Curious experiences of Indian cricketers in England

Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu (left) with his brothers. The British press often assumed cricketer C.K. Nayudu was related to Sarojini Naidu, who had been arrested the same year (1932) Nayudu became India's first Test cricket captain. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

The first Indian cricket team, consisting entirely of Parsis, toured England way back in 1888. By the 1890s, K.S. Ranjitsinhji and M.E. Pavri had played in the County Championship as overseas cricketers. To the Indians, a trip of England meant experiences – both good and bad, normal and paranormal – on and off the field.

What’s in a name?

The Sussex teammates of Ranjitsinhji or Duleepsinhji could not pronounce their names, and addressed them by a generic ‘Smith’. At Winchester, they called M.A.K. Pataudi ‘Noob’, a wordplay on Nawab. During his Derbyshire days, S. Venkataraghavan became ‘Rent-a-Wagon’ or ‘Rent-a-Caravan’. And at Northamptonshire, Anil Kumble went from Kumble to ‘Crumble’ to ‘Apple Crumble’ to simply ‘Apple’.

There is no known incident of these cricketers being offended by any of these nicknames. Cheteshwar Pujara, on the other hand, never liked being called a generic ‘Steve’ at Yorkshire, a common nickname at the club at one point for cricketers of colour. In 2021, his former Yorkshire teammate Jack Brooks tweeted an apology.

Not quite family matters

At Lord’s in 1932, Colonel C.K. Nayudu became India’s first captain in Test cricket. The British press often assumed he was related to Sarojini Naidu, who had been arrested back home the same year. A speaker even described the Colonel as ‘the shining light of the Naidu family which has produced such a brilliant orator as Mrs Sarojini Naidu.’

Nayudu typically dodged the answers with ‘she is a great lady, we come from the same land.’

Merchant miffed

Religious riots had spread across India when the national team was touring England in 1946. John Arlott, in the first year of his career as a legendary commentator, asked Vijay Merchant: ‘Shouldn’t the white man stay on to secure the peace?’ Merchant reminded Arlott that the British themselves needed a civil war to achieve political liberties.

Arlott became a close friend of Merchant and, indeed, the entire Indian squad, over the course of that tour.

A matter of money

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) allowed the Indian cricketers a paltry daily allowance of £1 a day on their 1967 tour of England. The vegetarians were hit the hardest due to lack of cheap options, and sometimes had to survive on bread and butter. They had to save money to buy pullovers: the sweaters provided by the BCCI worked in India but were of no use in England.

Ahead of their next tour, in 1971, captain Ajit Wadekar and manager Hemu Adhikari fought hard – successfully – to treble this allowance, to £3 a day.

Gripping chase

Ken Kelly clicked one of cricket’s most iconic photographs, of Bishan Bedi, eyes at the other end, pressing the ball with his right thumb into his left palm before releasing it. Kelly chased Bedi obsessively for four years, from one venue in England to another, trying every possible angle, before finally getting achieving perfection. It reached a stage when Bedi would ask, ‘what, you again?’

Sunny days

Sunil Gavaskar played for Somerset in 1980. He shared an apartment with Joel Garner that summer. Whenever they left for the apartment together, their neighbours used to stare – for Gavaskar was 5’5” and Garner 6’8”.

Gavaskar’s Somerset teammate Ian Botham, the eternal prankster, found out about the former’s fear for dogs, and waited for an opportunity. His moment came when Gavaskar entered a phone booth to make a call. Botham stood outside with a dog, unperturbed by the resultant queue. He only relented when Gavaskar pleaded to take the dog away.

Learning to cook

After his wedding, Kapil Dev went to England in 1981, to play for Nelson in the Lancashire League. Neither he nor wife Romi knew how to cook, and one accident after another followed, the most famous of which involved a pan full of rajma. Mohinder Amarnath, who had been playing cricket in England for some time by then, came to their aid.

Too young to celebrate

On the 1990 tour of England, Sachin Tendulkar scored 119 not out – his first Test hundred – at Old Trafford, to help India save a Test match. He won the Player of the Match award, a magnum of champagne. However, there was a catch. Tendulkar was only 16, and was not legally allowed to consume alcohol in England.

When he played for Yorkshire two years later, Tendulkar was caught for speeding. The police let him go when they noticed the Yorkshire County Cricket Club logo on his car.

Ganguly off drives

Sourav Ganguly and Navjot Singh Sidhu were travelling from Piccadilly to Pinner when a young man tried to attack them inside the tube and even pulled a gun. No harm was done, but Ganguly reportedly still does not avail public transport in England.

On the 2002 tour, the Indians were put up in Lumley Castle, Durham. When he heard the sound of water, he investigated to find the taps turned off. After this happened a few times, he sought shelter in Robin Singh’s room for the night. Three years later, Shane Watson was spooked at the Lumley as well.

Paranormal activity

Ganguly was not the only Indian captain to undergo a paranormal experience in England. On the 2014 tour, the Indians were put up at the Langham Hotel in London, and the door of M.S. Dhoni’s room kept opening on its own from time to time. He changed his room the second night, something Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad have done at the same hotel too.