Fame and fortune never eluded the maharajas of India, and it was no different when it came to cricket
MAHARAJA Fatehsinh Rao Gaekwad of Baroda was a very successful manager of the Indian cricket team touring Pakistan in the 1970’s. But despite his regal background, he found, that when it came to cricket the Pakistanis favoured, the retired eminent cricketer Lala Amarnath, who had come to visit his hometown of Lahore, with the Indian team and not the royal manager. As the team with the guest Amarnath landed in Lahore airport, a grand Rolls Royce was on the tarmac. Thinking that it was for him, Gaekwad went to the car. But was stopped by the burly Pathan chauffeur, who told him brusquely to sheer off, and that the vehicle was meant solely for Lala Amarnath!
Maharajas interested in cricket, ranged from the Maharaja of Nawanagar — the famous Ranji (1872-1933) — 24696 runs in first class English cricket to Maharaja of Porbandar (the Indian captain during the England tour in 1932), who scored just two runs during the whole tour (“His Highness has more Rolls Royces than the runs he scored” as per one British newspaper). The newspaper did not know that Porbandar was footing the complete bill for the tour by the Indian team!
It is a fact, that but for the interest shown by the Indian Royalty in cricket, it would not have grown to its present status. Of course, the maharajas used cricket more for currying favour with the British ruling class than as a sport. Actually it started with the great popularity showered on the great Ranji, as he climbed the cricket heights with his astonishing prowess and soon the maharajas, notably the scions of Patiala, Kashmir, Indore and other princes like the infamous Vizzy-the Maharaja of Vijayanagaram (known as Vizzy) benefited by it.
As early as 1890’s, Maharajas Rajinder Singh of Patiala had formed a brilliant cricket team with professionals from England and the best India can provide from the cricket fields of Bombay. The traditional rivals were the Maharaja of Patiala and Vizzy, who wanted to ensure, that the Viceroy Lord Willingdon sided with them during the cricket controversies. During this process they built superb teams. Vizzy for example brought Hobbs and Sutcliffe to tour India in the winter of 1930-33. Finally, due to some political problems Patiala was out of favour, and Vizzy succeeded in financing and captaining the Indian team of 1936, with disastrous results. To quote the famous cricketer, Mushtaq Ali, “In my times, cricket was patronized by the maharajas. It was because of this, that “Vizzy” became the Indian captain, despite his poor cricketing skills. It was not his business, to play for the country, let alone lead it. But then the cricket associations did not have the money at that time and the maharajas like, “Vizzy” used to support the game. Not only that, they used to literally run Indian cricket. So when you give money and also run the game, you would also covet the captaincy!” The all time high batting score of Vizzy was just 24.
If one were to rank them, Ranji, (to quote his full name), Colonel His Highness Maharaja Sir Shri Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, GCSI, GBE, KCTE was, of course is the greatest cricketer among Indian princes. Legends have grown around him, as how he used to employ the professional team of Fenners of UK to bowl to him to enable him to master cricket, and then there was the famous leg-glance perfected by him. A sports journalist once wrote that “by becoming the first Indian to play cricket for England, he demonstrated that a coloured man could not only be the equal of any Englishman in the field of endeavour but in his case, indisputably superior.”
The famous W.G. Grace, remarked generously in 1908, “I can assure you, that you will never see a batsman to best Ranji, if you live for a hundred years.” Although the premier Ranji Trophy in India is named after him, Ranji always considered himself to be an English cricketer, and according to experts, he did not do much for Indian cricket.
For the next place, there would be a tie, between Prince K.S. Duleepsinhu (nephew of Ranji) and Mansur Ali Khan (the present Nawab of Pataudi) better known as Pataudi Jr./Tiger Pataudi. Due to his ill-health Duleepsinh could not complete his cricketing career. But his experience illustrated, how colour conscious the British were, even to the star cricketers of Indian royalty. A few years ago, K.S. Duleepsinhji, stated that, he had been subjected to pettiness several times. In 1929, immediately after his tremendous form, he was excluded from the remaining Tests and from the annual Gentleman’s XI versus Players XI, despite the fact that he was far higher in the batting averages than any other amateur!
Duleepsinhji stated, “I was told an amazing story, that people of great influence, had told the selectors that I must not be chosen for any remaining Tests. The selectors said, that if I played in the Gentlemen and Players match, just before the third Test, the chances were that, should I make a hundred and then public opinion would force them to give me a place in the Test. “Sporting Gentlemen” and “Pillars of English cricket”, said “that is all right, we will see that he does not play in the Gentleman versus Players match.”
Pataudi Jr., faced no such problems in independent India and became the youngest and most successful captain of Indian cricket teams. He has, however, stated that the stamp of royalty still has an edge over the commoners’ courageous ability, and even his own background might have tilted, the scales in his favour, when he became the youngest Indian captain, ahead of many established and renowned seniors. But for the accidental loss of his left eye, he would have been in Indian cricket for decades. The fourth princely celebrity would be Tiger Patudi’s father, the Senior Nawab of Pataudi. One of the members of the English team, during the famous, controversial Bodyline bowling of Jardine’s team in the 1930 visit to Australia; he was kept away from important matches by Jardine, due to his outspokenness. Pataudi had told Jardine, that he disapproved of the Bodyline bowling. Jardine had sarcastically stated, “So you are the conscientious objector! Aren’t you?” But this sarcasm did not curb Pataudi’s sense of humour. Those were the days of Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle and all Indians were being praised or heckled for the so-called ‘foibles of the Mahatma’. Once, one wag from the cricket crowd shouted at Pataudi, “Hey Gandhi, where is your goat?” Pataudi looked at the heckler and shouted back “Hey... Come here goat! I have found you!” Despite his ill-health, Pataudi was made the captain of the Indian team in the mid-1940’s to UK, but was overshadowed by the more brilliant vice-captain Vijay Merchant.
There were reasonably good cricketers in the royal families of Bhopal, Baroda, Udaipur, Joddhpur, Dungarpur, Cooch Behar and Natore. But for the dream teams assembled by the royals, there was none to beat Patiala and Indore. The Maharaja of Indore ensured that the famous C.K. Nayudu was well taken care of during his cricketing career and Nayudu is the only Indian cricketer who was given the honorific title of “Mumtazim Bahadur Wafadar-Dowlat Diler Jung Lt. Col. C.K. Nayudu”.
The late Maharaja Madavarao Scindia of Gwalior was a knowledgeable President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the 1990’s. Of the other maharajas it is interesting to quote of their vainness in playing cricket. The Maharaja of Kashmir: “When his team was in the field, he would retire to his prayer room, where he remained until a telephone message came telling him, that it was his turn to bat. A car brought the Maharaja to the ground, where pads and gloves were reverentially put on him by his valets. The monarch would then walk to the pitch, his hands on the shoulders of his helpers. The bowlers were instructed to bowl a series of slow long hops and full tosses, these were aided by the fielders’ slowness across the boundary line. In time, the score would be announced that the Maharaja has reached his century. There was a secret convention, that at the match with which he celebrated his birthday, he should be allowed to make as many runs as the years of his life, the rules of the game being strained to prevent premature loss of his wicket. He never noticed the deception”.
But the height of the Maharaja’s ego was shown, when he asked the great Ranji, who was his guest, as to whether he had ever got out for a duck? Ranji confessed that he had got out without a score many times. The Maharaja laughed and told Ranji that he had never got out for a duck in his matches. What’s more, in order to celebrate his “superiority” over Ranji, he asked his Prime Minister to declare that day as holiday for all schoolchildren in his capital of Srinagar! The Patiala rulers H.H. Bhupinder Singh and his son H.H. Yadvinder Sing were reasonably good cricketers. But as it happened in the Willingdon Club at Bombay, often the matches had to be stopped for a while, to ensure that the missing diamond earnings/other jewels of the Maharaja, lost during his batting efforts were found again. He was also, not above using underhand methods in winning cricket games. The most famous is the “match fixing story”, when the Maharaja gave a grand dinner party for the visiting MCC team, that would keep the visitors up all night, and thereby reduce the concentration levels during the critical match the next morning. And so bleary eyed they were the next morning that victory for the home team was easy to come by.
Learie Constantine in his memoirs states that, long after the Bodyline bowling was discontinued among cricket enthusiasts, Patiala was not averse to using it, if he found that the opponents were winning the game. Patiala’s cricket ground, in his Chail Palace in Punjab, was at a height of 9000 feet, world’s loftiest cricket ground, and he was proud of it. Often as mist shrouded the pitch, the fielders were warned by the bowler, as to the direction in which the batsman had driven the ball.
Fame and fortune never eluded the maharajas of India, and it was no different when it came to cricket 
