Postal dept to immortalize Vijay Hazare

                 VADODARA: Six years after he breathed his last in the city, legendary cricketer Vijay Hazare will be paid a fitting tribute by the postal department and Baroda Cricket Association (BCA). A special stamped envelope with photographs of Hazare will be exhibited by the postal department during its three-day exhibition from December 23 in the city.

This is for the first time that a cricketer from the city will be immortalised on a stamped envelope. The exhibition kept at Akota hall will be inaugurated by Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal.

Hazare captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953 and led the country to its first ever Test win (and the only victory under his captaincy) against England in 1951-'52 at Madras, winning by an innings and eight runs. Primarily a right-hand batsman, Hazare was also a right-hand medium-pace bowler. He accumulated 2,192 runs in 30 Test matches with a batting average of 47.65. He scored 60 first-class centuries (including seven in Tests).

A "shy, retiring" man (according to Wisden in 1952), it was widely thought that Hazare was not a natural captain, and that his batting suffered as a result. His rival, Vijay Merchant said that the captaincy prevented Hazare from becoming India's finest batsman: "It was one of the tragedies of cricket."

The special stamped envelope is being prepared with the help of BCA. "We were approached by the postal department for their exhibition. So, we thought of coming up with an envelope with pictures of Hazare on it. It will be a tribute to one of the tallest cricketers of all time. We had discussed the idea with BCA president and he immediately approved it," said BCA secretary Snehal Parikh.

Over 2,000 such envelopes will be designed and printed by BCA. "The envelopes will be auctioned during the exhibition and funds raised will be shared between BCA and postal department. We are working out on details," Parikh told TOI. The envelope will have some text of Hazare printed on the backside.

The association is also planning to send some envelopes to other cricket associations in the country and to some cricket bodies abroad. Interestingly, BCA's promise of erecting a statue of Hazare, who died in 2004, has remained only on paper for last three years.

D K S Chauhan, post master general (PMG) said, "Apart from Hazare, we are also coming up similar envelopes of GSFC, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The proposal for exhibition of these envelopes will be cleared soon. It will be organised in a big way." While the postal department will exhibit its own collection of postal stamps and envelopes, philatelists from across the country too will put their collection on display.

"The collectors can also sell and buy stamps during the exhibition. We also have a contest wherein people having best collections are given medals," Chauhan told TOI.

 Courtesy : The Times of India, Dec. 7, 2011

My comment on the article "Postal dept to immortalize Vijay Hazare"' is now displayed on timesofindia.com.

"India Post is always doing its best in honouring such great personalities who have contributed towards the nation. The effort of India Post can be best utilized if the people will purchase such envelops / stamps and use them in their day to day communications which will not only generate revenue for the Department but will be the true honour to such personalities in whose memory the First Day Covers / Stamps are released."