March 17, 1962 is a day that changed the course of Nari Contractor's cricket career. Heading into that fateful day, the left-handed opening batter had so much to look forward to. At 28, he was at his prime, having already played 31 Tests. He was also the India captain, having just led in the famous Test series win against England at home in 1961-62.
Contractor’s challenge at that point was to lift his side in the West Indies. India had
March 17, 1962 is a day that changed the course of Nari Contractor's cricket career. Heading into that fateful day, the left-handed opening batter had so much to look forward to. At 28, he was at his prime, having already played 31 Tests. He was also the India captain, having just led in the famous Test series win against England at home in 1961-62.
Contractor’s challenge at that point was to lift his side in the West Indies. India had lost the first two Tests. The pace bowling of Wes Hall, Chester Watson, Charlie Stayers and Garry Sobers, alongside the spin of Lance Gibbs, had left the tourists' batting line-up in total disarray. It’s in this backdrop that the tour game against Barbados began in preparation for the third Test that was scheduled to begin from March 23, 1962, in Bridgetown. After aggregating just 26 runs, Contractor himself was in much need of some runs.
Apart from Hall, the Barbados side also had Charlie Griffith among their ranks. Griffith had played just one Test till then—in the fifth game against England in 1960—but had already built a formidable reputation in domestic cricket. Before the tour game in his hometown, then West Indies skipper Frank Worrell had warned the India side of what to expect.
“There was a cocktail party, which the West Indians call Sundowner, where Worrell told us there was a bowler in the Barbados side called Charlie Griffith,” Contractor has said in an interview to Backspin magazine. “As we had so many injuries before the game, he suggested that it would be better to get out than get hit. Frank said Griffith was crude and impolite. He cited an example of him hitting an 18-year-old batsman on the head and he didn't even apologise to him, so Frank told us to take care.”
As Contractor undergoes another head surgery related to the bouncer that ended his career, HT takes a look back at the day it all happened. The game started with the hosts taking first strike. They were well served by Anthony King, who scored a composed half-century, and Hall, who made useful runs down the order as Barbados finished on a total of 394. A massive caveat here: there were no helmets those days, neither was any restriction on the number of bouncers in an over. With the games played on uncovered pitches, batters were basically walking targets in front of the fearsome Caribbean fast bowlers.
A nasty delivery
Just before lunch, India openers Dilip Sardesai and Contractor got to play one over from Griffith. As they walked back to the pavilion, Sardesai was believed to have told his opening partner that he didn’t find Griffith to be really express.
After the break, it proved to be an entirely different experience. Sardesai fell to Hall for a duck in the first over on resumption and Rusi Surti joined his captain at the crease. Griffith started the next over to Contractor. Seeing the first ball whistle past Contractor’s nose, Surti had alerted his captain that he thought Griffith was chucking the ball.
After three more disconcerting deliveries, Griffith hurled a real nasty one which Contractor could do nothing about, the ball hitting him flush above his right ear. Now there are two versions of how it happened. According to Contractor, it was a short ball and he didn't duck, a version backed by the Wisden report as well. During some interviews later, Griffith—though quite apologetic about it—maintained it was just short of a length and Contractor actually ducked into it. There are also reports of how someone in the India dressing room had allegedly opened a window and the reflection of the glass distracting the batter just before the delivery was bowled.
Chandu Borde, part of the India side on that tour, is 87 now but still remembers it like it was yesterday. Clutching his head, Contractor slumped and immediately started bleeding from his nose and ears. After being helped to the pavilion, he was rushed to the local hospital. “That was a very serious matter when he was hit by Griffith’s bouncer,” says Borde. “He was in serious condition.”
The mood in India's camp had turned dark. As the day unfolded, Vijay Manjrekar too was hit on the nose by Griffith. The bowler was no-balled once, leading to boos from the crowd. “Everyone was in shock. That day we were not in a mood to go anywhere, nothing was done, nothing,” recalls Borde.
“The doctor present at the local hospital (Dr Leacock) saw the injury and said that he should be operated immediately otherwise Nari’s life would be in danger. He said I will do the operation. I am not a neurosurgeon but I will try my best. Consent was taken (of team manager Ghulam Ahmed) and he did a wonderful job. Next day morning a specialist (Dr Ghourilal) had come, from Trinidad I think. Then he took over the treatment.”
“Four-five of us gave blood—Frank Worrell, Bapu Nadkarni, Polly Umrigar and I. We have the same blood group (B +ve),” says Borde. Of Worrell’s gesture to donate blood, Borde said: “Worrell’s gesture, coming from the opposition, showed the game was beyond the boundaries.” Ironically, Worrell died of leukemia in 1967, when he was just 42. His kind gesture was never forgotten. Since 1981, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) started observing its foundation day (February 3) as “Sir Frank Worrell Day”, organising a blood donation camp every year.
The convalescence
Coming back to Barbados, 1962, Ghourilal, the neurosurgeon, had performed a two-hour operation the next day. It took six days for Contractor to regain full consciousness. He spent some time recuperating in Barbados with his wife, who had flown in to be by his side, before returning to India. According to an earlier article, Contractor didn’t blame Griffith for the injury though it ended Contractor’s international career. He returned to play first-class cricket but was not picked again for India. Griffith went on to play 28 Tests for West Indies. Borde remembers his bouncer to be frighteningly quick and that he himself was lucky to not get hurt in one of the Tests.
“The delivery that hit Nari was quite a nasty one because after that West Indies had come to India (in 1966-67). I was batting in my nineties during the Chennai Test, and he bowled a similar type of ball. It kissed my hair but I didn’t even know (see the ball).
“I did get my hundred and that evening, Rohan Kanhai came to my room and said ‘I want to celebrate your century’. I said ‘Rohan, come on I will buy you a drink’. He said ‘No, the party is on me’. I asked him, ‘Why is it so special?’ He said: ‘I am glad you survived’. It was that kind of delivery, a very nasty one.”
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