The spirit of Hyderabad’s favourite cricket & style icon lives on

SECUNDERABAD: The first thing that one notices inside the house is a long rosewood table. At least 12 people can sit at it with ease and have their dinner. And this table would be usually laden with food, open to all. This is the house in Sainikpuri where city cricket legend ML Jaisimha spent his last three months. The house had to be renovated before he moved in.The early spiral staircase, feared Jaisimha, was too unsafe for him after a few drinks.
It’s been 20 years since the suave Hyderabadi passed away, but his infectious spirit still brings colour to his wife Jayanthi’s cheeks: “Well, Jai drove me up against the wall many times, but there was no one like him.” In 1999, Jaisimha was on the operation table for some other ailment and the surgeon found out he was suffering from lung cancer. He had only a few months left to live.
It was Jaisimha who started the trend of the stylish Hyderabadi batsman, with collar put up, a handkerchief around the neck and an effortless batting style. But most importantly, he was a player who could win hearts.
The old house of the Jaisimhas in Maredpally (where Kasturba College stands now) saw a generation of cricketers growing up together. They all practised at the Maredpally Cricket Club and played tennis ball cricket in the backyard of the Jaisimha household. The backyard had a concrete pitch and a 12-step run up leading to it. “At least seven players from that bunch went on to play for Hyderabad in Ranji trophy,” remembered Vidyut Jaisimha, ML’s younger son. Vidyut’s mother, however, had to put up with the ‘destruction’. “One day, I returned to the house to see Raju (Venkatapathy) up my coconut tree. There was a rock garden under it. I was mortified. But then, he said he was used to climbing.”
Jayanthi, however, is used to ‘show-boy’ men. At 16, she had fallen in love with the ‘loafer’ who whistled at her and after seven years, went on to marry him. Even as her parents wanted her to go for civil services, she was adamant to marry Jaisimha. “He had so many girlfriends. Being jealous, I always played the bully. But with age, I realised it was Jai’s aura that brought people close. He was everyone’s friend.”
Jaisimha was a great friend of Abbas Ali Baig and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. So deep was the friendship that the man who captained Hyderabad for almost 16 seasons and South Zone for 6 seasons, never had any regret while playing under Tiger Pataudi in the Indian team. Tiger, interestingly, played under him for Hyderabad and South Zone. “You have to understand that with Raj Singh (Dungarpur) at the helm, some royalty would take up the captain’s cap. But Jai adored Tiger.”
However, he could have been a little upset, Vidyut guesses, when Ajit Wadekar was made the captain, ignoring Jaisimha. After all, he is known to be the best captain never to captain India.
Jaisimha’s friendliness for people of any age and his love for cricket is perhaps what led Vidyut to develop the ML Jaisimha Cricket Academy into a modern centre which houses the only indoor cricket pitch in Hyderabad, open 24x7.
“Anyone who wants to practise and needs a net, whatever the weather conditions are, can take up a net at the academy to hone their skills. Even at night,” said Vidyut, who has also been an international coach for countries like Thailand, adding that his father was the one who got the first sponsorship for the Indian team and organised the Charminar trophy. Encroachment, politics and old debts broke up the Maredpally cricketing empire where ML Jaisimha ruled once. But his spirit lives on. A spirit that embraces and inspires all in style.