Clayton Murzello: The motel man from California

Former Ranji Trophy all-rounder Atul Mehta at a suburban club last week. (Right) Mehta in the 1970s. Pics/Rane Ashish, mid-day archives

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet Atul Mehta, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, who played for three of the five state teams in the West Zone - Saurashtra, Bombay and Gujarat. The tall leg-spinning all-rounder has been staying in America since the early 1980s. He owns a motel in California.

Mehta was born in Rangoon in 1949 (the same year as Sunil Gavaskar, his St Xavier's school and college mate). His parents had a rice and diamond business there. He also played for Dadar Union Sporting Club, an institution which Gavaskar made world famous.

Mehta (66) first played Ranji for Sa­u­rashtra. "I was picked as a leg-spinner, but sent in at No. 3 on my debut against Bombay at Brabourne Stadium in 1967," Mehta recalled. He top-scored with 46 in his side's total of 186. Even though Bombay, led by Ma­nohar Hardikar, were without their regulars who were on India duty in Australia, Bombay beat Saurashtra by an innings and later in the season, clinched the Ranji Trophy.

When Saurashtra and Bombay clashed the following season in Rajkot, Mehta dismissed Bombay captain Ajit Wadekar in both innings of their Ranji encounter on a matting track on which he scored 43 in the first innings against a full strength Bombay side whose bowling attack was spearheaded by Ramakant Desai. After that game, Polly Umrigar invited him to be part of the champion domestic outfit from the 1969-70 season and the young collegian swooped on the opportunity. A player from another state being invited to play for Bombay in those days was a true recognition of his skill and temperament.

Mehta knew what it was like to hold his own in a Bombay team filled with Test stars. "It was great to be in their company and I can assure you, you got treated in the same fashion as a Test player would. You were never made to feel out of place," he told me.

During our conversation, Ramji Dharod, a former club cricketer, who played alongside Mehta for Sunder CC, reminded him of his Richie Benaud-like action and Mehta could only blush at the similarity. Mehta claimed 51 wickets in 46 first-class games in which he scored 1530 runs with a couple of centuries. "I could have done much better. I was a novice. I didn't realise the importance of building on one's performance - aim for a fifer once you have four wickets; strive for 200 once you got to 100 etc. Looking at the manner in which today's cricketers prepare for a game, I can't help thinking that I could have done something similar and would have performed better even though we did not have the luxury of video footage," admitted Mehta.

The 1970-71 Bombay vs Maharashtra Ranji Trophy final at Bra­bourne Stadium has to be the most memorable for Mehta. Three batsmen - skipper Sudhir Naik, Bhosale and Mahesh Sampat - were back in the dressing room within 20 minutes of the start. Ramnath Parkar and Ajit Naik's 142-run stand revived the hosts, but they lost their next five wickets for 51 runs before Mehta was joined by Padmakar Shivalkar. In true gritty fashion, they put on 68 for the ninth wicket to help Bombay post a respectable, if not formidable 287. "That partnership was crucial in a low-scoring game. Atul displayed fine temperament and I don't remember him gifting his wicket away in all the years I played with and against him," said Naik, who led a young Bombay team to Ranji honours that season when five seniors were in the West Indies.

From 1975-76, Mehta played for Gujarat and Bombay became his Ranji Trophy opposition just like in 1967-68. When Gujarat clashed with Bombay at Bulsar in December 1977, Mehta top-scored with 40 in his side's total of 169. He followed it up with 37 in the second innings in a game in which Bombay were dismissed for 83 and 42 as Gujarat won by 225 runs. The memorable match was also a sad one for Mehta because his former team did not make the Ranji Trophy knock-out stage for the very first time.

By 1980 when Mehta played his last game for Gujarat, the Mumbai school of cricket had left a big impact on his life. At Dadar Union he learnt discipline. At Mafatlal Sports Club where he played alongside his elder brother Niranjan, he realised what tough cricket was all about. "Inter-office cricket here was nothing short of intense. Where Dadar Union is concerned, we won a lot of games but never went overboard with our celebrations. When someone took a brilliant catch, we only clapped and with Vithal Patil in the side no one dared do anything out of the ordinary. We were scared of our seniors," said Mehta. The quiet and pleasant Mehta's Mumbai visit will end on Saturday. He would have loved to meet more of his old friends, but there is the motel in California to attend to. Mehta's first-class cricket career was a long one - 1967 to 1981. He did nothing lavish like a five-star resident would do, but it was not an overnight motel-like stay either.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com