When the Indian team walks into their dressing room at Adelaide Oval on Friday afternoon, they will be greeted by the bright smiling face of Ian Bassey, the visiting team’s change room attendant for 18 years. The Monkey Gate series in 2008, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid’s swansong in 2012, Virat Kohli’s captaincy test in 2014, Vijay in 2018 and the pandemic games when India were bowled out for 36 runs – Besi has been there. .
Not just cricket, he refereed Davis Cup matches and once met Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the famous 10 Janpath address in New Delhi. A detective sergeant in his early life, at a tennis match in Sydney in 1983, he reprimanded John McEnroe for abusing the line-judge. Handling cricketers, then, should be a piece of cake.
“You don’t ask about that monkey-gate series,” he says sternly, presumably as he tells the players to “Put the wet towels in the bin labeled, please!” The voice used to say. Bessie then continues, “It’s not like I was in the secret-door meetings then, but all I can tell you is that the team was led by the highly respected Anil Kumble,” he says. Controversy raged in the second Test in Sydney, but the matter was decided in the fourth Test in Adelaide and Harbhajan Singh was acquitted.
Ian Bassey standing to the left of Rajiv Gandhi. (Photo: Sriram Veera)
You produced him for Harbhajan’s story. He laughs. “Tell me what is the story of Bhaji. So he pulls out a new Indian jersey and says to me, ‘Ian, you know the tennis world, can you get me Roger Federer’s autograph when he comes for the Australian Open?’ And I go, ‘But Bhaji, he doesn’t know you’ and he goes, ‘No, he does, his mother is from South Africa and they know cricket’. So I went and you can guess what happened! “Basi says with a smile.
“Anyway, I will take the signature and pack Bhaji. Don’t tell him about Federer’s reaction! ” More laughter.
In Mumbai on Wednesday, Sachin Tendulkar addressed a gathering to honor his late coach Ramakant Achrekar where he asked young cricketers not to misuse their cricket kits. “Ah! Did he, now? I can tell you that he is a complete gentleman, who walked that talk. I’ve never seen him mess up in the dressing room after being dismissed, even if there was bad judgment involved. He used to focus on what he had done wrong and solve it quietly,” he explains.
“Even though he made one mistake, he left his shoe in the dressing room locker in the 2008 Test. And I found it later. So I keep it, and on his next visit, I tell him. He goes, ‘Can you show me if you still have it?’ Of course I had them, and he went, “Oh yeah, these are my shoes, okay”. And he signed them and gave them to me!”
That 2012–12 series also proved to be the last Australian tour for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. “Again, two gentlemen. I remember Rahul’s wife and kids came. And at the end of the game he asked me, ‘Ian, can I bring my wife and kids into the dressing room? Would that be OK?’ As if he needed to ask, of course it was fine.
Enough about nice people, what about naughty abusers? “No name, Mr. Nosey-Parker journalist!” At least what is the name of the country? “No! But I can tell you that there have been cases of televisions being broken and walls being dug up after being discarded. I let them cool off, and then tell them they have to pay for the damage. And they usually do. “
English prima donnas
Sometimes, there are players with big egos, but he says it’s part of his job to handle them. “In general, England players are very professional but there are some prima donnas, and you politely but firmly tell them if they make a mistake,” he says.
“Look, the way I look at cricketers is that they are kids who can hit the longest ball or bowl the fastest ball or play the best passing forehand. But basically, they are kids. I’m a grandfather now, and sometimes, I deal with my granddaughters. That’s how I treat the players. I’m here to do one thing—help them with all the little things, the logistics, so they can focus on what they have to do. Can do – play cricket,” he adds.
Sometimes, as in the case of his first match where he worked as a dressing-room attendant, when he felt that the team was hurting after a loss, he would leave the room immediately. “In my first match in 2006, England did really well, but Shane Warne will lose a close game like he did in the second innings. I understood the mood, and went for a really long walk around the ground and came back very late. You have to give the players space, understand their mood. And you can help anyway you can.”
Suddenly, he enters a room and takes a photo. “Who do you know there?” The then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is taking a piece of paper from a fancy bowl. “I am the man with the beard to his right!” He said excitedly. “Please let’s keep this conversation about cricket! He says. But he talks about this one moment.
“Mr. Gandhi had drawn lots for the Davis Cup tie. So we were invited to his house in New Delhi. I remember the security carefully checking our bags for any bombs or anything like that! He was very kind and charming. No wind. I explained the process to him, and he did it. Good time.”
Sometimes, he also makes fun riddles for the teams. “If asked, I usually do. I would write riddles on the board, and wait for them to crack. Like this: “20 Indian heads came into the room, but 24 heads left the room. How?” He sighs with a blank stare and says: “Twenty forehead, 24, got it?” And he breaks into this grandfatherly laugh.