Hanumant Singh, a true servant of cricket!

Remembering the late India batsman and coach on his birth anniversary

Hanumant ‘Chottu” Singh been around for his 80th birthday today, he would have probably still made it for his daily a game of golf at the US Club. He’d even be at the Cricket Club of India later in the day, chatting quietly with friends and also passing on valuable tips to aspiring cricketers with a smile on his face.

I cannot claim to have known him very well, but our professional interactions were always pleasant. When this newspaper organised an exchange programme wherein young Indian squash players were sent to Malaysia to train and play while Malaysian kids came over for cricket training and matches, it was Hanumant who willingly trained the kids at the Elf Vengsarkar Cricket Academy, Oval Maidan. He was the ideal coach for the raw cricketers and put them at ease even though they were being taught by a former Test player.

As a kid, I had read about him being one of the several Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut (against England at Delhi in 1964) but could not come up with more century efforts. He made his debut 55 years ago, a little more than a month before he turned 25. Cricket experts felt he should have been awarded an India cap much earlier than 1964.

Unfortunately, his Test career in 1969 with only one century but he came close to the three-figure mark thrice – 94 against the Australians later in 1964, 75 not out against the New Zealanders in 1965 and 82 in the first innings during the same series at Delhi.

Hanumant’s career cannot be judged by scores alone. He batted in grand fashion and according to late cricket writer Rajan Bala in The Wisden Cricketer, “He was born a prince and batted like one.”

For a player of his class, he deserved more opportunities. He was shockingly dropped from the Indian team that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1967-68 – omitted through an illness (Guinea Worm disease) which he never had. Yet, I cannot recall him looking back in regret. Later, he took pleasure in indulging in any cricket-related activity, be it playing at the domestic level, managing the Indian team at home in 1978-79 and on the 1982-83 West Indies tour, selecting Indian teams from 1983-84 to 1986-87, being BCCI’s national coach through which he mentored many a young talent and helping out the BCCI in the early years of the National Cricket Academy as director.

Although Hanumant turned out for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, he played a lot of cricket in Mumbai. Bowlers facing up to State Bank of India batsmen were always wary of Hanumant. Probably, his most satisfying moment in domestic cricket was when his Central Zone side beat West Zone under Ajit Wadekar (his State Bank teammate) to claim the 1971-72 Duleep Trophy final by two wickets in Bangalore.

Hanumant was coach of the Kenya team which famously beat West Indies in their 1996 World Cup fixture in Pune. The team were naturally overjoyed, but Hanumant refused to go over the top. When I met him at the Blue Diamond hotel the morning after the win, he preferred to focus on the next match (vs Sri Lanka in Kandy)

He was also an International Cricket Council match referee, who once handed out a one-match ban to Glenn McGrath for protesting vehemently after given out in a one-day match against New Zealand at Melbourne in 2002.

Hanumant had a deep understanding of other sports as well. After all, he played hockey and football in his younger days. Later, to keep fit, he indulged in swimming and squash. His love for golf began in the mid-1960s. “It is simply thrilling to be able to hit a ball over 200 yards once in a while,” he told CN Venugopal of Sport & Pastime magazine in 1966.

There are several stories about Hanumant, but one that is most fascinating concerns an Australian baggy green cap. A book on baggy green caps published in 2008 had a mention about Arthur Morris presenting his cap to a “young Indian boy” after the Australian batsman figured in a charity game at the Brabourne Stadium in 1964. Morris, who was part of Don Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles, did not recollect the name of the boy. That lad was Hanumant who had scored 140 and 61 in that game which moved Morris to give away his cap. The cap was treasured by Hanumant and is still preserved by his son Sangram.

Dengue and Hepatitis B claimed Hanumant’s life on the morning of November 29 in 2006. He was only 67.

Not enough is done to perpetuate the memory of this great servant of cricket. The kings of Indian cricket administration owe it to this prince.

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