CHENNAI: There are innumerable striking aspects about Vijay Madhavji Merchant’s batting so let’s get the most impressive statistic first up. Only Don Bradman, with figures of 95.14, has a better career average than Vijay Merchant’s 71.64 in first class cricket. Merchant was the pioneer of the Bombay school of batting. And what did that school teach? Let’s hear it from Merchant himself: “Batting is built around a specific science. Get behind the line of every ball and play it on merit. If you stay at the crease, the runs will come.’’
Merchant followed these like the Holy Gospel. In a first class career that stretched from 1929 to 1952, he amassed 13,470 runs with 45 hundreds with a highest score of 359 not out. Playing for Bombay in the Ranji Trophy, Merchant had a tally of 3,639 runs at an unbelievable average of 98.75, including 16 hundreds in just 47 innings. In the Pentangular tournament, his tally was 1,457 runs from only 12 innings at the Bradmanesque average of 162.12.
Merchant’s batting on the tour of England in 1936 drew this eloquent tribute from Neville Cardus: “Merchant is, in method, the Indians’ good European. He could easily be England’s opening batsman.’’ Ten years later, Merchant went to England with an even bigger reputation. Great things were predicted for him – and he surpassed even these expectations! It was a bleak summer, wetter than 1936 and one of the wettest on record. But for Merchant, the sun shone as usual. The result was a tally of 2,385 runs with seven hundreds and an average of 74.53. With such an enviable record, Merchant could very well have been satisfied. But a story during the tour illustrates his single-minded dedication to the art and science of batsmanship. It was noticed that Merchant carried a movie camera with him. It transpired that he wanted films taken of his innings during the tour so that he could rectify mistakes.
To some of the modern generation, his big scores may give the impression that Merchant was a cold and ruthless run getting machine. Actually, he had all the strokes – both pretty and powerful. Quick footwork and a keen eye saw him judge a ball and get to the pitch of it sooner than most batsmen. Suppleness of wrist saw him executive the cut and glance delicately.
Merchant’s later roles were as accomplished as his batting. He was a popular expert radio commentator in the 1960s, shrewd and perceptive. As selection committee chairman, he helped bring about a turnabout in the fortunes of Indian cricket with the appointment of Ajit Wadekar as captain in 1971. But perhaps his greatest contribution was his work among the handicapped. Merchant made life hell for bowlers but he made it a lot better for those less fortunate in life.