Cricket in high-five mode at the CCI

Author Aditya Bhushan (right) with former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar, ex-India women team captain Diana Edulji and Global Cricket School founder Sachin Bajaj (left) at the CCI on Saturday. Pic/Atul Kamble

It seemed so apt that Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag were paid handsome tributes at the Cricket Club of India on Saturday by someone who was close to their actions as it were.

That personality was ex-India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, who was chief selector while the five greats were empowering India with big runs. Vengsarkar provided good insights into the greatness of India's erstwhile batting guns while releasing the book, Fab Five - The Pandavas of India's Batting by Aditya Bhushan. Vengsarkar had watched Tendulkar belting the opposition in schools cricket, but was convinced of his calibre when he tackled Venkatapathy Raju and Arshad Ayub on a turning track at Hyderabad during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy clash there in February 1989.

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Vengsarkar recalled how Sehwag was picked for the 2007-08 tour of Australia despite not having a mountain of runs. He played in the Perth and Adelaide Tests which India didn't allow the hosts to win, and Australia's series advantage was restricted to 2-1. Sehwag scored 29 and 43 at Perth, where the Anil Kumble-led team won after the controversy-marred Test in Sydney. In the fourth and final Test at Adelaide, he carved a match-saving century. On the previous Australia tour, Sehwag scored 195 in India's first innings at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2003-04.

Vengsarkar was first impressed with Ganguly when he scored a hundred for East Zone (125 in vain) against West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy final at Pune in December 1990.

And while talking about the massive significance of Laxman's 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001, Vengsarkar did not want anyone to forget Dravid's 180 in the same innings which helped break Australia's impressive victory streak.