Vijay Hazare, born on
11 March 1915, in Sangli, was one of India's early greats who did much on
either side of India's midnight to put the country's batsmanship on the map of
world cricket. Along with Vijay Merchant, he brought to Indian cricket a
determination and a studied approach that complemented its flamboyance. His
finest moment was at Adelaide in 1947-48, where he struck two hundreds against
Don Bradman's "Invincible" Australians.
Hazare proved adept on all manner of pitches, off front foot or back. Clean strokes - primarily the cut, hook and a glorious cover-drive - punctuated long periods of defence as he tired attacks before pressing forth. This ability to absorb and release pressure in a controlled manner was unmatched by most in world cricket at the time. He often reined in his carefree strokeplay on the grounds that it was exhibitionism. When fires burned, as they did when Fred Trueman had the new ball in England in 1952, Hazare doused them with calculated calm.
But he was no mere
accumulator. He crushed spirits with the weight of his runs and the fluency of
his batting. In 1943, he struck an extraordinary purple patch in first-class
cricket: 264, 81, 97, 248, 59, 309, 101 and 223. The 248 and 309 are significant
for his rivalry with Merchant, who bettered the first score by two runs, only
to watch the new high score shattered by the triple-century a day later. In
1967, aged 51, Hazare ended his career with a first-class average nudging 58,
with 60 hundreds, and a Test average of 47.65.
From the Australian tour in 1948 till Pakistan visited in 1953, he averaged over 70 even when his famed concentration suffered due to the captaincy. It is generally said that he was not a natural captain, and that the stress of leading the side at a time when Indian cricket was particularly turbulent took its toll on the silent, thoughtful man. His nature had not lent itself well to captaining a young side. He admitted using sign language to communicate with his fielders. Merchant later declared that Hazare could have been India's finest batsman, were it not for the captaincy: "It was one of the tragedies of cricket."
Though his international bowling record is modest, his medium-pace was a handful in domestic cricket. He knocked over 595 batsmen - 20 in Tests - at less than 25. But his prized moments with the ball were on that tour of Australia, when he breached Bradman's defences twice - an achievement managed only by a handful. This added to his undoubted batting superiority, and defined him as one of the finest to wear India's shade of white.
