by Abhishek Mukherjee
The event took place during a function in India, attended by several cricketers. One of them, an Australian captain, spotted a man walking from one cricketer to another to collect autographs for his niece.
He approached this man with the words: "Sir, my name is Mark Taylor. I am here to receive an award on behalf of my team. Can I request to shake the hand of the man who led India to their first win over us?"
GS Ramchand, born 26 July 1927, was an excellent all-rounder at domestic level. He did not quite convert that into an outstanding Test career. He became the first Indian to score a pair on Test debut, for his debut coincided with Fred Trueman's, and we know what happened to India in that series.
But Ramchand took 2/61 and held several outstanding one-handed catches off Ghulam Ahmed, a bowler whose overseas record was as good as any Indian spinner's. There was also the Lord's Test – Mankad's Test – where he decided to go after Trueman where India were 8 down.
Raju Bharatan would called it "a knock of jigar". And it was this jigar that defined Ramchand more than any other attribute.
He used to hit hard, bowl flat out, and field bravely. He "should have tried his hand at doing a Western; he would have been an instant cowboy hit as one unfailingly firing from the hip," summed up Bharatan.
The jigar had been evident earlier on that tour as well. Cuan McCarthy (of a suspect action) bowled at serious pace for Cambridge. Ramchand responded by hitting 21 fours in his 134, at least two of which – to go by reports – came back over 20 yards after hitting the fence.
The bowling was another thing. It was ridiculed at times (Sujit Mukherjee wrote that he "looked every inch a fast bowler until he actually bowled"), but he did take 255 wickets at under 30. And on that England tour he had 64 wickets at under 26. He took 6/49 on a dead Karachi track in 1954-55: of Indians, only Kapil Dev has better figures on Pakistan soil.
By the end of the decade he had led India to their first Test win against Australia. Then followed hundreds in four consecutive appearances in Ranji Trophy finals, all of which Bombay won.
Ramchand gave cricket his all despite having to compromise on his Air India salary in order to represent India, even to lead them to their first victory against Australia.
He was admitted to Hinduja Hospital after suffering three heart attacks in two months but had to be moved out of the ICU because his family could not afford the cost. Thanks to a livid Mushtaq Ali, BCCI granted two lakh rupees, but it came too late.