"He Was My Hero": Atul Wassan Recalls An Indian Legend Going Unnoticed In IPL Glitz

In the glitz and glamour, the Indian Premier League (IPL) provides, players often get carried away. Respecting senior players or cricketers who have represented the nation in the past often falls off their agenda. It is something big-money and overnight fame in IPL can do to a player and at times deter their case.

Narrating one such incident in an exclusive interview to CricketAddictor, former India cricketer Atul Wassan opened up about how ‘his hero’ was overlooked in the glamour and fame of the lucrative tournament a few years back.

Atul Wassan: No one noticed GR Viswanath

GR Viswanath would play the late-cut to perfection. His batting prowess in the 1970s was a joy to watch. He could play against spin and pace using his footwork to the best effect. Espn cricinfo summarised him as crucial as Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s. But to overlook a cricketer, who has given Indian fans, plenty to cherish about is nothing less than disheartening.

Viswanath was a hero for Atul Wassan. He recalls in Mumbai, a large number of IPL players had turned up, and no one would notice his hero. It was evidently an upsetting sight for Wassan to fathom. “We were in Bombay (Mumbai) the other day… a lot of IPL players had turned up there. Among them, was a player, who used to be my hero and no one was noticing him, I felt sad, he was GR Viswanath,” he said.

Wassan subsequently schooled Bengal’s second highest run-scorer of all-time Manoj Tiwary for ”overestimating himself'”. He strongly feels, money and glamour aside, a few cricketers should develop a strong intellect to respect their seniors.

“I was sitting, we were doing IPL commentary then Manoj Tiwary…. there are some cricketers who have played some matches then dropped from the team, then they blame others, he did this and that, I told him when you start overestimating yourself, Gavaskar and Vishwanath are Gods and you feel troubled by not getting contract, and come back to your reality. Glamour and the money people are getting that’s there…intellect has to come,” he said.

Wassan had brief stint for the national team. His time for as the chairman of the Delhi District and Cricket Associations’ (DDCA) senior selection panel also did not turn out to be favourable.