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A farewell to arms

The gentlemanly Vijay Bharadwaj deconstructs his retirement at 31 with refreshing candour

PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

MR. NICE GUY Vijay Bharadwaj: ` If I don't figure in the top 30 players in the State's probables list, then what's the point in carrying on?'

There is a remarkable sense of ease about Vijay Bharadwaj. The former India and Karnataka batsman, who snuffed out his playing days with an impromptu press conference two months ago, has made peace with himself, but the obvious had to be asked.

When posed with the question if he has any regrets, Bharadwaj says: "I made the right decision. If I don't figure in the top 30 players in the State's probables list, then what's the point in carrying on?"

Angst does creep in but he deconstructs his retirement at 31— an age when batsmen are at their prime — with remarkable candour.

"Anil Kumble was sitting in the Club House and I did not want to meet him before announcing the retirement because I knew he would try to change my mind. He had always believed in my ability. Eventually when I returned home, he called and asked me to revoke the decision but I struck to my guns. Now I am looking forward to coaching and helping my brother with his business."

Held in high esteem

In his prime, Bharadwaj, the batsman and part-time off spinner, was held in high esteem by Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid and rival teams. For instance, in the 1998-99 domestic season when Bharadwaj amassed 1,463 runs, averaging 81.27 and also helped Karnataka win the Ranji Trophy, Dravid turned down an interview request saying: "Ask Vijay Bharadwaj. He is the man to be written about; he is playing so well."

Bharadwaj's journey from Mr. Prolific to Forgotten Hero was hastened by a back injury he suffered during India's tour of Australia in 1999-2000. It pushed him into a repetitive cycle of rest and recovery followed by a frantic need for big runs that somehow proved a bit elusive. The injury, besides forcing him out of the national team, also erased public memory about his earlier exploits at the ICC Champions Trophy at Nairobi.

"The disc in my back was affected and it affected my stance and shot selection. The injury also (impacted) me mentally. Till then I was batting with so much ease, whatever be the state of the pitch or the strength of the opposition. But once I got injured and struggled for runs, I took time to adapt. Still, I did score some runs though not on the same scale as I did earlier." A double ton against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy match at the RSI Ground in the 2001-02 season hinted that the prodigious talent was still intact. It was an innings played on a difficult pitch."It is sad that we lost that game." And that is the way it always was with him — team above self. "I enjoyed those years of being part of the Karnataka team which was winning Ranji Trophies and other tournaments. If you have talent and stay consistent, you might get a break with the Indian team but being part of a team that wins the Ranji Trophy requires other aspects. It requires a talented, united and happy team and we were all that."

And as Bharadwaj's career tapered off, an eye problem added to his woes though he did turn out for Jharkhand briefly. "People did talk about my back injury but I always worked hard on my fitness and when I had that brief vision-adjustment problem, I requested the then State coach Jeshwanth to drop me from the playing eleven. I always had that honesty. And now I did well in the recent Australian tour with the State team and despite an injury relapse, was working hard on my fitness and was confident about my batting, but... ," his voice trails off.

The lanky player has always been the nice guy who is extraordinarily sensitive to the world around him. "Maybe if I had even 20 per cent of Rahul's mental toughness, I might have gone places," he sighs.

As the interview concludes, it is obvious that a few encouraging words from the team management and selectors might have assuaged his sense of hurt. Sadly, it never happened.

Career statistics

For India: 3 Tests, 28 runs, 1 wicket; 10 One Day Internationals, 136 runs, 16 wickets.

First class: 96 matches, 5553 runs, 14 hundreds, 41.75 average.

K.C. VIJAYA KUMAR

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