SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2020 (PAGE 4) PERSONALITY TRAVELOGUE ‘Spotting talent was my forte’’ GATA LOOPS OF LADAKH He remains India's best chairman of selectors had that," the former India captain said. by a distance for his sheer ability to spot talent "...Every selector must have courage and conviction along with eye for talent. If you are A Driver’s Nightmare and Dilip Vengsarkar always knew that Virat convinced about someone, you have to back Sanjay Singh Lalotra Kohli was "exceptional" when he first saw the him to the hilt. That's what good selectors do," he said. 'ONLY ONE WHO WANDERS , FINDS NEW PATHS Indian captain in age-group cricket. Was there any pressure on him to not …. A Norwegian proverb. select Kohli, whose attitude then was ques- tioned in all quarters? The former skipper's tenure as chairman 'Travelling is an education'. Though a small and crisp sentence ,it encom- of the national selection committee between "I don't think anybody pressurised me. I passes within itself a world of wisdom, knowledge and myriad experiences all 2006-08 is often cited as a bench-mark for all was convinced that I had picked a guy who rolled into one. With the modern means of transportation man has been able those who came after him as he backed a very had exceptional talent at that point of time. I to map this planet in a very short span of time those places which were unthink- raw Kohli and promoted Mahendra Singh knew he was a tremendous player who need- able even a few decades back .India is one of the most diverse and geograph- Dhoni to captaincy. ed backing." ically demanding landscapes on this planet ,with government of the day con- "Selecting talent was my forte. I will tell There is a funny story how Mahendra stantly devising new and newer methods to cover those areas which hitherto you something. You might be good at spotting Singh Dhoni, who was 21 at that time, was were reached only by animal transport or by foot. India's northern border talent but what you do after spotting is very inducted into the TRDW scheme despite the states particularly J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand have been policy of having only U-19 bestowed by one of the most geographically unreachable spots to include players. mountains, lakes and glaciers. Ladakh bordering Lahul and Spiti of Himachal It was on the insistence Pradesh and Tibet in the east ,has within itself a plethora of mountain pass- of former Bengal captain es ,trekking trails, yet to be discovered for a tourist's delight. An initial attempt Prakash Poddar, who had to map ,survey and walk through these inhospitable areas was done by the gone to watch an U-19 British in the initial decades of 19th century when the' Great Game'( Proxy match in Jamshedpur as war between Russia and UK) was in full swing for the control of these areas part of Vengsarkar's for the final march of Russian army into the hinterland of India. British army TRDW team. officers , in the garb of tourists/businessmen like Capt Francis Younghus- band, David' O' Conolly etc were specially given charge to map these moun- Lachungla pass at 5065mts/16616 ft. The match was being tain passes and roads by the viceroys of that time to include Lord Dalhousie The Gata Loops are a complex set of 21hairpin bends with the highest bend held at a ground adjacent ,Lord Elgin etc ,the aim being to find out the probable Russian army's advance at 4667mts/15302 feet. The name Gata Loops is unknown to anyone except to the Keenan Stadium into India ,and block them in time so as to negate their design of expansion for the few who have travelled on the Leh-Manali highway. As a matter of fact where Bihar (not Jhark- into south Asia .Famous Indologist Peter Hopkirk in his book 'The Great Game this steep and winding section of the road is considered as one of the tourist hand) were playing a Ran- 'has beautifully depicted the various attempts by British Govt in India to attractions of Manali-Leh highway. As per many these Ghata Loops are haunt- ji One Day game. launch discreet expeditions to these faraway places for their assimilation in ed and different people have different take on this .But the most plausible one A few balls flew into the playing arena out- their greater scheme of expansion in the Indian subcontinent .Ladakh has which stands to conviction goes like this… important. If someone is talented, you have side the stadium which made Poddar curious always been the cynosure of Great Britain /Indian travelers mapping its inner- to induct him and give him chances," and he went inquiring as to who was hitting most recesses, valleys which continues to this day. A truck many years ago loaded upto the brim and with 2 travellers was on Vengsarkar, who turned 64 on Monday, told it this far. My interest in Ladakh was triggered primarily by my stay in Siachen Glac- way to Leh some where in mid October . The driver and the cleaner with the PTI in an exclusive interview. The name was MS Dhoni but he had ier as also having few short visits to Zozila and high altitude school in loaded truck crossed the already frozen Rohtang pass ,by which time the Kun- zam pass was already closed due to heavy snowfall and hence no vehicle was Vengsarkar believes that he was able to do already passed the qualifying age for TRDW. Sonamarg while serving in the army .After having had my share of Siachen coming from Kaza side .Unfortunately the truck developed a technical fault justice to the chairman's post because of the But Vengsarkar, on Poddar's insistence, glacier posting ,self was posted along with my Battalion to another equally time he spent as head of BCCI's now defunct right at the Gata Loops ,eventually making the truck halt at the loop. The clean- decided that rules shouldn't come in the way interesting mountainous place in the Himachal ,known as Roopa valley in Talent Research Development Wing (TRDW) er of the truck was very ill and barely able to stand. Since the truck couldn't of a talented player. district Kinnaur .Route to Kinnaur can be followed either from Shimla or from which found the gem called Dhoni. Leh ,with both sides offering a range of exciting opportunities waiting to be be left unattended at the loops, hence the driver started walking to the near- When talking about Kohli, one could sense He has immense respect for the late Jag- exploited by a die hard traveller . Since self was supposed to be moving out est village to get some help. There being no help in the village, the driver start- the pride in his voice as he was the one who mohan Dalmiya, who started the TRDW from Leh via road ,and with the traditional Leh-Srinagar road choc a bloc with ed walking to another village some distance away, when the weather turned picked the feisty batsman after an Emerging scheme which became defunct after he lost tourist vehicles ,it was decided to route out from Leh to Roopa valley via Man- bad and heavy snowfall started off. The driver just couldn't go ahead and was India team's tour of Australia where the cur- the elections. ali following the Leh-Manali road/highway. The Leh -Manali highway is a 490 stuck in the village for days together ,with the poor cleaner left in the truck. rent captain was even ready to open the "Once Mr Dalmiya lost elections, they dis- Kms /300 Miles long highway ,connecting Leh ,the capital of the union ter- The driver in the meanwhile passed information to Manali for help. Help came innings on the chairman's call. The 'Colonel' continued the TRDW thing. Extremely unfor- ritory of Ladakh with Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The highway is open for but after many days ,and by the time the rescue party went to the Gata loops liked his attitude. tunate as players who were spotted and sent only about 5 months starting from May till Sep,when the snow is cleared and to look up the cleaner , he had frozen to death. The poor cleaner was cremat- "I have watched a lot of U-16 and U-19s as to NCA became big stars. closes mid October ,when the snow fall again blocks the high passes. The pri- ed at the Gata loops itself. TRDW chairman and watched Virat a lot dur- mary destinations on this highly demanding highway being..Leh- Shey-Karu- The legend says that whenever any traveler goes to the Gata loops , he is "In fact, the players I selected then gave Upshi-Gya-Sarchu(state border)-Zingzingbar-Patseo-Darcha-Jispa-Key- ing his junior cricket days. So when I became stopped by a beggar asking for water . All those who do not offer any help are me an idea of bench strength when I became long-Tandi-Sissu-Khoksar-Gramphu-Rohtang-Manali.The highway was chairman of selection committee, we picked met with some or the other mishap on their journey, whereas those who help head of selection committee. That's how use- designed ,built and maintained by the Border roads organization (BRO)of the ,have said and reported that the moment they offer the water bottle to the beg- him for an Emerging Tour of Australia. I was ful TRDW was." Indian army.