Mumbai remembers Dilip Vengsarkar not just as a revered former India and city captain, but as a selector who was willing to back players he believed in, even when it meant standing against the room. At an event in the city on Wednesday evening, former India batter-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar opened up about how Vengsarkar supported and guided him at a crucial stage of his career.
Manjrekar’s call-up for the 1989 West Indies tour
Manjrekar recalled that Vengsarkar “put his foot down” to help him earn a place in India’s squad for the West Indies tour in 1989. The conversation came after Manjrekar had already made his Test debut against the West Indies in Delhi in November 1987, yet he was still on the fringe when the final selection discussion began.
As the selection meeting dragged on in Hyderabad following the third Test against New Zealand in December 1988, Manjrekar said the squad felt stuck in limbo. He described how the team waited in their rooms, uncertain whether they would be included, with his own inclusion hanging in the balance.
At a glance
- Vengsarkar is remembered for his playing career in the 1970s and 1980s and for his reputation as one of India’s best chief selectors.
- Manjrekar said Vengsarkar backed him for India’s 1989 tour of the West Indies despite resistance from other selectors.
- Manjrekar was eventually chosen as the 17th member of the tour squad.
- India struggled on the tour: the ODI series ended 5-0 in the opponents’ favour, while the Test series finished 3-0.
- Despite the losses, Manjrekar emerged as India’s top run-getter with 200 runs in four Tests at an average of 33.33, including 108 at Bridgetown in the second Test.
- Manjrekar noted his selection came at the expense of veteran batter Mohinder Amarnath.
Manjrekar explained that while the selection committee was led by Raj Singh Dungarpur, Vengsarkar faced pushback from fellow selectors who argued that he was not ready and did not deserve a place. Still, Manjrekar said the chief selector kept fighting for his case until he made it into the squad.
He also shared a vivid detail from that period: Vengsarkar arrived in Hyderabad dressed in traditional night wear, with oil applied to his head after a massage, and asked how tense everyone was in the meeting. In Manjrekar’s telling, the biggest stress for Vengsarkar was getting him into the team.
According to Manjrekar, even the squad size highlighted the tight margin—there were about 16 players, and he was the 17th. He said other selectors rallied against the idea, but Vengsarkar remained firm, and the decision shaped what Manjrekar viewed as his later cricketing journey.
Series struggles, but a breakthrough for Manjrekar
When the tour of the West Indies unfolded, it was far from smooth for India. The ODI leg ended with India being swept 5-0, and the Test series also went the wrong way as India lost 3-0. Yet the tournament carried a personal bright spot for Manjrekar.
Manjrekar said he was picked instead of Mohinder Amarnath and then finished as India’s highest run-scorer in Tests during that tour. He amassed 200 runs across four matches, maintaining an average of 33.33, with a stand-out innings of 108 at Bridgetown, Barbados in the second Test.
Manjrekar’s runs came even as India’s other batters struggled against a fearsome pace line-up featuring Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall. In his view, this was where his technique and ability to handle quality pace began to show clearly.
Confidence-building from the chief selector
Looking back on the tour, Manjrekar said Vengsarkar helped him build confidence quickly. He claimed that Vengsarkar was prepared to back him straight away and made him feel ready when he returned to local cricket.
Manjrekar described how Vengsarkar would praise him quietly in front of him, allowing the compliment to land without the need for a loud show. He said it was “a huge dose of confidence,” especially at a time when India were under pressure across formats.
He also recalled a moment from the tour routine: while having dinner in the West Indies, Vengsarkar asked if Manjrekar would be available to play the next day. Manjrekar replied that he would, and he said the query was really Vengsarkar checking whether he was mentally and physically ready.
A “buddy” in the dressing room
Manjrekar then shifted to a more personal portrait of Vengsarkar. He said Vengsarkar had a weakness everyone knew from his playing days—he was afraid to sleep alone in his room at night.
Manjrekar added that this fear was one reason, in his belief, why Vengsarkar may not have wanted to captain India for too long, because captaincy often comes with the comfort of a single room. In contrast, Manjrekar said Vengsarkar enjoyed sharing a room.
He summed up Vengsarkar’s character with the phrase “a Legend with a Difference,” saying that while the word “legend” fit the achievements, for the people around him he was more like a “buddy.” Manjrekar said that rare ability—making younger players feel at ease while still demanding standards—was central to Vengsarkar’s greatness.
Manjrekar also credited Vengsarkar for mentoring him early in the India set-up. He recalled a learning moment on the England tour in 1990, when he said you need a little dash of English mustard with steak and kidney pie, and with crispy aromatic duck in a Chinese restaurant—an anecdote he said he still repeats in his own mind when he tastes those foods.
He further noted that even as a senior player with more than 100 Tests, Vengsarkar did not keep distance from youngsters in the dressing room. Manjrekar said the age gap and stature gap felt irrelevant because Vengsarkar treated them as companions, and he even made time to socialise with them on tours.
Finally, Manjrekar praised Vengsarkar’s dry sense of humour, saying he often noticed the playful side of him. He felt that sometimes Vengsarkar deliberately held a serious face and then landed something funny, adding warmth to an otherwise intense cricket environment.
Launch of the book “A Legend with a Difference”
The event also featured the launch of a book titled A Legend with a Difference, described as penned by Sanjay Satam, a King George School cricket teammate of Vengsarkar. Alongside Manjrekar, several former India and Mumbai team-mates of Vengsarkar attended, including Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Karsan Ghavri, Raju Kulkarni and Chandrakant Pandit.
Ajinkya Naik, president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, was also present at the launch, as the city marked a tribute to a former captain and chief selector whose legacy, in Manjrekar’s telling, was built as much on relationships as on runs and results.
