Only few have loved cricket more than Vasant Raiji

The body of work Vasant Raiji has created is vested not so much in his brief career as a player — he played in only nine matches — but several decades he has spent as cricket aficionado and historian.

At 9.30 am on January 26, former India captain Nari Contractor and former wicket-keeper Chandra Patankar are among a small group of people going to Vasant Raiji’s house carrying birthday greetings. India’s oldest living first-class cricketer turns 100.

A voracious reader and book collector, Vasant Raiji had a mammoth collection of cricket books, lining up virtually every wall in his house. (HT FILE)

This month has seen some distinguished visitors coming to meeting Raiji on this upcoming landmark. Earlier this week Sunil Gavaskar dropped by and less than a fortnight back, Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh had come together. Not all cricketers have a sense of history. Thankfully some do.

The body of work Raiji has created is vested not so much in his brief career as a player — he played in only nine matches — but several decades he has spent as cricket aficionado and historian. Longevity of life in itself does not necessarily make for great legacy. There must be something more.

It is his unbridled passion for cricket, his relations with and writings on some of the biggest players of bygone eras, his truly formidable memory and articulation of anecdotes that make Raiji such a compelling figure.

Raiji was 13 then. I have always wondered why the Bombay Gymkhana, which has little to show by way of history or memorabilia of that match, could not have involved him in recreating in some way the aura of that match for posterity.

Raiji also lived through the era of the Quadrangulars and Pentangulars, structured along communal lines with cricket teams and players representing Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Europeans, the Rest. The two tournaments were played in very turbulent times in the nation’s history. Did this not affect the mindset of players?

“The game prevailed over all else,’’ Raiji would say with finality whenever we discussed the Quadrangulars and Pentangulars.

Realising that his talent and expertise couldn’t take him far, Raiji pursued studies, becoming an accountant and joining his family firm. Vocational and financial security allowed him to develop a different cricketing persona. He became writer, author, and collector of books and memorabilia.

His favourite Indian cricketer is Colonel C K Nayudu on whom he wrote the book `Shahenshah of Cricket’. Like everybody else in the 1930s and 40s, Raiji was obsessed with Sir Donald Bradman, with whom he was to strike a friendship through letters after the great Australian had retired.

Unusually, Raiji also wrote a book on Victor Trumper, who was not such a big hero in India though he was rated by some in Australia and England as an even greater batsman than Bradman. Does this explain Steve Waugh’s interest in meeting him I wonder?

A voracious reader and book collector, Raiji had a mammoth collection of cricket books, lining up virtually every wall in his house. Since he was also author, he was in constant touch with booksellers. Once on a tour of England, a bookshop owner, learning that I was from Mumbai, asked me if I knew Raiji!

My best interactions with him came at the turn of the millennium when he was putting together a book on the Cricket Club of India. Around that time, he also pushed late Raj Singh Dungarpur, then president of CCI, to start the Legends Club, in memory of India’s cricketing greats, something sorely needed.

I once asked him what he found so addictive about cricket. Raiji replied, “It’s helped me understanding others, life’s vicissitudes and consequently myself.’’ Few have loved cricket more, and the century he reaches on Sunday is thoroughly deserved.

Well played sir!