Vijay Merchant - The lost stalwart of Indian Cricket

Vijay Merchant (on the left) seen with Laxmidas Jai

A great player of one generation inspires another generation. Today, we all are so lost in the supreme talent of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar that we don't even turn the pages of record books of prior eras to see who inspired them. Somewhere lost in those pages is Vijay Merchant, a truly unsung hero of Indian cricket. A man with humongous talent and mammoth achievements.

He is one among those unlucky breed of players who, somehow, could not turn their domestic records into International fame. With a domestic career spanning over 22 years, Vijay Merchant rewrote many records. In the Bradman scale of batting average, he is the player next to Bradman with a first class average of 71. That is just one of many achievements that this man owns.

Vijay Merchant had a humble, affluent background. Born in a rich family of merchants and factory owners in 1911, he showed glimpses of his superb talent from.a very early age. His early success in cricket waved a path for a glorious cricketing career. Merchant initially was the captain of Sydenham college, Bombay of which he was also a student. His stint as captain was a successful one.

His occasional bowling was also quite effective. In 1931, he took 29 wickets and scored 504 runs for his college team, an inter-college record that stands till now. From there his success and reputation grew and was soon called for the National side. His performance in Ranji trophy matches is mind boggling. He scored at an average of 98.75 in 47 innings.

Vijay Merchant had a long international career spanning over 18 years, but things didn't go for this champ as expected. The coming years which could have made this genius an International highlight were lost in the Second World War when no cricket was played. It was followed by some serious health issues that restricted Merchant from going on tours to Australia and the West Indies.

Short International career

He played a meagre ten international matches, all against England. Even in a short international career, he had an impressive average of 47.72. In his two tours to England, he amassed a total of 800 runs. He became the oldest Indian player to score a century as he was 40 years and 21 days old. But what stood out for this opening batsman, more than his batting was his impeccable sense of timing. The grace with which his feet moved, his majestic strokes became a treat for the eyes of everyone watching the game. His reputation grew. Even the English cricketers were mesmerised.

Merchant had no intentions of confining the talent he had just to himself. He visited cricket academies and imparted the knowledge to the younger talent. He is even regarded as the founder of Bombay School of Batsmanship that stressed on the notion of right technique, solid approach and steely temperament. However, this notion has been remoulded with the advent of ODIs and T20s.

While talking about his cricketing career, his so-called rivalry with Vijay Hazare needs a special mention. Although, not explicitly said but both cricketers looked to better each other’s performances. Merchant was a superb opening batsman, but Hazare was a stalwart in the middle order. Both were sedate, solid batsmen who weaved great records for the country from the late 30s to the 50s. Apart from being a great batsman, both were gentlemen on and off the field.

Pushed each other to perform at the top

The rivalry between them was much self-created. Both batsmen had a huge appetite for runs and since they lived and played in the same era, they did seem to be on a task of breaking each other's records. Playing for the Hindus against the Muslims in 1941-42, Merchant scored a then first-class record of 243. Vijay Hazare surpassed it in the next edition of the same championship, Bombay Pentangular, by scoring 248.

In the finals of 1943, Hindus had a face off with the Rest. The Hindus batting first put a large score of 581 mainly because of Merchant's 250. The Rest stumbled for 133 in the first innings and for 387 in the second leading to an innings defeat. But 309 of those 387 runs was single-handedly scored by Hazare. The rivalry hit the headlines as both batsmen had bettered each other’s records in a small span of one week.

This much thought rivalry didn't stop here. A week later in the Ranji trophy match between Bombay and Baroda, Merchant scored 141. In reply came Hazare's 109. Few weeks later when Bombay met Maharashtra, Merchant rewrote the record books by scoring 359 runs.

This media hyped rivalry didn't take a toll on both these players personally. They had huge respect and admiration for each other.

Vijay Merchant, as great a player he was, he was no less a human being. He was a patriotic citizen doing all he could within his limits. Before Independence, he dropped out of an England tour because Mahatma Gandhi and many other freedom fighters were in jail. Four years later, he toured England just because the nationalist leaders were out of jail.

Such personalities have an essence of remembrance which they carry with themselves. Even after they are long gone, their stature and respect in the hearts of the followers force us to turn the pages of history and know more about them. Vijay Merchant surely is of that breed. His contributions and achievements will be long lived.