Madhav Mantri, India's oldest Test cricketer who passed away at age 92, had a huge impact on Mumbai cricket during his playing career and after as an administrator. He was a disciplinarian who led the famous Dadar Union club and groomed many future India players. Even after retiring from playing, Mantri continued coaching young talent. He once convinced the Indian team management to play a young Sachin Tendulkar in his debut series in England against their wishes, and Tendulkar responded with a century. Mantri's passing marks the end of an era for Mumbai cricket defined by discipline, dedication and loyalty.

1. Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Saturday, May 24, 2014Mail Today, New Delhi, Saturday, May 24, 2014
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Bopanna-Qureshienter
doublesfinalinNice
WE ALL called him Nana Mama, that is, in the
family and strictly off the field. On the field
he was feared, like a headmaster, because
he always played by the book.
Madhav Krishnaji Mantri, India’s oldest Test
cricketer, who ‘hung up’ his boots on May
23, 2014, was one of the big pillars of Bombay
(Mumbai) cricket. He had a huge impact on
doyens such as Polly Umrigar, Subhash
Gupte, Naren Tamhane and his nephew Sunil
Gavaskar.
When a school-going Sunil tried on his
maternal uncle’s India cap, he was told in
certain terms that he would have to ‘earn’
the cap. Another story involving Gavaskar
and his uncle is interesting. Sunil, after scor-
ing a double hundred for Bombay Univer-
sity, met his uncle who admonished him for
having thrown his wicket and not being
unbeaten at the end of the day.
Mantri once dropped an India player, who
turned up late for the match, while captain-
ing the famed Mumbai club Dadar Union, on
disciplinary grounds. The club, which Mantri
ran like a tight ship, produced many India
cricketers like Tamhane, Gupte, Gavaskar,
Dilip Vengsarkar and Sanjay Manjrekar.
Even after his retirement from the first-
class cricket, Mantri continued to play for
Dadar Parsee Zoroastrian (DPZ) along with
Tamhane, in the 1070s, in the lower divisions
to groom young talent. Once I was leading
the Sassanian Cricket Club in the Kanga
League C Division and got a call from my
coach Ramakant Achrekar instructing the
team to be present on the ground half an
hour before the normal time of reporting.
Mantri once recounted an incident that
occurred on Sachin Tendulkar’s first trip to
England (1990) with the Indian team of
which Mantri was the manager.
India were to play Derbyshire and the
management decided to give Sachin a
break from that game. He went up to
Mantri and pleaded with him to change the
team management’s decision. He wanted to
face Ian Bishop, one of the quickest bowlers
in the world. The management paid heed to
Mantri’s advice to play Sachin who scored
an unbeaten hundred in that match.
Mantri’s passing away signals the end of a
glorious era in Mumbai cricket. An age,
when cricketers and administrators swore
by discipline, dedication and loyalty — a far
cry from the realities Mumbai cricket faces
today.
(The writer is a former Cricket Club of India
captain and a Bombay University cricketer)
Mail Today Correspondent
in New Delhi
EXTRACOVER
by Hemant
Kenkre
FIXING
to fore
AGAIN
India’s oldest Test cricketer,
Madhav Mantri, died aged
92 in Mumbai on Friday.
Deathof92-year-oldMantrisignalsendofera
A
DAY after the English
and Wales Cricket Board
took an epochal decision
to charge former player
Lou Vincent — along with
Naveed Arif of
Pakistani origin — on com-
bined 20 counts of corrup-
tion, the New Zealander on
Friday said he hasn’t
entered into a “plea bar-
gain” with the investigators
for his disclosures.
On the other hand, Pakistan
Cricket Board virtually disowned
Arif. On Thursday, BCCI interim
president (for IPL) Sunil
Gavaskar officially accepted that
bookies had indeed approached
two players during the IPL.
These events have raised ques-
tions about the effectiveness of
the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and
Security Unit (ACSU), which
keeps an eye on players and book-
ies, though with limited resources.
And close on the heels of the leak
of Vincent’s testimony to the
ACSU — and a supposed conver-
sation between an ACSU official
with an Indian bookie during the
World Twenty20 in
Bangladesh recently — a
41-page power point
presentation contain-
ing details of some ‘sus-
pects’ has been leaked.
The 41-page document
says that the ACSU
sleuths covered 470
matches and 214 prac-
tice sessions in 2011. The
total number of nights the
nine ACSU officials were ‘away’
was 1,469 while 1,099 players/sup-
port personnel/officials received
education programme. “They
[ACSU] only did this once, then
stopped. Never presented to [ICC
Executive] Board, I am told,” a
source told MAIL TODAY.
An ICC official said “presenta-
tions are made as and when
requested by the ICC Board”.
According to the ACSU presen-
tation, in 2011, a total of 124 ‘sus-
picious actions’ were reported, 67
suspects’ activities were recorded
and 11 corrupt approaches were
made. The ACSU’s “source of
information” were 24 players, 18
officials, 25 members of support
staff of teams and 125 ACSU
‘sources’ while 66 ‘operations’
were conducted by it. It reveals
that in 2010, 158 intelligence
reports were gathered and 281 in
2011.
Giving another peep into
its activities, the ACSU
says that by obtaining
itemised billing of cer-
tain phone numbers
between July 19 and
August 25, 2010, about
300 calls/SMSs were
either made between
bookie Mazhar Majeed’s
mobile (+4479****3819 and
+4479****8786) and his Mumbai-
based Indian associate
Bhi**RoShir*** (+9197****7039).
They made these calls/SMSs just
before the News of The World
exposed, through a sting opera-
tion, that Majeed had induced
Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Moham-
mad Amir and Mohammad Asif
into spot fixing during a Test at
Lord’s, London, in August 2010.
Lou
Vincent of
NZ says he
hasn’t entered
into a plea
bargain with
ICC
Leaked ACSU
dossier lists
suspects of
fixing world
NM | Analysis of
her billing data
confirmed she was
in contact with a
number of sus-
pected corruptors,
& known bookies in
India & Dubai.
“ACSU inquiries
ascertained that
NM was clearly
using her charms
(honey trap) in an
attempt to corrupt
players,” says ACSU.
NM made a ‘cor-
rupt approach’
during 2011 World
Cup & the player
reported the
approach to ACSU.
RS | An
Indian
national, his
identity was
obtained
along with
that of ‘RA’.
Only limited
info could be obtained on RS
and RA, hence inquiry could-
n’t progress. But through
their online betting accounts,
a link was established with
Indian national SK.
KB | This
Indian’s
actions in SL
in 2009 raised
suspicion but
nothing spe-
cific. He
obtained UK
visa in 2010 and was moni-
tored in London during
England-India series in
2011. ACSU also accessed
photos of KB in an elevator
of the Crowne Plaza hotel
in London on July 25, 2011.
PT | This
Indian
was first
observed in
Lanka in 2009.
As with other
individuals,
his actions
raised suspicion but noth-
ing specific. In 2010, ACSU
sought further info on him,
including his phone data for
both Indian and SL num-
bers. He was observed at
subsequent matches...
SK | He
was
observed in
Sri Lanka
(report
doesn’t say
when) & fur-
ther intel
obtained both in SL & India.
In 2010, he initiated a poten-
tially corrupt approach to a
player. ACSU action helped
player avoid potential com-
promise.
NNoottee:: AAbboovvee tteexxtt aanndd pphhoottooss aaccccoorrddiinngg ttoo aann AACCSSUU pprreesseennttaattiioonn ddaatteedd JJaannuuaarryy 2233,, 22001122..
AACCSSUU hhaass nnoott iiddeennttiiffiieedd tthheessee ppeeooppllee bbyy tthheeiirr ffuullll nnaammeess,, oonnllyy bbyy tthheeiirr iinniittiiaallss..
DP | Dur-
ing the
2009 World
T20, he was
accompa-
nied by his
purported
girlfriend
NM. They ‘did’ some teams
and continually attempted
to approach players. ACSU
identified mobile numbers
for each (India, Pakistan &
UK), & they were regularly
changed.
SUSPECTSCONNECTED
RA | A
British
national, he
was another
male who
continually
sought to
meet play-
ers both within hotels and
nearby casinos. He
offered casino chips to
players, further offered to
provide call girls and a
‘safe’ hotel room.
29