As the UAE’s cricketers spent the first three days of their tour of Scotland watching the rain fall, their coach, Lalchand Rajput, might have told them they were lucky. At least it wasn’t snowing.
The 64-year-old Indian played as an overseas professional in this part of the world for 14 seasons in the 1980s and ’90s, becoming a local legend in the process.
He remembers his first impression clearly. “Somebody said there is a good opportunity in Scotland, so why don't you go and try out? It's a beautiful country,” Rajput said of his arrival there in 1985.
“I didn’t know about the weather or all those things, but I said, OK, let me try. I landed on Friday, went to my room and the next day was a match.
“One of the guys from the club came to pick me up and we went there. It was snowing, so I said to him, ‘Are you going to play cricket in this?’
“He said, ‘Don't worry, it’ll clear up.’ Then he said, ‘Welcome to Scotland.’ That's how my journey started here.”
Rajput had previously spent two seasons as a pro in Yorkshire in the north of England. Not that that exactly acclimatised him for life in the east of Scotland, where he played club cricket for Perthshire and Strathmore.
Graham Ferguson, one of Rajput’s teammates at Perthshire, also distinctly remembers that first game, against Edinburgh Accies.
“Lal couldn’t believe we were playing,” Ferguson said. “The captain won the toss and told him he was opening the batting.
“He went in and with about six layers on, scored a quick 20 and then, because it was a pre-season game, I think he got himself out just to get back into the changing room.”
Then there was the ordeal of fielding. “I could not take out my hands from my pockets,” Rajput said. “It was snowing and the umpire said, ‘No, you’ve got to play.’ I said, ‘How can we play in this weather?’
“Then one of the guys from the club brought me a hand warmer. That was the first time I had seen that, and it felt good.”
Perthshire cricketers are no strangers to well credentialled teammates. A celebrated trio of Australians - Bruce Yardley, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist – each played for the club as overseas professionals.
But Ferguson reckons everyone would regard Rajput as a special talent. “He wasn’t destructive, but technically almost perfect,” Ferguson said of Rajput’s batting.
“He played for Scotland twice as the overseas player. That was an indication of how highly thought of he was around the scene. Everybody knew he was top, top class.”
Perthshire initially selected Rajput from a list of prospective overseas players, knowing little other than the fact he had scored a stack of runs in a Bombay state side that also included Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar.
He arrived in April of 1985. In August, he had to be released early from his contract as India had called him up for his Test debut, against Sri Lanka.
By September, his Test career – amounting to a sum of just two games - was already at its end, even though he made a promising half-century in the first Test.
Rajput’s loss was Scottish domestic cricket’s gain. He returned to Scotland the following season, and every summer for over a decade thereafter.
He played as an overseas pro for the national team in games against Pakistan’s touring team in 1987, which included Wasim Akram and Javed Miandad, and in England’s domestic cup competition.
That honour was not meted out lightly. He was the first Indian to play for Scotland. The second? The great Rahul Dravid.
The affection towards him was sincere, and the feeling was mutual. “I wore tartan, and they called me ‘McRajput’,” he said, proudly.
“I really enjoyed it because the people are nice, and the cricket at that time was very good.”
Life away from the field had its challenges. “Food was a problem, to be very honest,” said Rajput, acknowledging he went on to develop a love of fish and chips.
“When I came, there was only one Indian restaurant, and we used to struggle to get Indian food.
“We used to come very often to Dundee [where his UAE side are playing against Scotland on Sunday], because there were a lot of Asians here. It was the place where we could get all our spices, then go back.
“Over the years, a lot of Indian restaurants opened, and life became much easier because people knew me.
“I used to get a car, and it had my name on the side, saying I was the professional for Perthshire and then Strathmore. So, wherever I went, people used to know me, ‘Oh, the cricket pro is here.’ Then I made a lot of friends.”
They have become lifelong mates, and many – like Ferguson - have made a point of coming to see him during the UAE’s tour for this tri-series.
“At one stage, his mum and dad came over to stay with him,” Ferguson said of the glory days.
“I remember getting invited down to his flat and his mum making a prawn curry for me. She toned it down for me, apparently.
“But it was still so spicy. God knows what it was like for them. I had to have a loaf of bread to try to soak the sauce up.”
Having an Indian international playing 14 seasons in Scottish domestic cricket seems surreal, viewed through the lens of modern-day cricket.
The advent of the IPL, as well as home office rules, means it is as good as impossible now.
But Rajput loved it. “Because of the IPL, nobody wants to come, even to play county cricket, and they aren’t allowed anyway,” he said.
“So less players will come here. But earlier we used to come here because it was a chance to explore what was possible.”
