CHENNAI: It was a memorable gathering at the Madras Cricket Club on Monday. The tennis fraternity from the city was present to celebrate 50 years of India reaching the final of the Davis Cup in 1974. Incidentally, it was just a day after India recorded a win against Pakistan in Davis Cup.
Vijay Amritraj and his brother Anand who played a big role in India’s splendid show then were present. Stalwarts Ramesh Krishan, S Vasudevan and Somdev Devvarman along with Ramkumar Ramanthan, fresh from his Davis Cup win against Pakistan, were present. India’s long road to the Davis Cup final in 1974 began in Kanpur when they took on Japan in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Zone’s main draw. That team powered by a young Vijay Amritraj defeated Japan with relative ease to move on to play against Australia, one of the tough teams at that time.
Once India came to the final, they had to play South Africa, the Indian government that time decided to forfeit the final rather than play the apartheid South Africa. “We had a wonderful tournament. We gelled as a team and came to the final. Due to the situation (apartheid) in South Africa we decided not to go there. But in hindsight had we played that South African team we would have won the final,” said Vijay Amritraj. “We were in such good form that we could beat any team. Having said that the tie against Australia (quarterfinals at Kolkata) was the tough one as they were a strong team,” recollected Vijay.
Vijay narrated that wherever he or his brother lived or travelled, Chennai was always his home. He recollected how the legendary Ramanathan Krishan was the captain of the Davis Cup tie in 1974 and recalled with several anecdotes how Krishnan was a source of inspiration for the India team.
Vijay also took the opportunity to remember several administrators from Chennai and TNTA like MVG Appa Rao, PL Reddy, TA Ramarao who had been helpful in his journey as a player. He also spoke fondly of one Dr S Rajan who was a family friend and because of him all at home (Amritraj’s) started playing tennis.
Anand too echoed similar sentiments like that of Vijay and narrated how as a 16-year youngster he was inspired playing along with the likes of Krishnan, Jayadeep, and Premjit. He explained that he was more of a chess buff and that because of Dr Rajan and his mother Maggie that he chose to play tennis. Anand also recalled the times when the players bonded well and played as one family.