It is another true story..😊😊😊
It is about the larger than life, handsome, charismatic and talented cricketer of the 70's, the one and only Salim Durrani. He was the people's favourite as he would oblige the public with a six on demand, nominate and execute gob smacking deeds. In the mid 70's when I was around 9-10 years of age, the public would throng wherever one Salim Durrani was likely to turn up to play. He was an absolute crowd puller, he was the Rajesh Khanna of cricket then. Durrani was perhaps the first recipient of the Arjuna award (??)

It's another true story!! 😃😃

#GRVisvanath known fondly as Vishy, was an artiste par excellence. He was an emotion in an era when TV was in its nascent stage, as was the creation of a superstar by the media. Despite all this, Vishy was adored, idolised and was almost a cult. I first saw Vishy live in the nets when I was 12 years old. India had a camp in the MAC stadium before the Australia tour of 1977-78. As a kid, I was fascinated, watching him bat in the nets as he was talking to DD Parsana! Of course, too young to appreciate his artistry then.

It is another true story !! 😊😊

#TeamIndia is in NZ currently, and so it is appropriate to celebrate the kiwi legend Sir Richard Hadlee. He was the first bowler to get 400 wkts in test cricket.A methodical individual and a terrific person indeed.

Rewind to year 2000-01 Sir Richard had come as the manager with the NZ academy team that came to play in Chennai. I had gone to the MAC stadium and met the great man. We were talking about various things and Sir Richard revealed he was the chief selector then. I asked him if he enjoyed his job.

It's another true story.. 😊😊😊

S. Venkataraghavan belonged to the famous spin quartet, is a qualified engineer, a highly respected umpire and of course, had the distinction of leading India in the first 2 World Cups. He has donned other influential hats in cricket. His cricketing accomplishments apart, as an individual, not many can be as interesting as him. A multi faceted man, intelligent and an engaging conversationalist. He did nothing for fun, it was as if he was not taught beyond no 1 in his school!

It's another true story!! 😊😊

Since a video on Erapalli Prasanna is doing the rounds, I thought I will put out this thread. Obviously, this is about the greatness of Messrs Erapalli Prasana & Bishan Bedi. The year was 1985 and the occasion was the "Pongal"test match in Madras! Both the greats will be referred as Pras & Bedi to reduce the no of characters. Pras was 45 years old then and Bedi was around 39-40. I was called as one of the net bowlers. India was playing against England in Madras, Pras was the manager and Bedi was a selector.

Around the mid 90's I was leading the SZ team in the Duleep trophy.. One young man was selected in the side on the basis of his India U19 performances.. He walked into bat in the nets and I asked the manager if he has seen the youngster bat. The manager, V Manohar, a former Hyderabad batter himself said, "Yes, he is from my academy". The young man walked into the net, played about 5 deliveries. It was surreal, he had too much of time, extremely stylish and most importantly, no nerves at all