Vithal Palwankar - Vijay Merchant's Views

Vijay Merchant's Views

Ramchandra Guha writes that Vijay Merchant, as a young boy, considered Vithal as his "hero and role model". He quotes Merchant writing: "'Vithal': a slim, alert personality with that well-known green tweed hat on his head and a gracefully held bat in his hand that would swing easily when he reached the wicket... From thousands of cricket lovers there would come the spontaneous cry: 'there comes Vithal'." "'Vithal': the moment one heard the name... spectators would visualise all the grace and charm of Indian batsmanship... With supple wrists, keen vision, perfect judgement of flight and agile footwork, Vithal had mastered the art of . He used to play his strokes with ease whether in front of the wicket or behind it. But one superb stroke of his that I cannot forget is the cover drive. Nowadays a lot of effort and power goes into this stroke because of the off-side cordon. But due to his timing Vithal used to score more runs on this side of the wicket, effortlessly, through perfect coordination of wrist and leg movements... He used to score fast because of his art of placing the balls in the gap." On his death Merchant wrote to the Palwankar's son; "Very few of his generation, with the handicap that he suffered from (so called "low-caste"), would have risen to such heights but for great determination and outstanding talent."