Patil was an entertainer par excellence

A knock on the door of the hotel room at The Oberoi, Adelaide. It’s the skipper – Sunil Gavaskar, inviting me for a get-together in the manager’s room. The reason – “Sandy” Patil’s first Test century.

A party I have every reason not to forget for it was the first time I sipped champagne – a big event for a teetotaler, and for the purely cricketing reason – savouring a tremendous knock in the wine growing region of Australia.

It was a wonderful party just as it was a great innings from a young man who had been hospitalized in the previous Test following an injury to the head while playing his first Test innings on Australian soil in Sydney. He had made 65 when a fierce bouncer from Len Pascoe felled him. Unconscious, he was taken to the hospital and though he batted in the second innings, he was out of sorts and made only four. India lost the Sydney Test by an innings and four runs.

On January 23, 1981, India, still reeling from the Sydney knockdown, started the second Test at Adelaide in a defensive frame of mind. Gavaskar won the toss but put Australia in to bat on a shirt front wicket only to avoid playing Lillee, Pascoe and Hogg on the first day (fresh) wicket.

The Australians were gleeful and led by Kim Hughes (213) and Graeme Wood (125) made a mammoth 528. Sandeep Patil came in at no. 6 – first with Chetan Chauhan (97) and then with Yashpal Sharma (47), he plundered the bowling. Eight bowlers were tried by Greg Chappell, but Patil, with that huge back lift and a heavy bat belted the bowling. In a 300-minute stay, Patil hit 22 fours and one six in making 174, at that time the highest score by an Indian against Australia, bettering Viswanath's 161 at Bangalore two years earlier. India made 419 and somehow contrived to save the Test finishing the last day at 135-8 in the second innings.

This result allowed India to go to Melbourne 0-1 down and the win there resulted in a drawn series, Patil playing his part at the MCG too, making 23 and 36 and taking 2-28 with his medium-pacers.

Sandeep Madhusudan Patil had sports in his genes. His father was a National level Badminton player. Endowed with an athletic build and a natural gift of timing, Patil started his cricket in Bombay and had played three Tests prior to his selection for the tour to Australia – the Golden Jubilee Test against England at Bombay and two against Pakistan, the last one at Calcutta fetching him 62.

In a sense it was the Australian tour that brought him glory, for in addition to 65, 4, 174, 9, 23, 36 that he scored in Tests, he hit 116 against South Australia and 60 and 97 against Queensland. He topped the tour averages scoring 586 runs @ 72.88. He was less successful in the seam-friendly conditions in New Zealand averaging 36 with a highest of 64 but he also picked up 5 wickets @ 17 a piece.

Patil was an exciting stroke-player, an attacking batsman who could hit hard and long. In all, he played 29 Tests scoring 1588 runs @ 36.93 with four centuries and nine wickets at just over 26. In one-dayers, where one felt he should have been more successful, he made only 1005 runs in 45 matches @ 24.51. Statistics do not point to a great cricketer but two of his innings in Test cricket – both when the chips were down remain etched in memory. One, of course was the Adelaide knock, the other was a year-and-a-half later at Manchester against England, when in the company of Kapil Dev he batted in a partnership which helped India avoid the follow-on. He made 129 n.o., moving from 73 to 104 in nine balls hitting Botham for two fours and then in one of the most eventful overs of the tour, Willis for six fours in seven balls (one no-ball). Botham and Willis were bowling with the second new ball. Patil always gave the impression he had a comfort zone against the quicker bowlers. His defence wasn’t immaculate but his aggressive streak helped counter the bowlers with excellent shots square off the wicket and hard drives in front.

A bowlers' back drive off Lillee at the MCG in his knock of 36 in the second innings had even the great bowler applauding. Hit with power and timing, it zipped past the bowler on its way to the long boundary, hit the rails and bounced back half way to long on.

Of all his wonderful strokeplay throughout the tour, this shot lingers on in memory not just for its beauty, power, timing and placement but also because of the reaction to it by Lillee.

Handsome, tall, athletic, skilled but, again someone who didn’t quite fulfill his full potential at the topmost level – consistency was somehow missing. The good part has been that this keen student of the game contributed to it both on and off the field and continues to do so. In the Ranji Trophy he captained Madhya Pradesh with success and has had a successful coaching career with India, India A, Oman and Kenya. It was during his days as coach that Kenya reached the semi-finals of the World Cup 2003. He continues to be a much sought after “expert” on TV and, of course, writes on the game with deep insight and conviction.

True to his handsome ways, he has been an all-rounder in the field of life as well, having been a pop singer, an actor in films and editor of a Marathi Sports magazine.

Having seen him from close on a couple of tours abroad, he has been a team man, a prankster and someone who has given a lot of joy both on and off the field to many of us cricket lovers.

It is good to see him ticking and contributing to the game.