“It has been three years since I last played cricket,” - Leander Paes displays his cricket skills in promotional event

Leander Paes

At a recent event held in Mumbai, Indian tennis great Leander Paes showed that not only is he good at what he does, i.e. tennis, but he is also an accomplished campaigner in other sports, namely cricket, football and hockey.

While playing a cricket match for Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) against iLandTSG (The Sport Gurukul) at the Bhakti Park ground, Wadala, on Tuesday, Paes told a DNA journalist:

“I have captained my school in cricket, football and hockey.”

The Indian, who was recently crowned the US Open men’s doubles champion in September at the age of 40, is in extremely good shape. He has also started preparing for the Chennai Open, scheduled for January, where Paes plays his first match on New Year’s Day.

In the cricket match, the tennis great not only starred with the bat, but also contributed significantly with the ball, taking three wickets in a 4-over spell. Paes, who opened the bowling, quickly settled into his rhythm and took the three wickets which included a caught behind followed by a leg before wicket and eventually a caught and bowled.

“It has been three years since I last played cricket,” Paes added.

Although wayward on a couple of occasions, offering easy pickings for the batsman or straying wide, Paes definitely did well for someone who had not played for such a long time. He missed the outside edge a few times, and was also able to move he ball away from the right hander.

That is not all. Paes then walked in at No. 3 for the SJAM team after they restricted TSG to a decent 148/4 in 20 overs, and blasted 42 in 27 balls, including 4 fours and a solitary six (courtesy of a pull shot). He enjoyed his time in the middle without worrying too much about his wicket; some of his shots were akin to those played with tennis balls! A cover drive, a straight drive and the pull for six were his stand out shots. He picked his gaps and hit the ball cleanly.

Along with opener Abhijeet Kulkarni , who made 51, Paes put up 93 runs on the board before both fell in quick succession to medium-pace bowling. The SJAM were put well on course by the work done by these two at the top of the order.

When inquired about his highest score in a match, Peas was quick to say: “I have scored 209 for my school team.” Paes also praised the ground saying: “Feels good to play in this lovely ground.”

Paes is keen on playing another game of cricket before he starts his tennis preparations. “Maybe next week we should play,” he told a SJAM committee member.

The tennis star is not only good at cricket, buy also plays as a striker for SJAM football team. It is also widely believed that he trains with the Indian hockey team too. Quite the sportsman, right?

Balwinder Singh Sandhu, former Indian Test cricketer and a member of the victorious 1983 World Cup team, was full of praise for the tennis star’s cricketing efforts and said: “He hit the ball cleanly. He bowled well. This is the first time I am watching Paes play cricket. He looked very good.”