearance and studied in every movement Hazare might well be dubbed the Indian Jack HobbsrdquoHazarersquos ondrives hooks cuts and coverdrives were equally aweinspiring In The Romance of Indian Cricket Sujit Mukherjee wrote ldquoShould ever a sculpture be made of Hazare it should be in this the most glorious of his batting postures playing the coverdriveA change bowler he twice cleanbowled Bradman once each in the Sydney and Adelaide Tests When interviewed in 2000 he said wiping away nostalgic tears it was this feat he remembered more than his centuriesIf only Hazare had played for a stronger side Often he rescued India with a big score but before he could unstrap his pads a couple of wickets would topple so brittle was Indiarsquos batting In a Ranji Trophy match for Baroda against Holkar in 194647 he added 577 runs with Gul Mahomed a world record for any wicket that stood till 2006 when Sri Lankarsquos Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene added 624 runs against South Africa at Colombo In the Pentangular final for Rest against Hindus a team including nine Test players in Mumbai in 194344 he added 300 runs in 332 minutes for the sixth wicket with younger brother Vivek As Vivek held one end up with 21 Vijay smashed 266 He went from 294 to 300 with a six to become the first Indian to hit two triple centuries in firstclass cricket He went on to score 309 out of The Restrsquos total of 387 all out This 798 per cent monopoly in scoring was a world record in firstclass cricket until 1977Firstclass machineAt firstclass level from 1934 to 1966 he amassed 18754 runs at 5806 hitting 60 centuries including eight double and two triple centuries He also took 595 wickets at 2461 Hazare was coached in 1938 by Australiarsquos legspinner Clarrie Grimmett After scoring twin hundreds in the 1948 Adelaide Test Hazare received a gold watch from the South Australian Cricket Association and PM Robert Menzies congratulated him But for him the greatest thrill was the praise he received from lsquoGurursquo Grimmett who said ldquoVijay I am a very proud man todayrdquo Hazare had fond memories of Australia ldquoI wish it was possible for me to revisit Australia where I had such a delightful timerdquo he wrote to me in 1977 In Hazarersquos wordsldquoI remember the SCG because it was here that I scored my first century in Australia against NSW But for me the ground par excellence is the Adelaide Oval It made a vivid spectacle with the St Peterrsquos Cathedral bestowing blessings on merdquo A Catholic Vijay Samuel Hazare passed away on December 18 2004 aged 89When some Indian playersrsquo involvement in matchfixing was confirmed in 2000 it affected him greatly His daughterinlaw said he cried uncontrollably that day Keith Miller paid him the ultimate tribute ldquoVijay Hazare one of the most gentlemanly cricket giants of all time has had his fair share of bumpers hurled at his head in his heyday And how brilliantly and viciously he hammered this nonetooeasy delivery to master He was a cricketing giant by any yardstickrdquoHazares recordTests 30Runs 2192Highest 164Average 4765Hundreds 7