Ismail, merchant of domestic swing

In April 1971 a young Mumbai XI led by Sudhir Naik with five of their 197071 season squad members on India duty in the West Indies stunned a seasoned Maharashtra team led by Chandu Borde to claim a Ranji Trophy title at the Cricket Club of IndiaThe visitors were expected to walk away with the silverware Their cricket associationrsquos administrators arrived in Mumbai to witness a moment to cherish and legend has it that a mighty celebration was organised at the Taj Mahal hotel Maharashtra in pursuit of 254 were bowled out for 205 There was no partyLast week the deceased count from that Mumbai XI swelled to seven with the passing of Abdul Ismail who succumbed to a cardiac arrest in MumbaiLeftarm spinner Shivalkar was wreckerinchief with 656 but it was Ismail who sent back the first three Maharashtra batsmen mdash Madhu Gupte Swaroop Kabadi and Chetan Chauhan mdash with only 31 on the board The win was a triumph for belief resilience and of course sheer cricketing nousIsmail was a fine opening bowler for the city whose swinging deliveries fetched him a whopping 198 wickets in the Ranji Trophy itself Making his firstclass debut for Mumbai in the 196970 Irani Cup game at Pune Ismail claimed the wickets of Surinder Amarnath MAK Pataudi and Ambar Roy to kick off the season that earned him 23 firstclass wicketsIn 197172 his 56 wickets was his best tally across nine seasons of firstclass cricket Ten from the Mumbai team that beat Bengal in the 197172 final at the CCI have passed away ndash Ramnath Parkar skipper Ajit Wadekar Dilip Sardesai Ashok Mankad Eknath Solkar Milind Rege Ajit Naik Sharad Hazare Padmakar Shivalkar and Ismail Gavaskar who made 157 in the first innings was at Ismailrsquos funeral last Saturday the only Test player to witness his final journeyIsmail was one of the stars in Mumbairsquos capture of the Ranji Trophy in 197677 when Sunil Gavaskarrsquos team outplayed Bishan Singh Bedirsquos Delhi at the Kotla Earlier that season Ismail got 10 wickets in the match against Saurashtra at Surendranagar while bowling in tandem with Karsan GhavrildquoIt was all swing with Abdul He swung it both ways and kept the slip fielders alert Even if I only concentrated on bowling quick in those days I couldnrsquot help marvel at his skills He swung the ball at willrdquo Ghavri told me on Tuesday rueing the fact that food poisoning prevented him from attending his bowling partnerrsquos funeral ldquoAbdul was a champion bloke too You could spot his laugh even in a crowd and we enjoyed being part of the Mumbai team We were not ones who packed up and left at the end of the dayrsquos play We hung around for a couple of hours had fun and in the midst of all that masti we discussed what went right or wrong on the fieldrdquoBack to that Saurashtra game A full Mumbai side were shot out for 79 in the first innings on a matting wicket which 20yearold pacer Rajendra Jadeja exploited to claim 627 Ghavri 640 and Ismail 444 then bowled out the hosts for 109 before Mumbai armed with a chanceless century from Ashok Mankad and 83 by skipper Gavaskar declared at 2683 Ismailrsquos 623 proved devastating for Saurashtra who lost by 163 runsIsmail could put his bat to good use too In that tensionfilled 197576 quarterfinal against Hyderabad he scored 21 not out in Mumbairsquos meagre score of 222 In the second innings as soon as his brother Rahul Mankad was sent back by Abid Ali Ashok promoted Ismail to No6 The skipper and Ismail 37 put on an unbroken stand of 82 for Mumbai to declare at 2754 leaving Hyderabad a team with five Test players Abbas Ali Baig K Jayantilal MAK Pataudi S Abid Ali ML Jaisimha to get 216 for victory Jaisimharsquos team fell short by 70 runs against a Mumbai team with three debutants Sandeep Patil Rahul and Vijay MohanrajOffspinner V Ramnarayan who claimed seven Mumbai batsmen on Day One of the Wankhede game remembered Ismail as a ldquowonderful bowler and a capable lower order batsman who made merryrdquo in his first innings 21 After conquering Hyderabad and Bengal Ashokrsquos team beat Bihar in the final at Jamshedpur where Ismail claimed 10 in the matchIsmailrsquos batting ability also came to the fore in the 197677 game against Baroda while scoring 18 in the company of centurion Rakesh Tandon Their 53run stand for the eighth wicket helped Mumbai surpass Barodarsquos first innings score of 453 Skipper Gavaskar mentioned that effort in a piece for Sportsweek magazine ldquoWhen a bowler like Karsan Ghavri is spreading panic in the batsmenrsquos hearts it needs a bowler of intelligence to keep the other end tight This Abdulla Ismail did perfectly Though not as destructive as in previous years he was nevertheless an extremely difficult bowler to handle At No 10 he swung his bat merrily and got valuable runs His partnership with Rakesh Tandon when Rakesh played that great innings of 142 pulled the match around for Bombay chasing Barodarsquos 453 Abdulla kept trying all the timerdquo Gavaskar wroteThe 197677 Ranji Trophy final was the last time the GhavriIsmail firm operated Between them several bignamed batsmen were sent back and the grip on the Ranji Trophy was only lost once mdash at Bangalore in the 197374 Ranji semifinal Ismail believed that he had Gundappa Vishwanath plumb in front early in Karnatakarsquos first innings and who knows if the southern state would have gone on to win their maiden Ranji title had it not been for centurion Vishwanathrsquos luckIsmail may have been unfortunate not to wear India colours but he played in an era when the Mumbai lion roared consistently and loud mdash just like Ismailrsquos laughtermiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper