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The Brave Hearts
peacefully. But Contractor was not made of that 'stuff'. He was not one to run away in sheer fear. He returned to the game and started playing for Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy encounters and started facing the bowlers with the same courage and confidence for which he was widely known. He also captained Gujarat's cricket team with great ability and competence.
In the 1968-69 cricketing season, he almost wrought miracles. He ably substituted the all-rounder Russi Surti who had left for Australia for good. More than that he brought fresh vigour to Gujarat's team, which would defeat the relatively strong teams of Saurashtra, Vadodara and Maharashtra. He remained at the crease for more than seven long hours against the strong Mumbai team and scored a solid 132 runs, thereby snatching a victory, which was almost within the reach of the Mumbai team. The match ended in a draw, although Mumbai was declared the winner on the basis of the lead they had registered against Gujarat in the first innings. The Gujarat team was only one point behind the Mumbai team, which had obtained 25 points.
Nariman Contractor, who had returned from the jaws of death, played in the Ranji Trophy encounters at home between the years 1963-64 and 1970-71. He also scored quite a few centuries during these matches. He scored 1740 runs in the eight cricketing seasons under reference. He was again being considered for the Indian team as an opener. Once I asked Nari, “What thoughts come to your mind when you face bowling after the serious mishap at Barbados ?" To this his spontaneous reply was, “Nothing particular at all ! Continue to play now with the same original confidence. Mạy be I have now ceased to have any fear any more. Even if the ball is aimed at my head, it would matter very little for me. That is because a steel plate has been fixed inside the head. Hence I hit the ball the same way I used to hit it before, irrespective of the speed
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