Vivek Shukla, New Delhi: Great West Indies cricketer Sir Gary Sobers passed away at the age of 89. Sobers is considered one of the best all-rounders in cricket. He played 93 Test matches, scored 8032 runs (average 57.78) and took 235 wickets, scoring 26 centuries. His record of 365 not out lasted for 36 years. In 1968, he also did the feat of hitting six sixes in one over.
When Gary and Anju’s eyes widened
But his life was not limited to cricket only. When the West Indies team came to India in 1966-67, Sobers’ name got linked with an Indian actress Anju Mahendru. At that time Anju Mahendru was new in Bollywood. Both of them met and their relationship lasted for some time. This was long before Vivian Richards and Neena Gupta.
Anju Mahendru and Gary Sobers
When Sobers proposed
Cricket commentator Ravi Chaturvedi, who regularly writes on West Indies cricket, says that Sobers met Anju Mahendru during the 1966-67 tour of India. Anju was in a relationship with Rajesh Khanna at that time, but she became good with Sobers. Friendship grew between the two and Sobers proposed Anju. Anju accepted the ring. This news was widely discussed because at that time the relationship between a foreign cricketer and an Indian actress was unusual.
Anju’s family members expressed objection
But this relationship did not last long. Anju’s parents did not like this. Due to cultural and other differences they did not allow the relationship to progress. Anju respected the wishes of the family. Sobers moved to London and the relationship ended.
Gary Sobers scored several centuries under the influence of alcohol.
It was not love, it was just attraction
Anju Mahendru later said in an interview that she was definitely attracted to Sobers, but there was no deep love. Sobers mentioned Anju in his book and described her as a beautiful and good person. He wrote that there were thoughts of marriage, but it could not happen. Both remained friends later.
Who is Anju Mahendru?
Anju Mahendru is now about 80 years old. Anju Mahendru was in a relationship with Rajesh Khanna. It is said that Rajesh Khanna had proposed marriage in 1971, which Anju rejected. Later Rajesh married Dimple Kapadia. Anju also had a relationship with Imtiaz Khan, but never married.
Undoubtedly, she would have been distraught after hearing the news of Sobers’ demise, the past would have started playing in front of her like a movie. Now Anju lives alone in Mumbai. After mother’s death, she remains connected with her sister’s family. She said, “I am happy alone, what will I do by talking about medicines and BP?” She spends her time keeping busy and interested in world events.
Gary Sobers with his wife
Why did Sobers go to Delhi University?
Meanwhile, Sobers came to Delhi for the first time to play with the West Indies team in 1958–59. He also went to Delhi University then. During that time, when the Test match was going on in Delhi, the inter-college final match of Delhi University was going on between St. Stephen’s College and Hindu College. Then the West Indies team went to watch that match on the rest day. Ravi Chaturvedi was also watching that match. He was then a student of Delhi University. Apart from Sobers, pacemen Wes Hall and Rohan Kanhai were also there in that West Indies team. Sobers later told Ravi Chaturvedi at his home in Bridge Town (Barbados) that he was convinced that such a huge crowd gathered at the ground to watch the final match of the Inter College Cricket Championship.
When did you come to Delhi again?
Under the captaincy of Sobers, the West Indies team also played at the Feroze Kotla ground in Delhi in 1966. The test started on December 20, 1966. That means about 60 years ago. The four-day match between West Indies and Board President’s XI started at the Ferozshah Kotla ground. The Kotla ground was packed to see Sobers. That day, Indian cricket was entering a new era.
Anju Mahendru and Gary Sobers’ incomplete love story
Actually, that match was going to be telecast live for the first time on Doordarshan. Till then Doordarshan was only a part of All India Radio. The government separated Doordarshan from All India Radio in 1976. The famous cricket commentator Dr. Narottam Puri, in his brilliant essay on the history and present of cricket commentary in India in the book Indian Cricket- Then and Now, edited by Venkat Sundaram, tells that the commentary of that match played between West Indies and Board President’s XI was done by Joga Rao (Hindi) and Devraj Puri (English). Fatehsingh Rao Gaekwad was the expert commentator. Narottam Puri was in that match. Devraj Puri was the scorer of the commentary team.
Former Delhi Ranji Trophy player Venkat Sundaram says that Sobers was a very stylish player, a huge crowd had gathered in Kotla to see him. The situation had become so bad that the police had to resort to lathi charge to control the crowd.
