Meet man, friend of Sunil Gavaskar, helped out Tendulkar by..., benefactor of Indian cricketers like Vengsarkar, Manjrekar, Kaif

India.com

5 hours ago

Suleman 'Solly' Adam and his family walked for four days through the Thar Desert, sweltering with the sun on their heads and hot sand. Solly, just 7, held his mother's hand, his 4-year-old sister on his father's shoulders. They were handcuffed during the journey. They were later released near the newly marked border and told to leave for Pakistan. This was in 1952. It was the story of Solly's family being picked up from a village in Gujarat after Partition and sent to Pakistan. Though perplexed about where they were going, Solly was worried about whether he would ever be able to play his favourite sport cricket again.
After a difficult childhood, teenage Solly boarded a ship to England with just £3. Hardly anyone would have imagined that he would go on to own several houses, petrol pumps, supermarkets and never miss a chance to play cricket. A homeless boy would provide shelter to countless visitors, mostly players playing club cricket in Yorkshire. Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan would be his close friends.
Solly, who is 80 years old, told the Indian Express, I truly believe that difficult roads often lead to beautiful places and cricket has taught me many lessons of life. Solly has many guests at his house these days. Sunil Gavaskar arrived at his house two days before the first Test of the India vs England 5 match series. This Indian legend has visited his house many times before. 'Solly' was very excited during the phone conversation. Solly says, 'Sunil told me that I am here and we will meet during the Test match. I am very happy.'
There is another reason why this meeting is special. This is the first Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy series. It was Solly who convinced both Yorkshire and Sachin Tendulkar to sign a contract in 1992, resulting in the Indian legend becoming the first overseas player to call Headingley home.
Solly said, 'The moment I got to know, I reached out to the Yorkshire club. I asked them why don't you sign an Indian or a Pakistani? I argued that Yorkshire has a large number of Asian immigrants, so they can consider Tendulkar or Javed Miandad.' This was the time when the great Don Bradman said that watching Tendulkar bat reminds him of his own batting. In two to three hours, Solly convinced the Yorkshire management. Solly says, 'They chose Tendulkar, but there was a problem.'
Away from the outside world, Yorkshire officials did not know how to reach Sachin Tendulkar. Solly told them to leave it to him. When Sachin Tendulkar was playing club cricket in England, Solly had hosted him. He had also attended Solly's son's wedding. When Yorkshire's offer came, Tendulkar was in Australia (in the middle of the Test series). When Solly called, Tendulkar, who was already troubled by international and domestic commitments, could not believe it. Now Solly can talk. His ever-growing business empire was thanks to his talent as a deal-maker. Solly says, 'I told him that he is young and can do it. Later I asked my friend Sunil (Gavaskar) to talk to Tendulkar. Sunil had benefited from playing for Somerset. Eventually Tendulkar was persuaded and history was made.'
After reaching Leeds, Sollybhai's residence will be Tendulkar's second home, where hot Indian food is always ready in the dining room. Ever since Solly was an active club cricketer, his house has been open to Indian and Pakistani cricketers. Generations of Indian cricketers like Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Chandrakant Pandit, Sanjay Manjrekar, Abhay Kuruvilla, Sairaj Bahutule, Mohammad Kaif, Wasim Jaffer have enjoyed his hospitality.