Ex-India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri was among 11 renowned sportspersons awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Mumbai-based Sports Journalists’ Association of Mumbai (SJAM) at a function held at the legendary Bombay Gymkhana on Wednesday.
While Shastri had to be away from the event physically, his mother, Lakshmi Shastri, received the award on his behalf and charmed the crowd with warm stories from his illustrious cricket career – especially his legendary achievement of scoring six sixes in an over.
Reminiscing about the 1984-85 Ranji Trophy game against Baroda when Shastri was only the second player, after West Indies great Sir Gary Sobers, to have done the feat, Lakshmi narrated a heartwarming family anecdote.
“There are so many fond memories Ravi has provided us with, but the most memorable thing for sure was the six sixes in an over,” she added. “I didn’t even know it took place at Wankhede Stadium. It was actually our bhelpuri wala who originally informed me about it – he happened to be watching the game!”
She continued to describe how Ravi, in his typical manner, had kept the news under wraps when he came back home.
“When I asked him what had gone on at the match, he replied cheekily, ‘If you want to know, listen to All India Radio at 7 PM.’ Because our bhelpuri wala had mentioned it too, I thought something special must have occurred.”. I telephoned my husband at his clinic and instructed him to listen. Much to our surprise, the news reported that he had ‘Sobered Sobers,’ as per a banner posted on Marine Drive the following day.
Lakshmi also remembered 1985 fondly as a golden year for her son’s career.
“Those six sixes in the Hong Kong Six-A-Side Tournament made that year unforgettable. Following the six sixes, Ravi later excelled at the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket and won the title of ‘Champion of Champions.’ He won that iconic Audi car, which, to be honest with you, I did not even know how to pronounce then. Few people in India had ever laid eyes on one before! I’ll never forget that when the team took a victory lap at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.”
Alongside Shastri, several other stalwarts from various sports were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards. These included:
Shubhangi Kulkarni – Former India women’s cricketer
Michael Ferreira – Three-time World Amateur Billiards Champion
Niraj Bajaj – Table tennis veteran
GM Pravin Thipsay – Grandmaster in chess
Anjali Bhagwat, Suma Shirur & Deepali Deshpande – Renowned shooters
Mervyn Fernandes & Joaquim Carvalho – Hockey Olympians
Sanjay Sharma – Former national badminton champion and team captain
The event celebrated decades of sporting excellence and was a reminder of the rich legacy built by India’s sporting pioneers across generations.
