Remembering Chetan Chauhan, The Man Gavaskar Called ‘Master’
Chetan Chauhan lived a life where he gave to cricket, in every way he could.
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He was one half of possibly the best Indian Test opening combination before the 21st century began. Right through the 1970s, Bareilly-born Chetan Chauhan personified courage and fight in the face of terrific pace bowlers hurling thunderbolts at him.
Along with the incomparable Sunil Gavaskar, Chauhan formed a formidable opening combination which served India with a lot of distinction. That Chauhan had learnt his cricket in Pune and played for Maharashtra as well meant that the pair could communicate in Marathi at most times.
The career itself for Chauhan was full of ups and downs as he endured two long-term exclusions from the side. He made his Test debut in 1969-70 against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium. It became a widely known fact that he took nearly 25 minutes to score his first run in Test cricket. He then hit a boundary and a six off New Zealand’s Bruce Taylor to register his first two scoring shots in Tests via a boundary.
He was then out of the squad for close to four more years by which time the Indian team had acquired the services of the new Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar. There was another break for close to four years after which he played for an uninterrupted time for India forging a successful combination with Gavaskar. Together Gavaskar and Chauhan blunted the fiercest bowling attacks in the world with their stoic defence.
The Gavaskar-Chauhan pairing added 3127 runs at an average of 54.85 in 60 innings. Gavaskar and Chauhan put on 11 century stands in all.
India fell nine short as the Test ended in a draw. But Gavaskar’s masterful 221 and his stand with Chauhan made a huge statement.
Gavaskar had a lot of respect for Chauhan and always referred to him as ‘Master’. He could rely on Chauhan to take on some uncomfortable bowlers for a while as he himself has recounted on many occasions post his playing days.
The twin tours of Australia and New Zealand in 1980-81 proved to be the final time the pair worked together. On the Australia leg of the tour, Chauhan was at the non-striker in Melbourne when Gavaskar lost his cool following what he thought was abusive behaviour by Aussies and walked off taking his opening partner with him. Chauhan was reluctant to walk off with Gavaskar, but he went along with his captain. It required quiet diplomacy of then team manager Wing Commander Shahid Durrani to diffuse the situation.
Chauhan stayed on and played a part in India’s revival in what turned out to be a terrific come from behind win for India at Melbourne. The Test series was shared 1-1, and on the following tour to New Zealand India lost 0-1. Despite being one of the consistent performers on the twin tour, Chauhan was dropped from India’s Test squad.
The hurt stayed on with him for some time.
Chauhan finished his Test career without a hundred to his name, with a best of 97. He is second only to Shane Warne on a list of players with most runs without a hundred.
It took some more time for India to find a stable partner for Gavaskar thereafter. India tried Arun Lal, Ghulam Parkar, Ravi Shastri, Krish Srikkanth and Anshuman Gaekwad as Gavaskar’s partners following Chauhan’s abrupt exit.
In addition to his courage with the bat, the Indian team also missed his presence on the field.
A Stint in Coaching and The DDCA
Chauhan then moved to Australia for three years playing and coaching at an Adelaide club, a city where in later years his son passed away in an unfortunate accident at the age of 19. He finally finished his playing days in 1985.
Raj Singh Dungarpur as chairman of selectors then got all the attention, but the panel comprising Test players like Chauhan, Ramesh Saxena, BS Chandrashekhar and Naren Tamhane, deserved equal attention.
Chauhan’s later stints in a faction-ridden Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities also brought him back in focus. He survived the feuds in DDCA and managed to hold his own. He did have a famous run-in with former India opener Gautam Gambhir over selection of fast bowler Navdeep Saini. When Saini finally played for India last year, Gambhir lashed out at both Chauhan and another former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi for having halted Saini’s selection.
A New Role in The Indian Team
In the midst of all this he was brought in as the first full-time manager of the Indian team when New Zealand’s John Wright took charge as the head coach.
But shortly after that series, BCCI reverted to its old policy of handing out managerial roles as doles to state associations. It took another six years for Chauhan to return as India manager on that eventful Australia tour of 2007-08. The fantastic role played by Chauhan and another former first-class player Dr MV Sridhar, as media manager, is still spoken about by those involved then.
Amongst the former India players, he was probably the only one who realised that the role of the team manager is not just limited to managing tickets of the games. He was keen for a longer stint as manager, but the BCCI then was reluctant to let go of an opportunity to appease all State Association officials.
Chauhan was an active organiser of Veterans Cricket in 1990s and in fact led the Board of Veteran Cricket in India (BVCI). After the Lodha reforms kicked in, Chauhan moved out of cricket administration and moved back into politics. But he remained a widely respected cricket analyst on news television.
He was also named chairman of India’s premier fashion institute, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), but that led to a lot of controversy and criticism. He later won an Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh and became a State minister.
It was in his last stint as an active politician that he finally breathed his last. Cricket has become poorer by the unfortunate and untimely demise of its Master.
Rest in peace, Sir.
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