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Ramakant Desai is dead

"This job will break my heart," Ramakant "Tiny" Desai had said, a little under two years ago, when he took over as chairman of the national cricket selection committee.

Those words proved prophetic on the night of April 27, when Desai died in a Bombay hospital following a massive heart attack. Desai's heart problems had accelerated dramatically after he took over the chairmanship of the national selection committee.

He is survived by his wife and son.

The 58-year-old Desai had been admitted to Jaslok Hospital where the doctors declared him dead on Monday evening, citing a fatal heart attack as the cause.

Desai resigned his post of chairman of the selection committee a couple of months ago, apparently following differences of opinion with BCCI chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur.

Ramakant Bhikaji Desai, born in Bombay on June 20, 1939, made his international debut against the West Indies in India at the age of 20. Small in stature -- just under five feet five inches tall -- Desai packed a lot of punch in his pace bowling, capturing 74 wickets in 28 Tests.

Those were the days when Tests were not played with the frequency of today, and Desai took nearly 20 years to figure in 28 Tests. His best performance was against New Zealand in Bombay, when he took six for 56.

During a tour of England in the summer of 1959, Desai gave Peter May a heavy dose of his blistering pace, clean bowling the English batting sensation. His senior colleague Nari Contractor spoke eloquently in praise of Tiny Desai at that time.

He then went on to perform prodigies against Richie Benaud's team at home next season. However, he reserved his best for Pakistan, gunning especially for Hanif Mohammad. Desai grabbed 21 wickets in the five-Test series during the early '60s.

Desai was a brilliant fielder in an era when fielding was not ranked quite so high in cricketing priorities as it is today. He was noted for his throw from the deep, which zeroed in to the keeper over the top of the stumps. Desai, yet another product of Bombay's Shivaji Park, was also a useful batsman, with 85 against Pakistan as his highest.

His hardest battles, however, were reserved for his stint in the national selection committee, as its chairman. Even as he fought to keep his zone-oriented fellow selectors in line, his critics in Bombay slammed him at every opportunity. "They think I am not a Shivaji Park selector," Desai once said, while pointing out that he was being criticised for not getting more Bombay players included in the national squad.

As the news of his death spread, former crsicketers and colleagues payed rich tributes, hailing him as one of the few genuine fast bowlers produced by India.

Dungarpur said Desai was a fierce player with a fine run up, a great outswinger and a deadly bouncer. "He proved that to be a great fast bowler, one does not need great physique but good rhythm," Dungarpur said, adding that despite failing health, he did a fair job as selection committee chairman.

Polly Umrigar, Desai's captain during the period when both played for Bombay, said that while Desai had been called Tiny due to his short stature, his pace was "like fire".

"His bouncer was the most deceptive weapon," said Umrigar, who regularly held Desai's victims at slip during domestic encounters.

Bapu Nadkarni, another senior cricketer and Desai's close friend, said "Tiny was the most genuine pace bowler we had, he could have been a true all-arounder if he had spared some time for his batting because he was already a superb fielder."

Former India captain Nari Contractor said he could still vividly remember Desai's bowling, and talked of how the diminutive paceman consistently troubled all the great batsmen of his time, including Hanif Mohammed, Rohan Kanhai, Peter May and Ted Dexter. "Once, in the Delhi Test, Desai hurled such a forceful bouncer that Hanif, the best player of fast bowling at the time, could only take it on his head," recalled Nari, calling his departed colleague a lion-hearted player.

Ajit Wadekar, who replaced Desai in the national selection committee, recalled watching Desai's duel with Hanif from the stands. "For a small man, he had a lot of guts, which I came to know only when I got my Bombay cap," said Wadekar, adding wryly, "During those days when tea and biscuits were our sole payment, he was one of the few cricketers who remained loyal to his club."

Stumper Naren Tamhane recalled how Desai's pace was deceptive. "The ball would be thudding into my gloves before I had fully straightened from my crouch," said the former India stumper.

Also paying tribute to Desai were the likes of Madhav Mantri, and Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Desai. "He was my bowling hero, as I wanted to be a fast bowler not a politician," said Joshi, who also functions as the Bombay Cricket Association president.

In Calcutta, International Cricket Council president Jagmohan Dalmiya expressed shock at the death of Desai. "India has become poorer owing to the untimely death of Desai, it is a void that is difficult to fill," said Desai, adding, "He was a man of few words, but he was a man of sustenance."

Ramakant Desai was cremated at the Shivaji Park crematorium in north central Bombay, a short distance from the historic Shivaji Park Gymkhana ground where he had learnt his cricket.

Present were all his old colleagues, especially at the Ranji level. The only absentees in fact were Manohar Hardikar, who is now no more, and Farokh Engineer, now in England. Desai, in 53 Ranji appearances, had claimed 239 wickets at an average of around 15.42.

UNI