Nari Contractor, the lionheart of Gujarat, remains an inspiration for Indian cricket

It is seldom that one finds icons in the field of sports turning emotional while speaking in public about those who were heroes to them during their formative years. One such event took place during the awards ceremony organised by a leading publication in the field of sports recently. Sunil Gavaskar, who chaired the jury that selected the recipients of the various awards, was visibly emotional when he introduced Nari Contractor, the winner of the “lifetime achievement award” in the male category. Gavaskar said that he learnt the invaluable lesson from Contractor that “you are required to put your life on the line when you turn out for the country”. The videos of the function, which showed Contractor, as erect and stoic as ever, receiving the honour, brought tears of nostalgia to followers of the game who had seen this courageous cricketer perform in his heydays, as well as those who had read and heard about his exploits.

Though his parents and family were based in Mumbai, Contractor was born in Godhra, Gujarat in March 1934. His pregnant mother was on her journey from Dohad, a small town in Gujarat to Mumbai, when her labour pains began. Her brother, who was the engine driver of the train in which she was travelling, convinced her to get down at Godhra, where his duty ended that evening. Contractor was born that night at Godhra, which made him eligible to play for Gujarat on the basis of the place of his birth!! This was to have considerable significance on his cricket career as well.

Contractor started playing first-class cricket for Gujarat while still in his teens. He won his place in the Gujarat side for the Ranji Trophy in rather unusual circumstances. He attracted the attention of Phiroz Khambata, then captain of Gujarat side, when he was took part in the selection trials for Mumbai side for MCA silver jubilee matches in 1952.

Khambata invited Contractor to play for Gujarat, which the latter refused, thinking that he would get selected to the Mumbai side. But Contractor did not win selection to the Mumbai side, forcing him to send a message to Khambata indicating his willingness to play for Gujarat. By this time, the selection of Gujarat team was also completed but Khambata sportingly dropped out of the game against Vadodara to fit in the promising youngster. Contractor did not let down his benefactor and made the most of this opportunity by scoring a hundred in each innings in this game. He thus became the second cricketer, after Arthur Morris of Australia, to score a century in each innings on his debut in first-class cricket.

This was the beginning of a series of tall scores which finally led to his selection to the national squad against the touring New Zealand side during the 1955-56 season. He made his debut in the international arena in the second Test of this series, which was played at Mumbai. He batted at No 7 and could make only 16 runs in his only outing to the middle with the willow in hand.

Though he was originally a middle-order batsman, Contractor was asked to open the innings for India in the next Test on account of an injury to Vinoo Mankad. Contractor equipped himself well at the top of the batting order scoring a doughty 62. Another half-century at the same position in the following Test convinced the selectors that he was better suited to open the innings rather than bat in the middle order. However, despite this good start, he was not selected to play in the first two Tests when Australia toured India in the next winter. He got his chance only in the last Test of the series at Kolkata, where he opened the innings, but could not make too many in a low-scoring match.

The last years of the 1950s was a period when the fortunes of India cricket were at its lowest. India was thrashed 0-3 in a five-Test home series against West Indies in 1958-59, which included defeat by a margin of an innings and 336 runs in the third match at Kolkata. This was also the series when India played under four different captains in the five matches. During the tour to England in 1959, India had to face the ignominy of being “whitewashed” 0-5, losing all five Tests by huge margins. One of the few redeeming aspects of these series was the stubborn resistance put up by Contractor with the bat. It was during the second Test of the series against England that he continued batting despite a cracked rib to score a valiant knock of 81. Incidentally, this injury was serious enough for him to miss the next Test.

When Australia toured India in 1959-60, India managed to break the drought by winning the second Test at Kanpur, riding on the strength of a brilliant bowling performance by Jasu Patel. Contractor scored 74 in this Test before he was dismissed in an unusual manner when the sweep shot struck by him stuck between the legs of Neil Harvey at short leg, who had turned to take evasive action. Contractor continued his good form by scoring his maiden century in Test matches in the next game at Mumbai, which helped India to secure a draw.

Contractor was appointed as the captain of the national side when Pakistan toured India during the 1960-61 season. This turned out to be a dull series with both sides playing safe as not to lose any match. But Contractor came into his own as skipper when England came to India in the next season to play a five-Test series. Displaying admirable aplomb and assurance, he led India to a comfortable 2-0 win, handing England their first-ever series loss in India. This series is also remembered as the one that saw the entry of such stalwarts as Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Farokh Engineer and Erapalli Prasanna into the world of Test cricket. Contractor won praise for his excellent handling of Salim Durani, the left-handed spin bowling all-rounder, who was the hero with 18 wickets in his bag in the two Tests that India won.

This victory, along with the entry of talented youngsters and the leadership style of the youthful skipper, so excited the fans of the game in India that they were looking forward to the series in the West Indies that followed immediately thereafter with the hope that the visitors might even achieve the dream of winning a Test match there. However, India was no match for the hosts and was outplayed in the first two Tests. Contractor himself looked out of touch, contributing only 26 runs in the four completed innings.

A bigger tragedy followed during the first-class match against Barbados, which was played in the interval between the second and third Tests, where Contractor was felled by a bouncer from Charlie Griffith and suffered serious bleeding inside the skull. Medical facilities in the West Indies islands were not very advanced then, and for some, the Indian skipper’s life hung in the balance. Griffith was seen weeping in the corridors of the hospital while West Indies skipper donated his blood even as the doctors battled to save his life. Contractor survived this nightmare but it required a second surgery after getting back to India before he could resume normal life.

The guts and grit that Contractor had in ample amounts within him came to the fore when he resumed playing first-class cricket for Gujarat eight months after suffering the injury. He continued to score consistently and even made a century in the finals of the Duleep Trophy championship that preceded the tour to Australia in 1967-68. However, the selectors were loath to include him in the squad, worried as to what might happen if he was hit again on the head. Incidentally, this decision won them the eternal gratitude of his wife Dolly! Contractor continued to play for Gujarat till the 1969-70 season and signed off with a knock of 93 against Vadodara in his last match.

The publication that honoured Nari Contractor with the “lifetime achievement” award deserves the gratitude of followers of the game of the earlier generations for rekindling memories of this fearless and gutsy cricketer who stood tall and took on fast bowlers without flinching in an era when the protective equipment in use was rather primitive. It was the courage and fortitude displayed by stalwarts like him that paved the way for the emergence of legends such as Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar during the decades that followed.

This article cannot be concluded without mentioning two amazing gestures of his that stand as testimony to his greatness. Mrs Dolly Contractor flew down to Barbados on hearing about the injury and was sitting beside her husband when Griffith went to meet the Indian captain. Sensing the awkwardness and embarrassment of Griffith, Contractor sought to put him at ease by telling Dolly, “Charlie is not to blame….. it was all my fault”. Later, after Frank Worrell died of blood cancer in 1967, the Cricket Association of Bengal decided to pay homage to him through a blood donation drive on his birthday. Contractor and Dolly flew down to Kolkata and donated blood on this occasion. These words and actions reveal the dignity and strength of character of one of the tallest cricketers who strode the Indian cricket arena. Nariman Jamshedji Contractor belongs to the breed of lionhearted cricketers who will always retain a place in the hearts of the followers of the sport. Congratulations to him for winning the lifetime achievement award!