Plate inserted in Contractor’s head in 1962 to be removed

Former India captain Nari Contractor

Sixty years ago, Nari Contractor had a titanium plate inserted in his head to ensure there would be no further damage after being hit on the skull by a Charlie Griffith bouncer in Barbados on March 17, 1962. The plate will be removed tomorrow at the Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. "The body is rejecting the plate, so he has lost the skin covering it. Hence, it has to be removed," Contractor's son Hoshedar told mid-day.

The plate was inserted in an operation conducted by famous neurosurgeon Dr Chandy at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, in 1962 following a surgery in the West Indies, after which Contractor consulted doctors at New York's Presbyterian Hospital.

Contractor, 88, has always known the value of the plate. It was Dr Chandy who had urged him to start playing cricket after the injury.

Contractor thought the neurosurgeon was being ridiculous with his view. He quoted the doctor as saying in an interview to this writer in 2014: "Normally, an operation 30 to 45 minutes. Yours took two and a half hours. Do you know why it took that long? It's because instead of putting a mesh, which we do normally, I have put a metal plate, which is heat and cold proof and I have made perforations for the nerves to tighten it and that took time. I had to cut the metal so that if you get hit on this side [right] again, nothing will happen to you."

Remarkably, Contractor made a comeback to first-class cricket in 1962-63 and played domestic cricket for Gujarat (Ranji Trophy) and West Zone (Duleep Trophy) till 1970-71. He was a contender for India's 1967-68 tour of Australia, but didn't get picked. Hoshedar told mid-day on Monday that he has received tremendous support from the BCCI in the build-up to his father's operation.