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Best wielder of the willow
In action C.K. Nayudu against Minor Counties in 1936
This metro deserves the honour of having a statue for the immortal Col. C.K. Nayudu, who in 1935 accepted Vice-Chancellor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's invitation to come to Waltair to train young cricketers. That, however, did not materialise, because Radhakrishnan left Andhra University in the middle of his term and the proposal was buried in the university files.
While at Oxford where Radhakrishnan delivered his famous lectures on Indian philosophy, he found time to go to see a cricket match at Lord's and tell Nayudu: "I have come to see you in action."
History was made when Nayudu stepped into the hallowed Lord's as the captain of India XI in its first Test on June 25, 1932. Fifty-one years later on the same day June 25, at the same venue Kapil's Devils won the 1983 Prudential World Cup!
Born at Nagpur on October 31, 1895, C.K. Nayudu made his debut in first class cricket and said good-bye to it in 1964 -— a record span of 48 years -— for the Colossus of Indian cricket. His 153 for the Hindus against the MCC in December 1926 was, according to another great Indian cricketer, Vijay Merchant, "the best I have seen in this country or elsewhere from the bat of an Indian".
Nayudu hit 11 sixers and 13 fours in that historic innings in which he reached the century in just 65 minutes! Lala Amamath called CK "the greatest cricketer India has produced".
The tall and graceful Nayudu, a legend in his own life time, played in the company of two generations — - Pataudi Sr. and Jr., Lala and Mohinder Amarnath, Vinoo and Ashok Mankad. During India's tour of England, India were 91 for 7 at Birmingham against Warwickshire when Nayudu and Marshall took charge. CK made 162, including six sixers and 13 fours and the ball was sent out of the ground into the nearby river. Edward Knight described that knock as one of the best he had seen and Knight later called Nayudu "still a wonderful cricketer at the age of 62".
In all Nayudu scored 26 centuries, including a double century, and took 411 wickets in his career. His short Test career began at the Lord's in 1932 and ended at the Oval in 1936. He was also the first Indian cricketer to get into Wisden's Best Five in 1933.
He was 58 when he came to Guntur with his brother CS and disciple Mushtaq Ali for the inauguration of the Andhra Cricket Association in February 1953. He was an ardent Andhra at heart. He agreed to lead the maverick Andhra team on its debut in Ranji trophy. When the inexperienced Andhra batsmen floundered against the Mysore attack led by Kasturirangan, the majestic Nayudu strode out to the pitch and scored 74 with a sixer off Kasturirangan and 10 fours. His home state Holkar won the Ranji trophy four times under his captaincy during 1946-53.
He became the first sportsperson to be honoured with Padma Bhushan. Sports journalist K.V. Gopalaratnam, son of the famous editor K. Iswara Dutt, organised a felicitation function for CK when the great cricketer reached 60. A road was named after CK in Masulipatam where his mother was born. A statute adorns the cricket stadium at Indore where CK and his brother lived with their families and, of course, along with Mushtaq, who is now in his 90s.
The ACA-VDCA Stadium today has C.K's statue thanks to the gift of the director-general of Prema Hospitals, S.V. Adinarayana Rao. It is not only a gift to the city, but also to the State and the entire country because as Merchant, never given to exaggeration or hyperbole, wrote: "Whether it was bowling, batting, fielding, captaincy, physical fitness or positive approach to the game, there will never be Nayudu's equal amongst Indians."
A. PRASANNA KUMAR
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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