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Word was Santa didn’t come to poor homes but in 1935 there was proof that he did, even though it was a bit late : on December 26th 1935 he brought a gift to the Kanhai home in the village of Port Mourant in British Guiana (now Guyana), a baby boy named Rohan Kanhai. Like every Guyanese boy (especially of Indian heritage) he crawled, learned to walk then began to play cricket

Babu

No one to date has copied it , unique.

Long live Babu.....

Happy Birthday to the Babu.....the greatest.

In reply to shivnotout
Love him big time

My Favorite WI Batsman!

In reply to Brerzerk
I have met nuff Jamaican men with the first name Rohan,i got the feeling that outside of Guyana he was loved by Jamaicans more than any other part of the Caribbean.Jamaica even employed him as coach of their team.

In reply to shivnotout
Watching videos is not like saying this great bat, the first time I saw Rohan was against Barbados, I was about 10-12 years old.
He was love in Barbados, people argued as to who was the better batsman, Sir Gary or him.
He is the only person I ever saw, that stopped traffic down town Barbados, as he walk to watch a local BCA match between Spartan and Empire.

In reply to openning



In the early 1970’s when I was at primary school in Guyana, there was a story going around about a great West Indian cricketer. It was a tall tale, an anecdote intended for juvenile consumption, it told of Rohan Kanhai batting at the Bourda cricket ground in Georgetown and how he hit a ball to Berbice, some sixty miles away. There was a non-glamorous and straight version of this event; Rohan launched a ball over the Regent Road side-screen, and it landed in the tray of a passing lorry, which went all the way to Berbice. However, to the enthralled youths of that era, some of us blessed with naivety, the fabled version was preferable, to them Kanhai was indeed capable of such superhuman feats.

In reply to Chrissy


Rohan Kanhai: 10 facts to know about the West Indian batsman



happy birthday

In reply to shivnotout

happy 86th to the one and only

long live Babu

In reply to shivnotout

Apparently he was late again in Berbice in 1996!!!!!!!

Another anecdote about Kanhai is the fact that he made the New York Times in 1960 after an innings of 252 against Victoria at the MCG in a first class match.Now consider the amount of scores of 250 or more in first class cricket that do not make the New York Times in this globalized world much less back in 1960!!!!

In reply to Dukes

I think he brought some extra goodies too

My father used to talk about seeing Kanhai “lay down “ and lash sixes. I didn’t understand the gravity of it all until I was much older.

Happy birthday to the great man.

In reply to Titleist

So there is actually at least one person who "saw" this.
In my youth word on the street was that Kanhai would actually "lay down" on the pitch, face the bowler and hit sixes. Such was the brilliance of this man that these legends were believable.

In reply to CWWeekes

In reply to CWWeekes

These days, with YouTube and smart phones “legends” are not allowed to gain traction.

In reply to Titleist

wait what? fake news is not true?

As a (traitorous) Bajan, Kanhai was my favorite over Sobers

Incidentally, apologies for being a grammar policeman but blame it on loads of grammar exposure at HC and prior schools and I do some short story writing and lots of reading...

“If Statistics was not the prime criteria and the chief criteria was the technical excellence...."

Criteria like phenomena is plural....the singular is criterion,phenomenon

In reply to shivnotout
The same day watching him at Kensington, a vendor who was a fan of Rohan, lose her tray of goodies.
She was backing the field selling nuts, the crowd cheered, she asked, where is he, people shouted on the ground, her tray fell off her head as she shouted, I missed it.

Happy birthday to the great one! Keep on batting!!

In reply to shivnotout

Add an 11th fact. At no time in his illustrious test career did Kanhai ever average 50 or more. Well played Sir and happy birthday. Kanhai certainly gave me much joy watching him in the late 50s and throughout the 60s. I will never forget the 70 odd he scored in the 5th test at at the Oval in 1963 or listening to the commentators describing those 2 immortal innings he scored at Adelaide in the 4th test vs Oz in jan 1961. Nevertheless, my elation with kanhai was frequently tempered with either watching him or hearing the commentator said; "He flashes outside the off stump and is caught." And this my friends was the big difference between Sobers and Kanhai.

In reply to DonD

for a man who "flashes outside the off stump and is caught" as often as you made it sound, to average 47.5 isn't too shabby

i do not see a comparison on this thread between Kanhai and Sobers. if i missed it, please point me...

Rohan Kanhai should be in any all time WI XI.
I saw him at Bourda as a very little boy batting with the greatest cricket that ever lived Sir Garry Sobers . Both scored centuries in that match against England Kankai 150 and Sir Garry 151
I think it was Test that followed the Test Match where Sir Garry made that infamous sporting declaration against England in Trinidad and lost the Test Match.
I Kanhai saw hitting a 6 in that innings and ended on his backside .

In reply to shivnotout

In 1964, while watching him at Leeds, Sir Learie Constantine was moved to remark,
That one,” nodding at Kanhai, “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".

In reply to DonD

Hooperesque?


Happy birthday to the great Rohan Babulal Kanhai! Thumbs up emoji

In reply to doosra

The GT cricket fans used to vex when the Babu playing....cause Berbicians used to line up at 3am at Bourda. Match sold out in minutes...with GT fans still in bed!

The Babu was on the only batsman who had fans (at the ground and on radio) stop whatever they were doing as he walks out to bat. No other batsman commanded that level of anticipation.

In reply to googley

you mean to say he had so many people at suspense just for a 'nick off'?

In reply to doosra
But it was always such a classic "nick off"

In reply to CricSham

a real legend eh

nick off and the crowd goes wild

In reply to CricSham
I kinda remember that comment from old Learie. I believe at the time he was sharing commentary with Denis Compton and Peter West. There were I believe three special first class games organized between England and WI.I watched all three games on TV. Worrell captained the WI, it was like a send off for Worrell. I believe that Kanhai and Nurse scored centuries in the first one at Scarborough. In the second game at Edgbaston, kanhai let all hell loose. He scored a massive century that inspired ClR James to write an incredible essay on his batting. The last game was played at Lords but was rained out. That was the last time I saw Worrell on a cricket field. There was a story going around that Worrell used that mini series to brush up on his piano lessons with the great Trini pianist, Winifred Atwell. Of course old Sir Learie continued on his merry way doing some commentaries and judging beauty pageants. He was to recieve a Peerage later on.

In reply to DonD
Don D I am green with envy. What a time that must’ve been for you. My God to be able to see the Babulal in full cry. Thank you so much,Sir, for sharing. It puts the comments in context.

In reply to CricSham
Just to make you a little greener with envy, I watched him score 190 odd vs Oxford at the Parks in 1966.This was an interesting innings. None of the savagery and improvisational bravados he displayed vs England at Scarborough and Birmingham in 1964. At Oxford, his batting was controlled and more orthodox. It was as if he were more concerned with showing the students how to build an innings, proper shot placements, glorious drives, pulls, cuts etc. Yet, he accelerated when he wanted to. I still have some photographs of the team practicing in the nets and the actual game vs OUCC. Kanhai is featured in one. I am sure he could have massacred the students in similar way Weekes did to Cambridge Univ in 1950 when he scored over 300 runs.

In reply to shivnotout

Happy Birthday Sir
Keep batting.

In reply to DonD

Don, you're darn right I am. You lucky dog, you.
Please check your messages.
Thanks
Sham

How many 'great' batsmen average less than 50? Apart from Kanhai ....

In reply to Kay

About the same number of non-great batsmen who average “over 50”

In reply to Kay

sarwan
hooper
lloyd
kallicharan

I remember a Guyana Trial match in early January 1973 at Bourda late one Saturday afternoon.Rohan Kanhai had been named the Guyana captain and the fastest bowler in Guyana was Robert "Pacer" Adonis.Pacer had us all excited the year before when he clean bowled the NZ opener Jarvis for a duck in the Guyana vs NZ match.Incidentally Jarvis went on to make a huge century in the test match a few days later.
Back to 1973,late Saturday afternoon and Pacer had somebody's off stump cartwheeling and in walks RBK to deafening applause. A few contrarians in the crowd shouted words of encouragement to Pacer ,telling him to bounce de ole man, de Babu ole now, de man lose he fangs, sink it Pacer.
Now we were in in the stand next to Flaggstaff and the sun had gone down and Banks beer was flowing and it was a festive mood.I was a teenager,peeing and seeing "froff",so I was a big man!!
First ball was a screaming bouncer and Kanhai was somewhat surprised and ended up on the seat of his pants.Well,you could imagine the crowd went wild!!! The place was going crazy.People started cussing Adonis,some said Kanhai get ole, bets were made dat he guh get bowled down, an old man seh Kanhai guh teach de upstart a lesson.
Nex ball was at least 100 miles per hour and was in de wicketkeeper's gloves when Kanhai wafted at it. Memory Man Sydney Gonsalves started telling everybody about John Trim in 1948 against Len Hutton on March 25th at 2:35 in the afternoon.
Well my friends the next ball I will never forget until I die.It was anodda bouncer and quick as a flash RBK was in position and hooked and the ball took off and landed in New Garden street and bounced over the fence and into Our Lady of Fatima churchyard.
CRICKET DONE
Men run on de field and lift up Kanhai shoulder high and carry he off de field back to de pavilion.The other players decided that was it and trooped off the field.
Now I first saw RBK as an 8 year old make a brilliant 88* in the test match agains OZ.Next day he was bowled down for 89.I saw him make 150 in a big partnership with Sobie.I also saw him make several other centuries for Guyana but my abiding memory of him was that 6.
Bat on my friend and make your century!!!!!!!!!!

In reply to shivnotout

No One Can like Rohan Kanhai

He was an artiste. One of the Caribbean's finest sons. Live on RBK, live on. To have Kanhai and Sobers on the same team, around the Three W's, we were blessed.

In reply to Dukes
Thanks Dukes!
I do remember those times quite well. Adonis was fast, but wild like buck-bead. I was in South Stand when he cleaned bowled Jarvis. What happened next was a lesson to the young man from the NZ skipper Bevan Congdon. His next three balls (or was it four?) were delicately, nonchalantly put to the boundary. But it was a lesson the young man did not learn. A year later he tried to bounce the Babulal. Bounce who? Evidently the bwoi had dodoo for brains.
One time I was at Bourda - Guyana versus Jamaica and the notorious Uton Dowe. Dowe, from the southern end, bounced the Babulal and in a flash the ball was rebounding off the advertising board in rails. Not willing to recognise or, maybe, to respect the Babulal, Dowe repeated it (own-way children gwen suffer wid blood in them nose). This time the ball ended up in the GFC ground. Kanhai walked down the wicket and had a few words for Dowe, and the crowd went wild. After the lunch break, Tony Cozier told us that he had spoken with Dowe at the break and asked about the likkle "chat" in the middle. But Dowe told him that the Babulal did not sledge him. In fact, he offered him a few coaching tips on bowling bouncers. Dowe told Cozier that the Babulal advised him that if he was going to bounce a batsman, he should not do it on middle/leg line because that is like giving him 6 runs.
The Babulal was class. Throughout his career I don't recall him ever guilty of thrash-talking anyone, granted I did not see all of his games but I never read anything either.

it warms the heart to hear such stories about one of our sporting greats. We may not have them anymore in cricket but when we did, they became legendary. Live well and prosper, RBK.

In reply to VoopsandOut
If so, please check the link above for some heartwarming memories.

I remember on the Aussies 1965 tour in the 1st Test at Sabina Kanhai took what was believed to be a first innings ending catch, but he told the umpire that he had not taken the catch; WI would have to come back to bowl the next day. So, along with everything else the man played fair. I think this was not the only time he had done this in a game.

In reply to googley

And their busses used to be parked outside Bourda...and when Kanhai got out they went their busses and headed back to Berbice

In reply to imusic

Sarwanesque too

In reply to CWWeekes

I was unaware of that story but can vouch for RBK's sense of fair play with another story.
This was some 3 years later in the first test vs England this time at the Queen's Park Oval.Kanhai was on 85 when he edged a ball from D'Oliveira and Cowdrey appealed for a catch but the umpire was not sure so he gave the batsman the benefit of the doubt.Kanhai looked at Cowdrey and asked him if he took it cleanly and Cowdrey nodded yes and Kanhai walked off.I remember reading about it in the book "In The Main" about that 1968 tour and the author said that "The West Indies innings stalled somewhat after Kanhai's dismissal though departure might be a more appropriate term, referring to what transpired.

GOD BLESS RBK.

Rohan Kanhai is the only person that I have seen to stop traffic in Bridgetown.
It was he and his wife, walking to the park to watch a cricket game, guys stopped their cars just to touch him.
I was about 12-14 years at the time, a good conversation to have with school mates the following week.

In reply to Dukes

well he is on 86 now, on field umpire say not out.no review left?

In reply to shivnotout



Bat on my boy!!!

In reply to Narper
True that Narps. I heard on the Aussie 65 ??? tour he was 88 overnight and the whole Berbice came down to see him get 100 next day but Neil Hawke spoil the party and uproot his stumps for 89. I was too young then but I guess the buses took off soon after