Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 11 (ANI): Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar launched ‘Rag Rag Mein Cricket’, a book chronicling the life and career of former cricketer, BCCI selector and administrator Sanjay Jagdale, in Indore on Sunday.
Authored by Kiran Waikar and Sunil Dudhale, the book traces Jagdale’s journey from playing cricket to being an administrator.
Speaking to reporters at the book launch in Indore, Sunil Gavaskar praised Sanjay Jagdale’s contribution to cricket as a player, coach, selector and administrator, calling his service to the game unparalleled and commendable.
“You don't necessarily have to be a batsman or a bowler to serve cricket. He was an all-rounder on the cricket field, but he truly became an all-rounder by becoming a coach, a selector, an administrator, and a player. Very few people get that kind of opportunity. The way you've served cricket—and continue to serve it—is truly unparalleled and highly commendable. So I congratulate him for that, and I also want to congratulate the authors who wrote this book,” he said.
Jagdale recalled his long-standing friendship with Gavaskar, which began with school cricket in 1965. He praised Gavaskar as an exceptional player, saying cricketers like him, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, emerge only once in a long time.
“It's very old friendship with Gavaskar). We played together for the first time in 1965, and since then, we've watched each other play, played against each other and played together, both overseas and here. We played against each other for the first time in school in 1965 in the Cooch Behar Trophy. After that, it was school cricket, college cricket, the Ranji Trophy, and then we went abroad and played in the Indian Universities team. Then it just kept going, and we played in the Duleep Trophy,” he said.
“Sunil Gavaskar was an exceptional player. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar are born once in a long time. Such players do not come along every day. There have only been two great red-ball cricketers in India recently: one is Virat Kohli and the other is Jasprit Bumrah. The rest aren't great red-ball players. Sunil Gavaskar is an all-time great red-ball player,” he added.
Kiran Waikar said ‘Rag Rag Mein Cricket’ chronicles Sanjay Jagdale’s journey from a cricketer to a coach, selector and administrator with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He said the book highlights Jagdale’s contributions to the development of cricket.
This is the complete life story of Sanjay Jagdale. You could say from his early days of playing cricket right up to today—he was a cricketer, and then he came into coaching. Then he became a selector; he was the BCCI's junior selector and senior selector, and he came into the administration of the MPCA, even though he had no interest in administration. But when the 1997 India-Sri Lanka international match in Indore was cancelled, he had to take over the MPCA. So, how he managed the MPCA's administration is covered,” he told ANI.
“Similarly, the same thing happened with him at the BCCI—he never had any interest in administration, but he had to step in. He first became the joint secretary and then the secretary. So, what all he did for the betterment of cricket is in the book. We have titled the book, ‘Rag Rag Mein Cricket’. He talks about cricket all day long; he has nothing else to say. So, how cricket can be improved and how players can be given better facilities—all these things are in this book,” he said further. (ANI)
Sunil Gavaskar launches book titled ‘Rag Rag Mein Cricket’ on Sanjay Jagdale’s life and cricket journey
