In the cricketing world, some extraordinarily talented cricketers, to their bad luck, have not been able to make it to their international teams. For instance, Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar, both left-arm spinners of the highest order, were utterly unlucky to not play for Team India. And it is chiefly because of the presence of Bishan Singh Bedi. Before Bishan’s coming, they had to contend with Bapu Nadkarni and Rusi Surti who were more of the all-rounders, and the allrounder’s genius is always the upper hand.
Once Bishan came on the scene, he was certainly miles ahead of them as far as bowling was concerned, especially because of his variations. But given the choice of facing Bedi and Goel at their peak, I would prefer to play Bishan because of his flight. Bishan gave you a chance of coming down the track and converting those deliveries into drivable balls. However, Goel, with a flatter trajectory was almost impossible to hit. Not that he could not flight the ball, but the flighting was minimal and since he could obtain turn on any track, the flighting was just not necessary.
Rajinder Goel holds a record of taking over 500 wickets in the Ranji Trophy—not to mention the wickets he has scalped in the Duleep and Irani Trophy matches—the record which will survive for a longer time. There are not many players with 400 wickets in the Ranji Trophy playing today. The only bowler in the category is Venkataraghavan, who will also take some time catching up with Rajinder Goel. Meanwhile, Goel plans to play for another year and thereby complete over 25 years of playing in the Ranji Trophy, making another record.
I do not know if any other player has played for 25 years in the Ranji Trophy. Goel`s stamina is unbelievable for a man who is over 40 and once given the ball, he can bowl right till the end of the day’s play without seeming to lose any of the nip he possesses. It is true that the turn today is not as sharp as it used to be a few years ago, nor is the nip, off which he claimed many of his victims. However, the accuracy is still there and so is the willingness to bowl long spells
The advent of Kapil Dev on the Haryana scene has certainly taken off the load from Goel`s shoulders owing to which he does not have to work as hard as he had to before. Being a simple man and an unassuming character, Goel is a person who is an ideal to follow, on the account of his behavior on and off the field.
He is an absolute professional, always taking pride in his craft and trying to outwit the batsmen unendingly. But it is disheartening that he never got a chance to represent the country. In partnership with Bedi, he could have worked wonders, especially where victories were missed by just a few wickets, or by a few runs.
He was unexpectedly picked for the test team in 1974, however, It is a pity that he benched all the way, and instead two off-spinners were picked against the mighty West Indians, where there was no place for anybody to make a Test debut. Nonetheless, I have a feeling that the selection committee was not prepared to play him because if he would outshine, Bishan`s return to the team would have been delayed and it would have been quite embarrassing for the selectors.
He had been on the fringe of the Test cricket for a long time and played in the unofficial Test against Sri Lanka and did very well, but he was not considered good enough to be picked on a tour with the Indian team, which would have meant that he would have at least worn Indian colored uniform, even if not played in a Test match. However, the man still went on playing Ranji, and did it with pride, remaining aware of the hopelessness—of representing India—all the way.
Goel is the bowler whom I have dreaded facing in my life because I have never been comfortable against his leftarm spin. His flatter trajectory has merely allowed me to step down the track and drive.
Goel is ideal for the younger cricketers to follow. Although he is not a Test cricketer, to me he is one of the greatest I have played against and it has been my privilege.
Excerpts from Sunil Gavaskar’s book ‘Idols’, Rupa publications.