An Evening With A Cricket Legend

An illuminating conversation with Chandu Borde, 90, one of India's finest cricketers in the 1960s.

"Chandu Borde?" we ask the waiter as he breezed past tables, attending to the guests having evening tea at the Poona Club in Pune.

"Can you see the tall man walking on the track? That's him," he replies.

The Cricketing Great dressed in a track suit was walking at a brisk pace, wiping his brow with a hand towel.

"Please wait in the pavilion. I will just finish my last round and be with you," says the 90-year-old all rounder and one of India's senior-most cricketers as we approach him.

Mr Borde had asked us to meet him at the club where he walks every evening. As we wait in the pavilion aptly named after him at the Poona Club, young boys walk past carrying their kit bags after the end of a practice session.

The pavilion has a verandah leading to a large room with pictures of Indian and international cricket greats.

As we stand on the small turf outside the pavilion, it is inspiring to see the cricketing legend's discipline and commitment to fitness. It is also overwhelming to realise that the man doing the rounds of the walking track played cricket for India for 10 years and first class cricket for nearly 25 years.

One of the many greats who have played a part in India's cricketing history and done their bit in propelling the game to the heights it has achieved.

As the sun sets behind him, Mr Borde finishes his walk and settles into a chair on the verandah.

"I have had a good innings," he says with a kind and generous smile as he looks back on his cricketing days with Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman. The first of a two-part interview:

I met you many years ago at Bombay airport in November 1994 and it so happened that I was carrying Harsha Bhogle's biography on Azhar.
I requested you to autograph it because you were among the selectors that selected him to play for India.

Yes, we picked him in Calcutta during England's tour of India. He scored a century and two subsequent 100s after that. He was a brilliant batsman and fielder. He could bowl leg spin also, but he concentrated on batting.

Do you watch T20 and IPL?

I watch all formats of the game. I do watch T20 at times, but sometimes I get fed up with the kind of cricket they play [laughs]. I watch IPL, but do not watch till the end because it gets late and I have to sleep.

I watch women's cricket too. Let me tell you, our women's team has developed into a good team in a short span of time. It is creditable and our team is really doing well.

Who are the cricketers you like from the present batch?

I like the batting of Rohit Sharma. He is graceful and plays effortless cricket. It is very nice to watch him play. It reminds one of old time cricket.

Watch: 'Kohli can change the entire situation'

Mr Borde on the Three Cricketing Greats He Has Known

Watch: 'Batting with Vijay Hazare was an education'

Watch: 'Gavaskar studied the game beautifully'

Watch: 'Sachin had tremendous guts'

Do these young cricketers know of you and your contribution to Indian cricket?

Yes, whenever there are matches played, they come and take photographs.

Do they know of your cricketing greatness?

No, but their managers know and they tell them -- and then they come and touch my feet.

• Part 2 of the Interview: 'I struck the winning run and became a hero that day'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com