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"No more technically correct batsman ever came out of the West Indies than Rohan Kanhai" – Michael Manley

"His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, and say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!" – William Shakespeare

"To see Kanhai flat on his back – with the ball among the crowd beyond the square-leg boundary – after making one of his outrageous sweeps to a good length ball, is to watch a man capable of playing shots fit to lay before an audience of emperors" – James Scott, May 1966, on the occasion of Guyana’s Independence

"Kanhai discovered, created a new dimension in batting…He had found his way into regions Bradman never knew." – CLR James

"Some batsmen play brilliantly sometimes and at ordinary times they go ahead as usual. That one… is different from all of them. On certain days, before he goes into the wicket, he makes up his mind to let them have it. And once he is that way nothing on earth can stop him. Some of his colleagues in the pavilion who have played with him for years have seen strokes that they have never seen before: from him or anybody else" – Sir Learie Constantine to CLR James, on Kanhai

"I remember my first sight of Rohan Kanhai batting at Bourda in 1956. I wrote that night to my father in Trinidad that I had just been witness to a wonder, the best batsman in the world. This was a big claim – after all I had seen, among others, the great Frank Worrell at his elegant best. But I was sure then and I was sure thereafter as I followed Kanhai’s career…of all the sportsmen in all the many sports I have watched in my life I judge Kanhai to have possessed the most compelling genius of them all…It was, quite simply, a special gift from the gods." – Ian McDonald

"Rohan Kanhai was a great player…and he was rated one of the tops…a good cricket brain…earned the respect of his players." – Sir Garfield Sobers

"His niche in West Indies cricket…is assured, as is his place in the hearts of all who treasure human excellence in any form" – Michael Gibbes

"The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers"- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is hard to believe that there could be better players than Rohan Kanhai. I have seen him score tons for Warwickshire on all sorts of pitches — against Derek Underwood on turning tracks and against Alan Ward and Harold Rhodes on a corrugated flyer against Derbyshire. Rohan got hundreds on both occasions. Nobody can be a finer cricketer than Garfield Sobers or Ian Botham but somehow Kanhai hardly gets a mention. I stood at the other end many times completely in awe of him" – Dennis Amiss on his former Warwickshire teammate Rohan Kanhai

 

To understand what cricket supremacy means in a global context to the average Caribbean person is best summarized by the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley: "The West Indies are Third World countries, but we belong, and are, in the First World of Cricket." Cricket is not only a religion in the Caribbean, but it best defines the region in any context. Regional political integration has followed cricket as a unifying and defining force. We were kings until the doldrums came. One of those knights who shone brightest, was Rohan Kanhai.

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In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Rohan Kanhai, one of my favourite all-time batsman, they don’t make batsmen like him anymore!!

Born on boxing day, the Babu was a born fighter! Happy early birthday greetings. Keep on batting!

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

A fearless, swashbuckling, entertainer who mesmerised crowds all over the world with his dazzling stroke play.

I remember playing cricket in the streets as a boy. Everyone who batted left wanted to be Sobers while everyone who batted right wanted to be Kanhai.

Happy Birthday to you, Sir.

I remember the heated subjective debates in the '60's about whether Kanhai was a better batsman than Sobers and it was just that, subjective.

Both men were great and I found it hard to elevate one over the other.

Happy birthday Babulall

In reply to sunfish
Do you remember the same debates in the seventies between Rowe and Kallicharran? Hopefully, soon we will start having those types of debates again.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

So, wait. Did Kanhai receive, or will he receive, an award?

In reply to Norm
Who gives awards to Indos in the Caribbean,even the Brits don't give a "toss" about them,and anyway,the British awards are meaningless.The only people who really showed love for RBK,apart from the Guyanese were the Jamaicans.

In reply to Fivestar

Good point. Those debates are healthy because it speaks to having great batsmen to talk about.

In reply to Norm

AlL.... fair and good
Kanhai is a cricket great...a REAL legend
One of the greatest WI basman to ever play the game at the highest level
A cricket coach and mentor par excellence.


Kanhai retired for the game 45 years ago.

To be honest I am more interested in how de Babu is doing today

Is he well? Does he have any financial needs? Would a charity match be in order?

I can't recall any stories about Kanhai after he was terminated as coach of the WI team. Rumours were he was running a bar in England

If I can remember correctly....Kanhai was offered to be a legend for Stanford T20 tournament in 2006 and he declined....citing his wife's ill health.

Happy birthday Rohan Bholalall Kanhai...85*

The bajans have taken care of Sir Garfield Sobers.

It is a fact many our past crieketers are 'hand to mouth' and stuggling.

In reply to Fivestar

Where are you posting from:that happened in every place.they called me Onehan Cani.
I played the sweep shot to every ball.

For all the fat talk, Kanhai could not make current day WI team. Yeah, I said it.

At 85, that is.

In reply to Curtis

Good one

On this same front page there is a thread questioning the greatness of Williamson, Kohli and Smith all who are averaging 50+ and here we got a sub 50 player who is considered an all-time great.

One poster even find it difficult to separate him from the great Sobers although Sobers' average is a clear 10 points better.

Convenient metrics?

In reply to Kay

RBK, like his colleague GSS, were merely performers on the grand stage, they seemed to want to please the crowd more than anything else.

If crowd pleasing was about mere averages, they could have raised those too. They preferred raising their glasses, and their bats, in the ultimate Joie d'vivre.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com
Maybe Michael Manley never saw a batsman by the name of Lawrence Rowe. Notwithstanding his misfortunes, he was the prettiest batsman I have ever seen. Having said that though, I think the great Rohan Kanhai deserves all the accolades because he is one of the best the game has seen.
Happy birthday, Sir. May you stick around to remind us of the good old, bygone days of West Indies cricket for a long, long time to come.

In reply to Curtis
I am not too sure of that. These "young" guys we now have seem to be as feeble-minded and physically challenged as a 95 year-old. Kanhai is only 85.
And there is a very important thing that the West Indian cricketers of Rohan Kahnai's era had in abundance that the current crop does not have an ounce of - PRIDE.

Never saw him. But Gavaskar rated him very very highly. Good enough for me.

In reply to Narper

To be honest I am more interested in how de Babu is doing today

Is he well? Does he have any financial needs? Would a charity match be in order?

I share similar feelings. Most of our greats from Headley on, faced financial hardship in their retirement. This is why I will never criticize the likes of Gayle, Pollard, Bravo and other 20/20 stars who put their retirement ahead of patriotism with no assured pension plan.

I followed Kanhai's test career from 1957 until his retirement. The first time I saw him bat was at Sabina Park in 1959.The last time I saw him in the flesh was in England in 1966. When I migrated to Canada in 1968 I promptly subscribed to "The Cricketer", this cricket monthly enabled me to follow international cricket, because the vagaries of short wave radio listening was too unreliable.

Kanhai and Sobers remained my heroes until the coming of LLoyd, Viv and the 70s generation. kanhai to me was an extraordinarily brilliant batsman. He was capable of doing anything while batting. However, at no time in his rather lengthy career did he ever average 50 or more. His impetuosity often led to his dismissal. Consequently, he on the one hand provided joy to my generation while on the other hand disappointed us with his sometimes tame dismissals. In a way Hooper was the poor man's Kanhai. Kanhai for all his genius and brilliance, underachieved. His final batting average should have been in the high 50s rivalling those of Walcott and Sobers and knocking on Headley's door. This is why I regard the likes of Weekes, Worrell, Viv, Sobers, Lara and Shiv as more dependable and greater batsmen than him , despite what Gavaskar and others and ClR James in his magnificent essay on him said.