A talented batsman who played for Bombay and Maharashtra, Baba Sidhaye too was partially mute and deaf. His widow saw 'Baba' in Iqbal on the silver screen and insisted that he was just like the lead character in the film.
The film 'Iqbal' will still be fresh in many of our memories. Seeing a mute boy struggle to reach the Indian national cricket team made many viewers teary-eyed. No one knew that this touching tale was perhaps not that fictional.
A talented batsman who played for Bombay and Maharashtra, Baba Sidhaye too was partially mute and deaf. His widow saw 'Baba' in Iqbal on the silver screen and his family insisted that just like the lead character in the film, Baba too came from a small village (Konshi near Sawantwadi in Maharashtra) to Pune to play cricket.
Compensation is not what the family wanted. All they wanted was recognition. They felt 'Iqbal' owed an acknowledgment to being inspired by Baba.
Baba Sidhaye played 42 Ranji matches for Maharashtra, Mumbai and Railways from 1952 to 1967-68. He scored 1417 runs, at an average of 24.86, with a century (135) against Baroda at Nashik in 1956-57, seven half centuries and 29 catches to his credit.
Besides being a very good right hand middle-order batsman, he was a brilliant fielder in the covers. If Pataudi was Tiger, Baba Sidhaye was Panther. Bapu Nadkarni was his captain for Maharashtra and Hindu Gymkhana.
Nadkarni remembers, "He was a wonderfully gifted player. Under my captaincy, he scored three centuries, each one being a gem. And what a fielder! He and Ravi Bhadbhade in the covers were simply brilliant. Getting the ball past them was impossible. Baba enjoyed his cricket and didn't bother about anything."
Baba never let his handicap hinder his game. The grandson of the great CK and former captain of MP and Central Zone, Vijay Nayudu remembers seeing Baba first in 1958-59 at the nets of PJ Hindu Gymkhana. Later he played along with him for the Gymkhana.
Nayudu says, "Pune had produced many stalwart cricketers since the days of Prof DB Deodhar. But Baba Sidhye was a self-made cricketer. He had the trait Pune cricketers were so imbibed with: "simplicity". Easily approachable, they were always eager to share their experience with youngsters.
"Baba was always cheerful and took jokes from his teammates sportingly. To say that he had mastered the art of looking at the wicket-keeper and throwing the ball at the non-striker's end would be an understatement. He often caught the non-striker by surprise and had quite a few dismissals to his credit.
"Baba remained a regular for Hindu Gymkhana for many years during the 50s and 60s. Once, he was dropped from the playing XI and I was included in his place. I was embarrassed to face him but Baba came to me and said in his typical style "Changla khel, aaplyla jinkayache aahe, Tu karu shakto". (Play well. We have to win. You can do it) I was moved by his gesture. He was such a humble person and a great teammate. He played the game as it should be played," Nayudu says.
When it came to hunting talent, Baba's eyes were like a vulture's. As a summer vacation coach of the MCA at the Ghatkopar Jolly Gymkhana, Baba spotted a young Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
"Though he was partially mute , we all could understand what he wanted to say and he gave us great tips. What he couldn't speak, he would demonstrate. We used plastic coated bats which weren't good but Baba had no problems. He would tonk the ball on the adjoining Central Railway tracks and the motorman would honk in appreciation of the shot. Never in my life did I attend the kind of fielding practice that he would give. Baba fielded amazingly. He loved stopping the ball and throwing it in one action. I must say he was a guiding force for me," says Sandhu.
He made sure he passed all that he knew to youngsters. The fact that they couldn't understand what he spoke was never a problem. Baba Sidhaye reminds one of the saying that love has no language. He loved cricket and spread that love as far and wide as he could.
Source : TOI , 28th August 2013
The film 'Iqbal' will still be fresh in many of our memories. Seeing a mute boy struggle to reach the Indian national cricket team made many viewers teary-eyed. No one knew that this touching tale was perhaps not that fictional.
A talented batsman who played for Bombay and Maharashtra, Baba Sidhaye too was partially mute and deaf. His widow saw 'Baba' in Iqbal on the silver screen and his family insisted that just like the lead character in the film, Baba too came from a small village (Konshi near Sawantwadi in Maharashtra) to Pune to play cricket.
Compensation is not what the family wanted. All they wanted was recognition. They felt 'Iqbal' owed an acknowledgment to being inspired by Baba.
Baba Sidhaye played 42 Ranji matches for Maharashtra, Mumbai and Railways from 1952 to 1967-68. He scored 1417 runs, at an average of 24.86, with a century (135) against Baroda at Nashik in 1956-57, seven half centuries and 29 catches to his credit.
Besides being a very good right hand middle-order batsman, he was a brilliant fielder in the covers. If Pataudi was Tiger, Baba Sidhaye was Panther. Bapu Nadkarni was his captain for Maharashtra and Hindu Gymkhana.
Nadkarni remembers, "He was a wonderfully gifted player. Under my captaincy, he scored three centuries, each one being a gem. And what a fielder! He and Ravi Bhadbhade in the covers were simply brilliant. Getting the ball past them was impossible. Baba enjoyed his cricket and didn't bother about anything."
Baba never let his handicap hinder his game. The grandson of the great CK and former captain of MP and Central Zone, Vijay Nayudu remembers seeing Baba first in 1958-59 at the nets of PJ Hindu Gymkhana. Later he played along with him for the Gymkhana.
Nayudu says, "Pune had produced many stalwart cricketers since the days of Prof DB Deodhar. But Baba Sidhye was a self-made cricketer. He had the trait Pune cricketers were so imbibed with: "simplicity". Easily approachable, they were always eager to share their experience with youngsters.
"Baba was always cheerful and took jokes from his teammates sportingly. To say that he had mastered the art of looking at the wicket-keeper and throwing the ball at the non-striker's end would be an understatement. He often caught the non-striker by surprise and had quite a few dismissals to his credit.
"Baba remained a regular for Hindu Gymkhana for many years during the 50s and 60s. Once, he was dropped from the playing XI and I was included in his place. I was embarrassed to face him but Baba came to me and said in his typical style "Changla khel, aaplyla jinkayache aahe, Tu karu shakto". (Play well. We have to win. You can do it) I was moved by his gesture. He was such a humble person and a great teammate. He played the game as it should be played," Nayudu says.
When it came to hunting talent, Baba's eyes were like a vulture's. As a summer vacation coach of the MCA at the Ghatkopar Jolly Gymkhana, Baba spotted a young Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
"Though he was partially mute , we all could understand what he wanted to say and he gave us great tips. What he couldn't speak, he would demonstrate. We used plastic coated bats which weren't good but Baba had no problems. He would tonk the ball on the adjoining Central Railway tracks and the motorman would honk in appreciation of the shot. Never in my life did I attend the kind of fielding practice that he would give. Baba fielded amazingly. He loved stopping the ball and throwing it in one action. I must say he was a guiding force for me," says Sandhu.
He made sure he passed all that he knew to youngsters. The fact that they couldn't understand what he spoke was never a problem. Baba Sidhaye reminds one of the saying that love has no language. He loved cricket and spread that love as far and wide as he could.
Source : TOI , 28th August 2013
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