Today we will see 5 cricketers who played FC or international matches with only one functioning eye. We will also see how they had lost their eye and skim through their performance as cricketers.
Last week I was reading about the original Sir Jadeja, who is known as the father of Indian Cricket. Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja was the first Indian ever to play international cricket. He was an extraordinary cricketer. For instance, he earned many standing ovations for his determined batting performances playing for England national team, Sussex and Cambridge.
What surprised me was that in the last few matches of his cricket career, he played with one blind eye.
It piqued my interest. So I began searching if there were other cricket players in the history of cricket who played cricket with one blind eye. And I found five players who had the guts to face the cricket ball with only one proper eye.
Before we see who were those extraordinary cricketers, let us first understand something. Let us first see what it is like to live life with just one working eye. I did a quick research on the net. And found that people with one eye find it very difficult to make sense of the exact distance between them and objects. This problem amplifies if the object is moving. Many people find it hard to even grab objects on the first try. They usually bump into something or someone while walking. While pouring liquids into cups or bottles, they have to take help of their other senses. For example, they have to touch the cup to avoid spillage. It is a whole new world full of adjustments and constant challenges.
Okay, so now we can look at the list of players who decided to take this challenge head-on:
1) Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja (September 10, 1872 – April 2, 1933):
As I already mentioned at the start, this great cricketer, who attracted massive crowds to the matches and won many a standing ovations and praises from the crowds and critics, encountered a mishap near the end of his career, at age 43. He was on a hunting party in a national park in North Yorkshire, England around August 1915. There another member of the party, by mistake, shot him in the right eye!
He soon treated himself in England and got the damaged right eye removed. Ranji immediately returned to India with only working eye. And stayed there till the end of World War 1.
However, the blindness in one eye, could not keep him away from the game. In 1920, he again began playing first-class cricket matches in England. However, he played only three matches as he realized he could not focus on the ball. In addition to that, his performance was in stark contrast to his past respectable records. He decided to call it quits. He soon returned to India with an intention to write a book. A book on his experience of batting with only one eye. But the book was never published.
2) Tiger Pataudi (January 5, 1941 – September 22, 2011):
Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (Nicknamed Tiger) became India’s captain at a very young age of 21. Cricket admirers and experts still call him as ‘India’s greatest cricket captain’. During his time, critics, commentators and other players used to praise him for his fielding too. Many mentioned him as the best fielder in the world.
Now would you believe that this extraordinary player reached the epitome of success with just one functioning eye?
Yes, at age 20, just before the start of his career, he met with an ill-fated car accident, where a sharp-edged piece of glass from the broken windscreen pricked his right eye. Thus resulting in permanent loss of vision. Any other person in his place would immediately have given up on any sporting career dream.
But Pataudi did not let this massively unfortunate incident affect his cricketing dreams even a bit. He soon started practicing in the nets. In less than 6 months after the eye injury, he made his Test debut for India against England in December 1961. He scored 103 runs in the Third Test and India sealed a first series win against England. And it was just the beginning for Tiger.
3) Colin Milburn (October 23, 1941 – February 28, 1990):
Before the injury, this English cricketer (nicknamed Ollie) entertained crowds with his powerful shots and always sent the ball soaring towards the boundary. He played in many first-class cricket matches. He also was part of nine international Tests. Ollie lost his left eye in a car accident at the peak of his career at age 28.
He was a technically sound batsman when it came to defense and mostly timed the ball well. But when it came to big shots he relied on his strength and hit robust shots quite consistently. In nine test matches he played for England he scored 654 runs at an average of 46.71, with 2 tons and 2 half tons. Interestingly, out of these 654 runs, he scored 430 runs with big shots (91 fours and 11 sixes). Thus delighting the spectators on every chance. There was a brief period in which he was removed from the team. He was a fat cricketer. Selectors dropped him because they thought he would be a liability when fielding.
Sad with the decision, he went back to first-class cricket. There he played some marvelous knocks for Northamptonshire. He also contributed hugely for Western Australia in Sheffield Shield cricket. And so made himself once again a strong candidate for the England test team. And when the English team was in trouble on their Pakistan tour, they called him for the third test.
What a splendid comeback he made! Scored 139 runs in the first innings, thereby giving a solid start to his team. Unfortunately, the match was abandoned on the third day due to some civil unrest. It turned out to be his last Test match. Because just a few months later, a car accident made him lose his left eye.
Taking inspiration from Tiger Pataudi, he looked to make a comeback and did return in 1973 and 1974. But he could not play well. Probably cause in Tiger’s case it was his right eye, but here it was the left eye. Losing a left eye was critical from a right-hand batsman perspective. He then changed his career to radio commentary, public appearances and dinner speaking. At age 48, he died of a heart attack.
4) Eiulf Peter Nupen (January 1, 1902 – January 29, 1977):
Nupen was born in Norway but played for South Africa. More popularly called as Buster Nupen, he was mainly a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He also captained the South African Test team against England. In this series against England, he took 5 for 63 and 6 for 87 in the First Test. South Africa had won this Test. And 3 for 148 and 6 for 46 in the Fourth Test, which resulted in a draw. In total 17 Tests he played for South Africa he took 50 wickets. Also, he took 334 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 18.19. All these stats definitely tell that he was an exceptional talent. But he was even more special. Because he achieved them all, with only one eye functioning.
Now you must be wondering when and how did he lose his eye.
Well, he lost his eye at age 4! One day, he was hitting one hammer with another and suddenly a piece of steel penetrated his eye. For the rest of his life, he wore a glass eye. In spite of this mishap so early in life, he still managed to build an admirable cricket career. Like Nawab of Pataudi, isn’t Buster Nupen a super source of inspiration?
5) David Fulton (November 15, 1971 – Present):
David is a former English cricketer who played 15 county seasons for Kent, majorly as a right-handed opening batsman. He also for a while captained the county. The Australian captain Steve Waugh, who played as an overseas player for Kent for a short amount of time, said that Fulton could be “a future England captain“. That clearly was a big compliment coming from the World Champion team captain. Fulton scored 12000+ runs in FC cricket with 28 centuries and 53 half-centuries. He also has a double hundred under his name.
In 2003, once David was preparing for the upcoming county season. He was practicing the pull shot in the nets with the help of a bowling machine. Unfortunately, one ball which came at 90 mph broke into the grill of his helmet and hit hard on his right eye. Though the eye did not lose complete vision, he began to see things blurred with the eye. And the things were never the same for this high-caliber cricketer.
Even after this injury, he continued playing for Kent and scored over 600 runs in eleven matches in the 2003 season. He kept scoring runs for his team in the next three seasons as well. He always kept the County Championship title hopes alive for Kent. In 2004, Kent was the runners-up in the County Championship. He retired at the end of the 2006 county season. In his last innings against Middlesex, he played a commendable knock of 155 runs.
So these five great cricketers – Sir Ranjithsinhji Jadeja, Tiger Pataudi, Colin Milburn, Buster Nupen, and David Fulton – are truly one-eyed heroes to me. There were some other players such as Lawrence Rowe, Paul Downton and Mark Boucher who suffered eye injuries but they never played cricket again.
The 5 cricketers mentioned in the article, deserve a hearty hats-off for their indomitable spirit to play on the first-class level / international level with only one functioning eye. They inspire us to take the hardest challenges in our life head-on. These 5 brave men urge us to turn the wheel of destiny in our direction. They exemplify courage, determination and relentless faith in oneself.
Hope true cricket devotees will always remember them and their one-eyed heroics.
Sources:
- Wikipedia
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