I know Polly as a gentleman having immense love for his Master, Avatar Meher Baba, who hand delivered the following message to him in 1959 in Poona. "In going to England to represent India in the field of sport you have also the unique opportunity of yourselves preactising, and conveying to the people there the great spiritual lessons of concentration and love. When you take the field, if you play as 11 men with one heart, each enjoying excellence of performance in another player as he would in himself, whether that player is on your side or the side of the opposing team, and so eliminating feeling of jealousy, anger and pride which so often mar sport, you will not only be entertaining the spectators, but demonstrating the real spirit of sportsmanship. True sportsmanship is concentrated ability enlivened with appreiation of the performance of others. And when this is manifested, everyone, both players and spectators receives spiritual upliftment as well as good entertainment..." Meher Baba.
A good batsmen and a close friend of Vinoo Mankad. He played well for India but at that time as the number of test matches were less ,he could not play more. A player of class but could not play in advertisements and earn lot. May his soul rest in peace.
He was one of the great batsmen of Indian cricket, but he was not a team-man ,neither he had a good sportsman spirit.In 1948,as captain of the university-11 against the match versus West Indies; he send Late Pankaj Roy to bat at the no.11 slot,who was a prolific batsman & was an opener too & was one of openers in 50s in the Indian team(Mankad & Roy Partnership).Roy made valuable unbeaten 22 & gave most of the strikes to Mr. Umrigar,so that he could get a century as he was batting in the 90s.Mr.Umrigar got a century, thanks to his no.11 batsman Roy.Fortunately for Late Polly Umrigar,he got a chance in the Indian team but Roy did'nt get a chance.This was not the only instance,in the great Mankad-Roy Partnership, he send a message to Roy 'either hit or get out'from the dressing room,as the team was going to declare.As Roy was instructed he tried to go after the bowling & got out but it was mother of all ditches,Mr. Umrigar did'nt declare, insted batted for a long time. Sorry friends, he might be India's one of the greatest batsmen,but certainly not a true sportsman.
The run scoring feats of Late Polly Umrigar were truly remarkable. He scored heavily against the best fast bowlers of his era. He was concentration personified and was a fearless hitter of the ball. He didn't have the benefit of wearing a halmet or a skull-cap when executing those delectable pull shots. He was more than a useful bowler, who often provided the breakthrough when a partnership seemed impregnable. As a fielder also he was matchless in the slips position. Sunil Gavaskar has been an ardent fan of Polly Umgrigar and many greats like Vengsarkar and Vishwanath modelled their techniques and temperament around Polly's own. May Polly's sould rest in perfect peace!
RE:Polly's pull shot was with him not having any halmet
by Indian on Nov 09, 2006 07:13 AM
Nonsense. Polly was not only a great batsman but also a great sportman and person. I just looked through the records and Umrigar and Roy didn't play together in the 1948 series against West Indies. I have met Polly few times and he is also a devotee/follower of Avatar Meher Baba.
