The Indian all-rounder MJ Gopalan was born on June 6, 1909 or 1906 (the dispute with regard to the year is explained in the article that follows). Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at a man who had represented India in both cricket and hockey and was a pivotal character for cricket in Madras.
Had things gone his way, Morappakam Joysam Gopalan might have turned out to be a household name. He was talented enough to represented India in both cricket as an all-rounder and a hockey centre-back. It was a blunder in 1936 that eventually cost him his career.
Living in 2013, it is difficult to fathom Gopalan’s status in Indian cricket. He was not merely a sportsperson — he was an icon in the true sense of word. His personality, raw talent, perseverance, and work ethics made him a hero among commoners. In an era when sport — especially cricket — was the pastime of the patricians, Gopalan rose through the ranks based on sheer ability and made it to the top level in both sports.
It should be remembered that Gopalan played in an era when both cricket and hockey were more about art than efficiency, and hence his numbers would probably not tell the story. His tall, broad frame, his front-foot drives, the nippy pace and both-way movement off the pitch generated from a rhythmic run-up, and the athleticism on the field — possibly a by-product of his hockey experience — set him apart from the rest.
About his batting, NS Ramaswami wrote: “[MJ] Gopalan’s art takes the senses by assault by its bravura. As the off-drives thunder over the grass pursued by an unavailing fieldsman, he elevates the game to the highest regions of thought.”
Gopalan played 78 First-Class matches, scoring 2,916 runs at 24.92 with a hundred. He also took 194 wickets at 24.20 with nine five-fors and three 10-fors, and additionally held 49 catches over a career that spanned 26 years. He was a stalwart of Madras cricket in every sense of the word.
He was a modest and humble man. His greatest achievement (including his on-field exploits) was perhaps to receive accolades from CK Nayudu — a man never known for his generosity when it came to showering compliments: “His [Gopalan’s] modesty may not have attracted the heights of advertisement in sports jargon, but like solid gold, which in comparison to copper makes less noise, he always did the best.”
It was one of the rare issues on which Vizzy had actually agreed with The Colonel: “Modest by nature and unassuming as he [Gopalan] is, scores and analysis never figured in his thoughts. All that mattered was unalloyed loyalty, and whenever called upon to play, either in India or abroad, he gave his very best.”
Of his image work ethics and image in general, Professor DB Deodhar said: “The present day generation of players will do well if they copy [MJ] Gopalan in his regular life, clean character and devotion to work undertaken. He rarely wasted his time and energy in any vain and loose talk of the games, action being his watchword.”
Early days
Gopalan’s cricket talent was first discovered by CP Johnstone — the Good Old Man of Madras Cricket. Johnstone found him a job with Burmah Shell so that Gopalan could pursue his talent uninterruptedly. Soon after the appointment, Gopalan moved to the Triplicane Cricket Club, and grew in stature.
He made his First-Class debut in a Madras Presidency match in the 1926-27. Playing at Madras for the Indians against the Europeans (led by none other than Johnstone himself), Gopalan was given the first over in each innings by CK Nayudu. He picked up five for 104 and five for 49 on debut, and never looked back from there.
It was the two matches against Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram’s XI in the 1930-31 seasons that brought Gopalan into the limelight for the first time. Playing for Madras, Gopalan took two for 24 and two for 72 in the first match, but he managed to dismiss Jack Hobbs in each innings, thereby making the headlines.
In the second match Gopalan took what was possibly his most famous wicket: the leg-cutter pitched on the leg-stump, beat Hobbs’s bat, and moved enough to take the off-bail on its way. Hobbs did not bat in the second innings —and hence Gopalan ended up dismissing Hobbs thrice in three innings.
Gopalan also took the first hat-trick at Chepauk. In a match against Ceylon at Madras in 1932-33, Gopalan hit the middle-stumps of George Hubert, Neil Joseph, Sargo Jayawickreme, and Vernon Schokman with the first, third, fourth, and fifth balls of his eighth over. He finished with six for 16 (five bowled, one leg-before) and seven for 57 to rout Ceylon.
Test cricket
Gopalan played for an Indian XI against the visiting Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in their tour match at Calcutta in 1933-34. He took the first four wickets to fall in the match, and the tourists were saved only by an unlikely 91 not out by Hedley Verity. Even then, analyses of four for 67 and one for 32 were good enough to earn him a Test cap for the second Test of the series at Calcutta.
After Douglas Jardine won the toss and decided to bat, England were down at 55 for two but recovered to 185 for three. This was when Gopalan removed James Langridge, who eventually top-scored with 70. England scored 403, and requiring 254 to save the follow-on, India were bowled out for 247, Gopalan hit a boundary and scoring an unbeaten 11 batting at number ten.
Gopalan came out to bat again in the dying stages of the Test. He came out to join Amar Singh with the score on 214 for eight, which meant India were only 58 runs ahead. Gopalan hung on, scoring only seven, but killied valuable time to be last out as India were bowled out for 237, only 81 runs ahead. But there were only five overs remaining in the Test.
That remained Gopalan’s only Test.
Ranji Trophy and hockey
The Ranji Trophy took off in the 1934-35 season, and Madras were scheduled to play the inaugural match of the tournament against Mysore at home. Gopalan bowled the first ball in the history of Ranji Trophy to N Curtis. After a wicketless first innings he picked up three for 20 in the second, and Madras won by an innings on the first day.
He played the Ranji Trophy and the Bombay Quadrangular Trophy on a regular basis, and it was about this time that he took to hockey seriously. His hockey talent was discovered by Murugessa Mudaliar, the first sports journalist of The Hindu, who saw him play in a dhoti and a kudumi[Tamil word for long tuft, or lock of hair at the back of a shaven head], got him a proper hockey outfit, and made him play for YMIA against UTC in the SIAA final. Gopalan scored the only goal of the match.
Gopalan’s insatiable stamina meant that he played both sports simultaneously, while still carrying on his day job with relentless loyalty. S Thyagarajan later wrote in The Hindu: “His admirers marvel at how [MJ] Gopalan used to cycle his way after a full day’s play at MCC, rush for a hockey tie at MUC or SIAA, and still be fresh for the next day’s game.”
Vijay Merchant also spoke highly of his stamina and his day job: “I well remember that quite often when representative matches were played in Madras, he used to cycle about 10 miles to get to the ground for a couple of hours practice and then go back the same distance to start work for the day. Once or twice, I appealed to the authorities to get the necessary leave for him the whole day but Gopalan would have none of it.”
Gopalan toured with the Indian team on their tour of Ceylon, Australia, and New Zealand. India were on rampage in the matches, winning all 48 matches and scoring 584 goals (12.17 goals per match) in the process. Gopalan played in 39 of the matches. The legendary Dhyan Chand wrote of him in his autobiography GOAL! – “I first thought hockey was his [Gopalan’s] second love and cricket the first. He is a grand fellow.”
Dhyan Chand also mentioned Gopalan’s extreme religious nature: “On our return from New Zealand, Gopalan broke journey at Rameswaram to have a dip in the holy waters to wipe off the sin of crossing the seas. Gopalan was a high-caste Hindu from the South, where orthodoxy was severe. Gopalan joined us the next day in Madras after being purified of all sins, and we all had a good joke at his expense.”
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