Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies. March 17, 1962. The match — Barbados versus India. The atmosphere is electric as Charlie Griffith, a demon of a pace man, gets ready to launch his next thunderbolt.
There’s an element of suspended animation, all around — more so, in the Indian dressing room. For no small reason. Because, the rattling, frighteningly diabolical run-up of Wesley Hall’s bowling partner is capable of sending chills down anybody’s spine. Nari Contractor, India’s captain and a fine opening batsman,waits to engage Griffith in a duel that would be every batsman’s litmus test.
Griffith fires one on all five cylinders. Rat-a-tat. Contractor ducks and,perforce, takes his eyes off the ball. As the red cherry catches him above the rightear, the noise is of ‘eggshells cracking.’ The sight is horrendous. It’s an emergency.Contractor lies motionless, bleeding profusely. He’s helped off the field and moved to hospital, where he undergoes surgery. He’s now out of danger, but there are complications — a blood clot for one. As the ‘Rescue Contractor Mission’ is in full swing, a brain surgeon arrives from PortofSpain to perform a second operation.
Contractor’s team-mates, Polly Umrigar, ChanduBorde, and BapuNadkarni,donate blood. They are joined in by Sir Frank Worrell — West Indies captain —who’s more than concerned about the fate of a fellow cricketer and a worthy rival.
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