Maninder Singh Interview

[bhakum20]

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1195771/-i-had-nowhere-to-go--so-i-went-to-the-bottle

 

I always heard about Pakistani umpires and didn't know what to believe since I was a kid in the 80's but now I hear it from the horse's mouth:

 

"

Before the Pakistan tour we were told that relations are not very good between the countries. There was a proper class taken, telling us that when a decision goes against you, you have to keep quiet, because we don't want to spoil diplomatic relations.

I played five out of the six Tests, got only three wickets. Because it was their umpires, there was no chance of getting lbw, caught-behind, caught at silly point. Nothing. At one stage, I appealed for a catch at silly point against Saleem Malik, and late Shakoor Rana sahab said, "Aaja, aaja, ethe sirf bowled kar, ethe ohiyeo wicket milegi." [Come back, you need to get batsmen bowled - that's the only way you'll get a dismissal here.]

"

 

Interesting take on early selection:

"

You made your Test debut at a very young age. In hindsight, was that a good thing?
No, no. Too early. I feel generally spinners and batsmen should be given some more time in first-class cricket. Fast bowlers can be picked raw. At that time I felt I was ready because I was getting a lot of wickets. But later I realised if I had a couple of seasons of first-class cricket, probably I would have been in a better position to handle the ups and downs of international cricket.

To handle success is also not easy, especially when you are very young. Everybody cannot be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid or a Sourav Ganguly. Even Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played a couple of seasons in first-class cricket [before making their international debut]. Why don't we get a driving licence before 18? Because we are not ready, right? And after getting the driving licence, you have driven for a year or so, then you get the confidence that you can drive now. This is international cricket. This is the case with your life.

"

 

 

Feel for the guy reading about mental and drinking struggles. Respect goes even higher for all the geniuses who make it on the world stage.

[kruiser]

brilliant interview.. always wondered what happened to him.

[nevada]

I read the article this morning and felt sad. Poor guy tasted success at an early age but just a few years later, his career fell apart and he never recovered. He is still walking wounded and trying to recover from the pain. His contemporaries Sadanand Vishwanath and L. Siva also had their international careers upended and struggled a lot. But both picked themselves up and have found redemption taking up coaching and commentary respectively. Maninder was an umpire and a commentator for a while but he just seems to have gone off the deep end and made a mess of his life as well as those around him. The BCCI should seriously consider appointing mental conditioning coaches to help out both international as well as local cricketers.  

Edited August 8, 2019 by nevada

[Vijy]

17 hours ago, bhakum20 said:

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1195771/-i-had-nowhere-to-go--so-i-went-to-the-bottle

 

I always heard about Pakistani umpires and didn't know what to believe since I was a kid in the 80's but now I hear it from the horse's mouth:

 

"

Before the Pakistan tour we were told that relations are not very good between the countries. There was a proper class taken, telling us that when a decision goes against you, you have to keep quiet, because we don't want to spoil diplomatic relations.

I played five out of the six Tests, got only three wickets. Because it was their umpires, there was no chance of getting lbw, caught-behind, caught at silly point. Nothing. At one stage, I appealed for a catch at silly point against Saleem Malik, and late Shakoor Rana sahab said, "Aaja, aaja, ethe sirf bowled kar, ethe ohiyeo wicket milegi." [Come back, you need to get batsmen bowled - that's the only way you'll get a dismissal here.]

"

 

Interesting take on early selection:

"

You made your Test debut at a very young age. In hindsight, was that a good thing?
No, no. Too early. I feel generally spinners and batsmen should be given some more time in first-class cricket. Fast bowlers can be picked raw. At that time I felt I was ready because I was getting a lot of wickets. But later I realised if I had a couple of seasons of first-class cricket, probably I would have been in a better position to handle the ups and downs of international cricket.

To handle success is also not easy, especially when you are very young. Everybody cannot be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid or a Sourav Ganguly. Even Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played a couple of seasons in first-class cricket [before making their international debut]. Why don't we get a driving licence before 18? Because we are not ready, right? And after getting the driving licence, you have driven for a year or so, then you get the confidence that you can drive now. This is international cricket. This is the case with your life.

"

 

 

Feel for the guy reading about mental and drinking struggles. Respect goes even higher for all the geniuses who make it on the world stage.

yes, tasting success at early age does not often translate to illustrious long-term career. this is why the likes of pele and SRT are exceptions rather than the norm.

[mani sha]

Mental midget . Party animals . 

 

Dont think he had anybody else else to blame . I saw his bowling in 1987 World Cup and he was ok - nothing special just overhyped 

 

85 to 95 we had some shady and poor players . 

[singhprakash72]

Was touted to be next Bedi but too much expectations and lack of confidence. He had his high in 1986 eng tour and did reasonably well till Pak tour of 1987 but Gooch totally smothered him in WC semifinal and after that it was downhill very fast....to be fair he did play half of tests with Pak in their home ground when they had much better batsman of spin.

[Vijy]

maninder and doshi were good lefty spinners but neither of them could have held a candle to shivalkar and goel as per contemporary accounts. it's a pity that they were around the same time as bedi; if they had arrived earlier or later, they could have easily walked into team.

[cricketfan28]

a lesson for all the youngsters.

[vvvslaxman]

Remembered  for Bangalore Test where India lost.