It is never easy to cope with the loss of a loved one, especially somebody you have known all your life. When Milind Rege breathed his last, I was in Dubai for the opening game of the Champions Trophy. I met him just before I left for Dubai and told him I would see him again in a few days. That wasn’t to be, as he left us the day before India’s opening game.
He was almost five months older than me. Both of us grew up in the same surroundings. We lived in a cluster of four buildings, each with six apartments. He lived in building number two, and I lived in building four. In between these four buildings was the compound where we played tennis-ball cricket. The Sunday afternoon tennis-ball matches between the boys from the buildings used to be watched by just about everybody who lived in the flats. They would all come to their balconies to watch us play, squabble over umpiring decisions, and generally have a good time.
We were the only two boys among all the four buildings who were admitted to a convent school by our parents. So we went to school and came back together. The same was true during college too.
He was the captain of the school’s cricket team, and both of us were picked for Bombay (now Mumbai) Schools, West Zone Schools, and the All India Schools Team, which played ‘Tests’ against the London School Boys team. My parents wanted me to focus on my studies too, so I missed out on playing the last ‘Test’ of that series. Cricket was not a career option then, but it definitely opened the doors for a corporate job because inter-corporate cricket was huge in Mumbai at the time. We even played at the college level, Mumbai University and West Zone University. After the second year of college, he was offered a job by Tatas, with whom he stayed loyal throughout his life. Being an all-rounder who was performing very, very consistently, he was picked for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team two and a half years before I was picked. Every time Mumbai’s top order struggled with the bat, it was invariably Milind, along with Ajit Naik, Karsan Ghavri, or Rakesh Tandon, who rescued the team and got them to a competitive total.
When he was barely 25 years old, he suffered a heart attack, which meant any aspirations he had of playing for India were ground to dust. Like he did when playing for Mumbai, he wouldn’t just give up. He made a swift recovery, which saw him return to play for Mumbai and captain the team. Of course, at that stage, he knew that with the knowledge of his earlier health episode, he was unlikely to be considered for higher honours. But he still kept on giving his very best for Mumbai.
Even after his retirement from the game, he was actively involved with Tata Sports Club and Mumbai cricket. I used to call him regularly from overseas to find out Mumbai’s progress in the Ranji Trophy, and right from the time he answered the phone, I would know whether Mumbai had done well or was struggling.
I remember dedicating my century at Adelaide in 1985 to him because he had just had a successful bypass surgery. He had another bypass surgery a decade or so later, but his heart had weakened considerably, though he never ever showed it or made any fuss about it. He fulfilled many roles for Tatas and Mumbai, being a selector, manager, and, in recent times, also an advisor to the Mumbai Cricket Association.
Right till the end, he was obsessed with Mumbai cricket, and even in the hospital, he was glued to Mumbai’s progress. The disappointing loss in the semis would certainly have demoralised and dejected him, and that’s the sad thing — that he went knowing that Mumbai was not going to be in the final. They say that friends are your greatest wealth, and in his leaving, I have become enormously poorer. I am sure from up there, he will be checking up on what’s happening in the Tatas as well as Mumbai cricket circles and wanting them to do well.
It was very nice to know of the respect shown by the Mumbai team, observing two minutes’ silence once the news of his passing away came through.
While this has been sad news, the good news is India beating Pakistan and ensuring a place for themselves in the semi-final. It has been a superb all-round show, which gives us hope that they will be able to go all the way and bring the Champions Trophy back home.