A cricket aficionado
Death has snatched from our midst a walking encyclopaedia of cricket, Matin Siddiqi
19-Nov-2007
Death has snatched from our midst a walking encyclopedia of cricket, Matin
Siddiqi. An invalid for some years after the fracture of his hip bone and
confined to bed and wheel-chair he passed away peacefully at the age of 84.
Nevertheless, up to the end he maintained a keen interest in the game and in
conversations would portray quite vividly the style and mode of play of the
old masters and the stars of the modern period. Ranji and Trumper, Tom
Richardson and S.F. Barnes of the Golden Age were among his heroes. He will
tell you about the famous glide of the Jam Saheb, the stroke coming at the
very last moment with the almost imperceptible flick of the bat. It was a
technique entirely unique which enthused the English spectators.
Matin Siddiqi carried cricket history with him. He admired the strokeplay of
Walter Hammond, his powerful and graceful cover-drive. With the impressive
figure of an athlete Hammond would turn the pendulum of the game with his
daring and fearless hitting. He was not prepared to accept any comparison of
Hammond's courageous batting and his inimitable cover and straight drives
with any modern performer.
Giving an opinion on some of the cricket controversies of yore, he would
forcefully condemn the intimidatory tactics of Jardine, trying to break the
arm, nose and shoulders of the batsmen through his leg theory. He fully
backed the elder Pataudi and Gubby Allen who disagreed with their captain
during England's 1932-33 tour of Australia.
He was an admirer of the tall and burly Nisar, who though a speed merchant,
hardly used a bumper to ruffle and harass the batsmen. There was a
rhythmical action in his pace and full control over line and length.
Shooting too was Matin Siddiqi's hobby as everybody in C.P. would go to the
woods on hunting excursions. A panther or a lion, apart from deers, may be
the prized bag of the shooting parties. During a week's or a fortnight's
expedition to the jungles and away from Amraoti, where he did his B.A., he
would visit Nagpur and would be thrilled to watch the morning drills of the
C.P. cricket team, under the supervision of Col C.K. Nayudu, at that time
one of the leading all-rounders of the sub-continent. C.K. was a strict
disciplinarian and put stress on swift and sprightly fielding, unlike some
of the wizards of Bombay, who were lethargic and ponderous in the pickup and
throw. It was a lesson and treat to see Mushtaq, C.S. Nayudu, C.T. Sarwate,
B.B. Nombalkar, Jagdale and J.N. Bhaya practising and trying to get into
trim.
Matin Siddiqi went to Aligarh Muslim University for his post-graduate degree
when Lala Amarnath was leaving the Muslim institution. However, to his good
luck he found Syed Mushtaq Ali, one of the most popular figures of Indian
cricket, as his contemporary. Both were in the university's cricket and
hockey teams. Whatever may have been the fame of Mushtaq Ali and the
suppleness of his wrists Matin was more appreciative of the controlled
aggression and fearless driving of C.K. Nayudu, the batsman who would set
alight cricket fields with massive hitting. As Matin Siddiqui told us during
his many visits to the Dawn office while he was keeping good health that he
was among those who would shout, "Kankaiya (meaning CK), sixer wanted" and
the cricketer, with a balanced physique, would oblige his fans in the very
next ball, the hit zooming over the long-on, long-off or long-leg boundary.
Matin Siddiqi's accumulation of cricket literature, some of the books rare
pieces, showed his high taste for pleasant and good reading. Admirable too
was the way he had maintained and kept in order those large number of
publications. The writers include Pycroft, Fry, Warner, Foster, Cardus,
Swanton, Arlott, Moyes, Fingleton and Whitington.
One of his hobbies during his life-time was to select and pen down world
elevens. At least 150 sets of world combinations were found in his note
books after his death.
In his passing away cricket has lost a knowledgeable fan of the game, who
was well versed in its history and would enjoy throwing light, for hours, on
the old-timers and players engaged in the present-day matches. Truly, a
great lover of the game.