Rajinder Goel, the spinner who terrorised the best on turning pitches

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 24

With the passing away of Rajinder Goel, Indian cricket has lost a guardian angel who nurtured the game for more than 50 years. First as a cricketer (1958-1985) for Punjab, Delhi and Haryana and then as an administrator and a mentor for Haryana.

His teammates who played with him during his 27-year long career recalled memorable matches and incidents which shed a light on the remarkable character that he had.

Dr Ravinder Chadha, former Haryana captain, under whose captaincy Goel played for the state, said, “As a captain when I played against the bigger teams I would feel proud and confident that we had a spinner who could singlehandedly stop any team. I would describe Rajinder Goel as Mr. Accurate.”

“He was the most dependable bowler for me. Whenever I had to tie down the opposition batsmen, I threw the ball to him, and he never complained,” he added. “Once, in a Ranji Trophy match against J&K in Srinagar, we had scored 300-plus runs. I opened the bowling with him and he bowled without taking a break and got us six wickets.”

Chadha said the amazing quality Goel had was an instinct not to give runs and frustrate batsmen. “He would not give loose balls even during practice sessions, such was his intensity towards his craft. And this was also his guiding principle in cricket,” he said.

Starting in 1950s

Goel made his debut for Patiala and then played next four seasons for Southern Punjab. After that, for the next 10 years, he represented Delhi and then shifted to Haryana in 1975 and played for 12 Ranji seasons for them. The left-arm spinner played 123 Ranji Trophy matches, taking 637 wickets at an average of 17.28, with 53 five-wicket hauls.

But one batsman who always got runs against Goel was Mohinder Amarnath. “He would play him effortlessly. The moment Goel came on attack, Mohinder’s trick would be to get aggressive by coming out of the crease and hitting Goel repeatedly over the fielders,” Chadha recalled.

Throwing more light on the spinner, Chadha said Goel was virtually unplayable on turning tracks, under-prepared wickets. “He was better than Bishan Singh Bedi on turning tracks but Bedi could lure the batsmen into a trap with his flight and loop,” Chadha, who played 114 First-Class matches, said.

The 69-year-old Chadha also recalled that of the 99 catches he took in First-Class cricket, a large number were off Goel’s bowling. “I would stand in gully or short fine-leg and get bat-and pad catches,” he said.

Noble-hearted man: Kaypee

Teammate Amarjit Kaypee remembered Goel as a stalwart with a noble heart who encouraged youngsters a lot, and he has a personal anecdote to prove this. Kaypee, representing Punjab in the Ranji Trophy in 1983, was facing Goel, who was playing for Haryana then.

“During the Ranji match at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh, I hit him for a big six. To my surprise, he applauded me and said ‘shabash beta itna lamba chakka aaj tak nahi mara mujhe kisi ne. Tum bahut aagey tak jaoge‘,” said Kaypee.

“As a 22-year-old playing only my second Ranji season, my chest swelled with pride as such a big player had appreciated me. I went on to score my first Ranji Trophy hundred (130) in that match.”

Goel’s words were prophetic as the Jalandhar-born, right-handed Kaypee later went on to set the record for most runs (7,623 and 27 centuries) in the Ranji Trophy, a record Amol Muzumdar broke in 2009.

All of Goel’s teammates share the opinion that had there been T20 cricket his time, Goel would have been the highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket also — to go with his record tally of 637 in the Ranji Trophy.

Goel, who retired as a banker, was honoured during the 2011 IPL final ceremony in Chennai along with others who had played 75 First-Class or more matches.

“We were with our families and Goel was very happy that day, I still remember his smile and a feeling of being contented that day,” said Kaypee, now 59.

Humble giant: Talwar

Former Haryana off-spinner Sarkar Talwar, Goel’s teammate for 10 years from 1970 to 1980, said, “He was a very humble man. He had no airs about him despite single-handedly winning matches for his team against teams like Karnataka, UP, and Mumbai. We shared close to 900 wickets between us.”

Talwar played 106 First-Class matches from 1967 to 1987, taking 357 wickets with a best of 7/32.

Remembering an incident during a knockout match against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy in 1981,Talwar, 67, said, “We were in a strong position against them. We needed just four wickets to win and had 100 runs to defend. Their captain S Venkataraghavan was at the non-striker’s end. The batsman hit the ball back to Goel, he took the ‘catch’ and the batsman started walking and the umpire had already given out. Goel asked the umpire to call back the batsman as it was a bump catch. Back then, cricket was played with such a spirit.”

“Eventually, we lost the match,” Talwar added with a laugh.