A gentleman and a wicket-keeper

There have been few players who lived up to the credo of "gentleman cricketer" as thoroughly as Narendra Shankar Tamhane. Even in an era when cricket was indeed a gentleman's game, when the phrase "It isn't cricket" stood to describe something mean or selfish, he stood out as the very personification of the noble image and traditions of the game.

Tamhane was one cricketer who would have been hurt the most by the crass commercialisation of the game or the boorish behaviour of today's players. For him, cricket was a game to be played for the fun of it, for the love of it. A gentleman cricketer to the core, he was never showy or exuberant. No doubt he would shake his head in disapproval at the noisy, almost rude, appeals made by the stumpers of today. Tamhane, in fact, never appealed unless he was sure that the batsman was out, and his appeal was just a gentle "Howzat," as if merely enquiring. The man with the gloves today almost demands that the umpire declare the batsman out.

His image of a gentleman cricketer was most striking, but that did not mean that Tamhane did not do his job efficiently. Indeed, he was the best Indian wicket-keeper till Farokh Engineer came along. But unlike Engineer or Budhi Kunderan, who in fact succeeded him behind the stumps, Tamhane did his job with quiet efficiency.

Methodical in his approach, Tamhane was very much the keeper's keeper, sound in technique. From his familiar squat to the cool, calm and unhurried manner in which he collected the ball, Tamhane brought a touch of class to a generally unglamorous job. Bringing off an excellent catch or a smart stumping, Tamhane did so with minimum fuss. His virtues were safe hands and neatness of execution.

Tamhane was India's first choice keeper from 1953-54 to 1960-61. This was the time of the specialist wicket-keeper, when keeper-batsman hybrids were still largely unheard of in Indian cricket. And there was no better specialist stumper than Tamhane.

He made his mark early. On his Ranji Trophy debut against Baroda in 1953-54, he effected seven dismissals, six of them caught. Later that season, while still a Bombay student, he caught three and stumped four in the first "Test" against the third Commonwealth team at New Delhi.

Making his Test debut in Pakistan the following season, Tamhane was an instant success. His keeping to the spin trio of Subhash Gupte, Ghulam Ahmed and Vinoo Mankad was an object lesson in the technical aspect. He had five victims in his first Test and five more in the third Test, as well as a tally of 19 dismissals in the series. Perhaps nothing underlines Tamhane's class and skill than the fact that this is still the record for an Indian stumper in a five-Test series. Syed Kirmani also had 19 dismissals against Pakistan in 1979-80, but he needed six Tests to draw level.

By the time of the Calcutta Test against Pakistan in 1960-61, Tamhane had run up an impressive tally of 51 dismissals from 21 Tests, easily an Indian record. An unusually large percentage of his victims ­- 16 -­ were stumped, a tribute to his quick reflexes and his expert reading of spin bowling. Not yet 30, Tamhane had not lost any of his skill and seemingly had a lot to contribute to Indian cricket.

But by now, the selectors had embarked on a policy to strengthen the batting, since there was a question mark over the bowling following the retirement of several stalwarts. Their eye fell on Kunderan who, while being the better bat, was several notches below Tamhane in his work behind the stumps.

The trend remained with the discovery of the flamboyant Engineer, and Tamhane never played for India again. This should not indicate that he was a duff with the bat. In his second Test, he top-scored with 54 not out, going in at number nine and figuring in a rescue act with Gulabrai Ramchand. The two added 82 runs after seven wickets had been lost to Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammed for 107 runs. He was also good enough to open the batting for Bombay, and in the Ranji Trophy, he had a best score of 109 not out against Baroda in 1958-59.

Tamhane loved cricket dearly, and he could not just completely sever ties with it after his playing career drew to a close in the late 60s. He kept in touch with the changing trends and continued to follow the game closely. In 1986-87, he became a selector, a post he held again in 1988-89 and the following year. In 1990-91, he was elected chairman and held that elevated post the next year too. A quiet, pleasing and unassuming personality, Tamhane will be remembered fondly as one of the few outstanding wicket-keepers in Indian cricket.