Did Charlie chuck? Unraveling the facts about Test cricketer
Nari Contractor’s near fatal head injury in the West Indies
Gulu Ezekiel
Extract from the book Myth-Busting: Indian Cricket Behind the Headlines by Gulu Ezekiel is reproduced with permission from Rupa Publications.
March 17, 1962 was one of the darkest days in the history of Indian sport. On this day India’s cricket captain, Nariman ‘Nari’ Jamshedji Contractor was struck on the head by the infamous fast bowler Charlie Griffith in the match against Barbados at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown and the world held its breath in collective agony as he hovered between life and death for five excruciating days.
Contractor was 28 at the time and was halfway through the tour of West Indies......