Today, when you park yourself in front of the TV to be part of the World Cup fest, take a long, hard look at the willow. Chances are that it was crafted at Jalandhar.BAS Vampire, a bat-manufacturing company whose star clientelle includes the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Anil Kumble, Srinath, Ranatunga, De-Silva besides many Australian and South African players, has been working overtime to meet the demand for customised bats, and other crickt paraphernalia. Sachin looks for lighter bats Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, known for his penchant for using heavy bats, has asked a Mumbai-based cricket coach to rush him some “seasoned” lighter bats for the World Cup in South Africa. Satish Samant, coach of the Mumbai under-17 team, received a message from Tendulkar to send him an additional complement of the lightweight bats and “stroked” the bats with Atul Ranade, a childhood friend of Tendulkar’s. It is necessary to season the bats before use by the player because he may not have time to do so during a tour. Four of the new bats have already been sent to Tendulkar and a couple more are likely to be dispatched soon, a report said. Though the new bats are only 50 gms lighter than the 1300 gms English willows used by Tendulkar, they have more “meat” on the middle to counter the extra pace and bounce on the South African pitches. The report said Tendulkar, who suffered a back problem recently, started using slightly lighter bats on India’s New Zealand tour on the advise of doctors. Ramesh Kohli, a partner in the company, says their hand-crafted bats are a big hit world over. That’s one reason why the who’s who of the cricketing world has made a trip to their factory at one point or the other. ‘‘I still can’t forget the day both the Indian and Sri Lankan teams trooped into our workshop.’’But Ramesh’s favourite visitor was none other than the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who spent an hour toying with various bats and giving specifications for his own. ‘‘He is a very warm person and charmed us all,’’ says Ramesh’s brother Somi. That explains why they flew down to Mumbai to attend his wedding. ‘‘How could we not go?’’ laughs Ramesh. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it to Saurav Ganguly’s reception. Yes sir, the dashing Captain had also sent them an invite.But Kohlis are quite used to this intimacy. After all, Navjot Singh Sidhu started his career with their bat. And Harbhajan Bhajji used to play ball at the ground next to their factory.‘‘With many cricketers, it’s like family,’’ Somi beams, fishing out an album full of pictures guaranteed to turn every cricket fan a deep shade of green. Only last month, the Wisden Cricketer of the Century also came calling, just for old time’s sake.This bonhomie has a lot to do with the Kohli family’s expertise in turning out the perfect willow. ‘‘Every player has a different requirement, a specific bat balance, and we try to fulfil it,’’ says Ramesh. No mean task this, and a lone bat can take a lot of sweat and toil. ‘‘Besides, trends change from year to year. Right now, long-blade bats hold the sway,’’ says Somi.The Kohlis started their affair with the willow at Sialkot, now in Pakistan, in 1935. ‘‘It was a city dedicated to sports goods, and my father D R Kohli and uncle M R Kohli made a beginning by making bats and hockey sticks.’’The Kohlis, who export bats to West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, South Africa, Canada, Scotland and America, have also diversified into making gloves, which’ve been picked up by Agarkar, Sachin, Yuvraj and Srinath.Interestingly, all the five brothers are ardent sporstmen, and enjoy an adrenaline-pumping game of cricket and badminton. But they’ve never aspired to fill the shows of their willow-wielding stars. ‘‘We’d rather work for them,’’ Somi chuckles.The Kohlis do have a dream: of making India the No. 1 cricket goods market of the world. ‘‘It’s not a pipedream, we are well on our way to realising it,’’ says Ramesh, pointing to the plans of many British and Aussie manufacturers to shift base to Jalandhar.Now, that sure will be quite a feat for the city.
