Sport

‘An attacking player and a good-hearted person’

Rod Laver, Neale Fraser, Ramanathan Krishnan and Premjit Lall, during the final of the Davis Cup American Zone tie in Massachussets, USA in 1959.

CHENNAI: “Some of my best moments in tennis, on and off the court, came with him around,” said Ramanathan Krishnan of Premjit Lall, his former colleague, who died in Kolkata on Wednesday. The two, along with Jaideep Mukherjea and S.P. Misra, belonged to that strong Indian Davis Cup quartet of the sixties — that Indian squad that reached the Challenge round in 1966 before losing to Australia.

“We were the first to (break through and enter the challenge round), and Lall was part of that historic moment,” said Krishnan.

“Only last week, Naresh Kumar and I had called on him in Kolkata. I have always been reluctant to visit him because I could not accept his wheel-chair led life, having seen the best of him as an elegant and handsome player on the tennis court. Twelve years ago I had seen him once and then it was now. Yes, he had difficulty in speaking but he had a sharp mind and remembered many of the incidents I narrated,” recalled Krishnan, of what was to be his last few moments with a man who had been so close to him.

“Whoever had moved with him closely, be it in India or abroad had only nice things to say of him. That is Premjit Lall,” said Krishnan, of the “Gregory Peck of Indian sports.”

That is not the lone reason why he stood out in Indian tennis, Krishnan hastened to add.

“I would say, as a player he attacked and served well. In fact, his best performance came in the match he actually lost. It was against Rod Laver in the second round in the 1969 Wimbledon championship when he led by two sets to love and then three games to love in the third. And it was Laver’s favourite surface (Laver went on to win the title),” recalled Krishnan.

Then again, in the early ’70s, he won both his singles matches in India’s win over the Neale Fraser-led Australian Davis cup squad.

“In those days beating Australia was next to impossible,” Krishnan, who was the non-playing captain said.

Yet another unforgettable moment in Lall’s career, recalled Krishnan, was when he stretched Bjorn Borg to 20-18 in what was to be the longest tie-break (third set) in the first round at Wimbledon in 1973.

A National champion and one who had beaten Krishnan a few times, Krishnan wanted to remember Lall as a “good hearted man.”

“I am sad he is no more but I am satisfied I could make him a little happy by my recent visit,” he added.

Tennis ace Vijay Amritraj fondly remembers the time when as a rookie in the Davis Cup arena he had been given all the encouragement by Premjit Lall and Jaideep Mukherjea. “It was great growing up with them,” he said. ‘He was undoubtedly the most handsome player that tennis has seen and indeed it was most tragic that life should turn the way it did for him. There is no denying that players like him, Jaideep and R. Krishnan had done great service for Indian tennis.”

Aside from playing alongside Lall in doubles in Davis Cup, Vijay distinctly recalled the great Lall-Laver match in 1969 at Wimbledon. “I still remember it was on court number four and I watched the entire match,” he said. “I had not met him in recent times but I had seen him after the tragedy he went through,” Vijay said, adding that he was the first to organise exhibition matches at the Egmore stadium to raise a purse for Lall.

“He was my first Davis Cup captain,” said Ramesh Krishnan while describing Lall as a “dashing and colourful personality.”

“He is not only a very good player but also a wonderful person. To me he is the stalwart of Indian tennis. I still remember his match against Rod Laver. He eventually lost the match but the way he played it was amazing. We were lucky to see him a few weeks back when I visited him to greet him during his birthday. He was in his full senses and recalled some of the matches he played. I am really shocked by his sudden demise” said Naresh Kumar

“Premjit to me is the most underrated player in the country. He was a very good partner to have and I had some great moments during the 1962 Australian Open and the 1973 Wimbledon. We reached the quarterfinals by playing some fantastic tennis.” said Jaideep Mukherjea.

“In fact we started our career together at the South Club. We used to travel together for eight to nine months in a year. We three, Premjit, Akhtar Ali and me, were great pals and we really had a great time being together.

“For a number of years I have been visiting him during his birthday and when the last time I met him he was in a jovial mood and we enjoyed his company. I have not only lost a great friend but also a good human being.” Jaideep said.

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