Huge honour to have a stand named at Old Trafford, Farokh Engineer says

Come Wednesday, 23 July, Old Trafford in Manchester will witness history made, as Farokh Engineer – the legendary Indian wicketkeeper who served Lancashire as a player for nearly a decade – will be the first cricketer from the country to have a stand named after him in England, alongside another celebrating Sir Clive Lloyd. The event to honour the two colourful Lancastrian imports will happen on the sidelines of the fourth Test between India and England, to be held 23–27 July.

Engineer, who has been a resident of the UK for more than half a century now, helped his county win the Gillette Cup four times, while former West Indies captain Lloyd was with the club for around 20 years and has become a part of its folklore.

Now 87 and having undergone an aortic valve replacement surgery in June, Engineer is back to his daily routine now and showed up as a VIP guest during the Lord’s Test as well.

“It’s a huge, huge honour to have a stand after my name at the Old Trafford grounds at this stage of my life. Something like this is yet to happen in my own country, where I don’t have a gate or stand, though the BCCI had been gracious enough to honour me with a Lifetime Achievement Award recently. This is one of the most iconic venues of England, where Jim Laker took 10 wickets in an innings, and the Manchester United Stadium is less than 100 metres away,’’ an excited Engineer told National Herald over the phone on Tuesday, 22 July.

Engineer played 175 matches for the club from 1968 to 1976 and scored 5,942 runs for them — besides taking 429 catches and effecting 35 stumpings. “They were incredible times, and Old Trafford was a marvellous place to be. People would come for miles to see us play,” Engineer said in an interview posted on the club's website a few years ago.

“From the Old Trafford dressing room, we could see Warwick Road railway station and before the game, we would see packed trains emptying out passengers on the platform. We could hear the chanting and the excited chatter and laughter,” he recalled.

Hailed as the Brylcreem man of Indian cricket, being the first of the Indian cricketers to be roped in for a commercial endorsement, the former Indian wicketkeeper recalls receiving fan mail during his playing days.

“It was amazing. Our lockers would be stuffed full of requests for autographs and invitations to parties. Everyone in England was talking about that great team, names like Clive Lloyd, Harry Pilling, Peter Lever and Ken Shuttleworth,” he said. “That buzz lasted for years, and we were the most famous one-day team in the land.”

After having a good time at Lord’s, Engineer is looking forward to welcoming Sunil Gavaskar — his favourite dikra (young lad in Parsee) with whom he had opened the innings for India many a time — while he says his house is open for any Indian cricketer or visitors willing to drop by. “There is no doubt that I have earned huge respect in this country but at the end of the day, I am a desi at heart. Anyone who badmouths India will get it back from me,” he said.

The christening of a stand after Engineer at Old Trafford in a series — which generated a fair amount of controversy over the removal of Tiger Pataudi’s name from the winners’ trophy — is significant. Speaking to PTI in an interview at the end of June, Engineer had said: “It (introducing the Pataudi medal) was obviously an afterthought. They should have announced it at the beginning — that would have had more credibility; but at least they have done something. Common sense has prevailed and I hope the Pataudi name always remains.’’