While the present day cricketers are raking in the ‘moolah’ with earnings boosted by the IPL and the likes, here’s a pitiable tale of a former cricketer unable to pay his hospital bills.
Inder Raj (64) who played with some distinction having been part of the Andhra and Hyderabad Ranji teams in the late 60s is now languishing in a city corporate hospital. He is unable to cough up money to pay the Rs. 1 lakh bill for having his gangrene infected leg amputated and get discharged from the hospital.
He played alongside players of the calibre of Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Syed Kirmani for VST in the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup with distinction . Days were when the legendary Gavaskar used to watch in admiration when his partner Inder Raj used to hit the ball all over the field. But, this gutsy opener is now struggling for survival.
Old-timers recall that if only Inder Raj had not quit the bank job, he would have been the Sehwag of that era. Such is his plight now that his brother Govind Raj, himself a member of Indian team which won the Test series for the first time in England in 1971, is running around the corridors of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) for financial help.