"Do you remember that evening in Bangkok in January 1978 when we had some 12 bahts between us and needed to buy a bottle of soda?" my former captain would ask, recalling the experience of temporary poverty that had had a couple of thirsty souls seeking desperate measures on alien soil. He would then proceed to describe the clothes you wore, the décor of the hotel room and the brand of nectar you shared, even the name of the angel in uniform who rescued you from dehydration.
This eye for detail and unusual memory marked every shrewd move Motganahalli Laxminarsu Jaisimha made as captain of Hyderabad for nearly two decades. Each nuance of the leading batsmen of the day was filed away in his mental database for future action. Often, when one of them took guard against Hyderabad, the field was elaborately rearranged; and with Jai's reputation for cunning on a cricket field, the ploy invariably sowed doubt in the mind of the batsman.
A man of strong likes and dislikes, Jaisimha abhorred cricket that was aesthetically objectionable. He was impatient with players whose methods were crude even if effective and who were better appreciated by other captains.
Jai was the most feared captain of his time in Indian cricket, someone the Indian captain `Tiger' Pataudi was happy to play under in the Ranji Trophy. Any Hyderabad player of the time can vouch for Pataudi's admiration for him and total acceptance of his leadership.
The 1975-76 season arguably featured Jai’s finest hour as well as his worst match as captain. That season, a masterstroke by him gave Hyderabad victory after they had conceded a lead of 220 runs in the first innings of a three-day match Winning the toss against Railways in the Ranji Trophy knockout, and electing to bat on a perfect strip, Jai - and our other batsmen - were shocked to discover wet spots on it from excessive watering the previous night. The Railways left arm medium pacer Anil Mathur was virtually unplayable. There was a steady procession of batsmen and soon we were 50 for 8, well before lunch.
That is when Jai declared. His move paid off as our medium pacers too posed problems to the Railway batsmen. Soon they were 65 for 7, but the wicket improved and a record eighth wicket stand between tailenders Hansraj and Shamji Dhobi helped Railways reach a total of 270.
Hyderabad piled up quick runs in the second innings and bowled the opponents out in about three hours of play to win the match with minutes to spare. It was among MLJ's finest moments as captain. (I only took one wicket in the match, with medium pacers Abid Ali and Jyotiprasad doing most of the damage, but I can never forget a catch I took in the second innings, which was described in a newspaper report as ‘incredible’, while it should actually have been the simplest of sitters. While we were racing against time trying to rout the Railways, middle order batsman Md. Tarif, father of current star Md. Kaif, who was offering stubborn resistance, top-edged a bouncer from Jyoti. The ball was in the air for so long that it could have been held by any one of three fielders--me at silly mid-on, Mumtaz Husain at forward short leg or Abid Ali at backward short leg, but Abid repeatedly called Mumtaz’s name. Unfortunately, Mumtaz stood rooted to his spot, and so did Abid, even as the ball was on its way to the ground. Realising what was happening at the very last moment, I dived desperately forward and came up with the ball miraculously lodged in my fingers!)
If in the match against Railways, we prayed desperately for the fourth day that was not there, towards the end of the next match, we wished there had been only three instead of four days of play. We took a first innings lead of 59 runs against Bombay in the quarter final round, but eventually lost the match. I took seven wickets in the first innings, and their captain Ashok Mankad decided to go after my bowling in the second, in the hope that my captain would remove me from the attack. It was a tactical move that paid off as Jai walked into the trap, bringing on his medium pacers from both ends and setting ultra-defensive fields. Mankad made a brilliant unbeaten hundred and declared the innings, leaving us with less than four hours of batting on the last day.
We collapsed like a deck of cards against the spin bowling of Rakesh Tandon and Padmakar Shivalkar, and Bombay won a thrilling, unexpected victory. Ashok Mankad’s captaincy in the match came in for praise all round, while Jaisimha acknowledged that he had blundered. By his own admission, it was by far his worst piece of captaincy.
