Rohan Kanhai: A bundle of cricketing genius

By A.C. De Siva

Sri Lanka has been fortunate in having the opportunity of seeing the volatile bundle of Guyanese cricketing genius in Rohan Kanhai playing in Sri Lanka. Kanhai was a brilliant stroke maker with an impeccable defence and he scored 6,227 runs (Avg. 47.53) from 79 Tests between 1957 and 1974 ending his Test career the way he had begun by keeping wicket when Derryck Murray injured himself and he had to substitute behind the stumps.

Of the 15 Test centuries he scored the highest was 256 against India (Calcutta) 1958-59. He also held 50 catches and led West Indies during terrible times in the early 1970’s when they went 20 Tests without a single win.

He toured Sri Lanka as a member of Garfield Sobers’ West Indies team in 1966-67. He had the gaiety of his Yuletide birth (born British Guiana on December 26th, 1935).

Kanhai, whose ancestors can be traced to Goa in India, can be considered as one of the best in his time. His batting forced the greatest batsman in the world – Sir Donald Bradman to say that Kanhai was the greatest he (Sir Don) had seen.

In 1960, the Australians were beginning to watch the best batsman in the world and even bowlers in the calibre of Benaud and Davidson were at a wits end finding a way to keep Kanhai quite. It has been discovered that it was almost impossible, for Kanhai was at the peak of his career, carrying the best attack in the world to shreds.

His performances are certainly legion and in a nutshell his career record reads something like this – Has played for Western Australia, Tasmania and Warwickshire when not playing for Guyana, Trinidad and his country.

Reacting to constant demand from their captain and several senior players, the West Indies Cricket Board of Control appointed him as a special cricket manager in 1992.

The West Indies were going through a transitional period with most of the top senior players retired and the constant demand of modern-day cricket required such an appointment.

With many years of experience in coaching and preparing teams and he added advantage of having gone as cricket manager of the West Indies Youth Side to Australia in 1988, he got the know-how to take the Windies forward.