Sixty years after being hit on the head by a Charlie Griffith bouncer, former India skipper Nari Contractor got a metal plate removed from his skull. The plate had to be installed as a part of his treatment as he copped a dangerous blow to the back of his head during a tour game in Barbados in 1962, which left him grievously hurt and even cut short his international career. Unlike the modern-day, batters did not wear a helmet or any other protective gear while playing at that time.
Contractor, now 88, underwent a host of surgeries and made a comeback to first-class cricket, but could not add more to his 31 Test caps following the scary injury. He scored 1,611 Test runs in 52 innings at 31.58, including a century and 11 half-centuries, in a career spanning seven years from 1955 to 1962.
“As a family, our concern was about how he would be able to handle post-op at this age. But he’s doing absolutely fine and is mobile,” Hoshedar Contractor, Nari’s son, was quoted as saying. “The doctors Dr. Harshad Parekh and Dr. Anil Tibrewala did a great job.” His son said that the family decided to get the titanium plate removed as the 88-year-old was losing skin in the area of his head where the plate was inserted.
Speaking about the injury during an interaction in 2009, Nari Contractor had said that he got distracted when “somebody opened a window in the pavilion”. “There were no sight screens at that time and my 100 per cent concentration wasn’t on that delivery. I saw it just inches away before it hit me,” Contractor said.
Back in the day, several West Indies cricketers, including the legendary skipper Frank Worrell, donated blood to save Contractor’s life. Contractor had shot to prominence after his 92 against the same opposition in the 1958-59 season in Delhi. He proved his bravery on the England tour the next year when he battled his way to 81 with broken ribs in the Lord’s Test.
In 1960-61, Contractor made a record as he became India’s then youngest captain when he was handed the task against Pakistan at the age of merely 26. The blow to his head in 1962 brought his career to a premature end, something he regretted aplenty. In a 2014 interview, he termed not being able to wear an Indian cap post-injury as the “only regret” in his life. Contractor continued to play first-class cricket until 1970-71, finishing with 8,611 runs and 26 wickets in 138 matches.
