Shahvir Tarapore Umpire

In the 1980s, a Karnataka cricketer in his 20s went through a torrid time. In a strong state team comprising of his first captain Brijesh Patel, he failed to make a mark. For seven years, he was in the Ranji Squad but managed to score only over a hundred runs in that phase. A man who had failed so miserably as a player scored a remarkable century in his second innings in cricket. Taking to Umpiring in 1987 after coming to terms with himself that he was not good enough as a player, the then thirty year old took to Umpiring. Over the next three decades he reached the top of the Umpiring Ladder clocking a 100 first class matches and as he proudly recalls in this story was there to watch three of Sachin Tendulkar’s record breaking knocks in one day cricket. In recent years, he has turned a mentor to upcoming umpires and also currently dons the role of the Hony Joint Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Here’s the story.

Shahvir Tarapore (most have got his name wrong!!!) began his association with tennis ball cricket on the gully of Shivajinagar in the Cantonment area in Bangalore. His father Keki Tarapore had played a couple of matches for the state and later went on to become a renowned coach. His Uncle too was a cricketer and it was no wonder that this young boy too took to cricket. Alongside his cricket, his English language and communication skills were harnessed at school - first at Sophia and later at St. Josephs European High School, qualities that were to hold him in great stead later on in life in his second innings in cricket.

In 1969, his parents moved to the Parsi flats (one of the earliest apartment complexes in that area) and the young 12 year old Shahvir honed his cricket skills playing cricket within the complex.  He recalls coming to the nearby KSCA for some nets sessions in that phase“Our new residence was very close to the KSCA, which was an open ground at that time (the stadium that we see today had not come up then). It was exciting for me to walk down to the ground and play cricket here.”

Now well past 60, Shahvir still goes there once in a while to the over 50 year apartment and plays a bit of cricket with the younger gen evoking memories of his own cricketing days from the late 60s and early 70s.

Before he had turned 15, he played for the state schools and went on to play Rohinton Baria and Vizzy Trophy (under L Vasan). Strong performances in the league for the now over 100 year old BUCC earned him a place in the Karnataka Ranji team in 1979 and he made his debut a year later “I took to cricket more out of passion and also we were a family of sportspeople. Making my debut under Brijesh was one of the biggest moments of my life. Karnataka was a very strong team at that time and had a great top order and a spin attack. To just be part of that squad was a great blessing.”

He joined Syndicate Bank in 1980 and was an integral part of their team for close to two decades.

Shahvir was in the Ranji squad for seven years though he played only six matches in that time.  Four decades after his debut, he says he is not embarrassed to accept that he was a failure as a player “I did nothing of note as a cricketer. It was a team full of luminaries and just being around them in the dressing room was a great feeling at that time, though I would have liked to have contributed better for the state.”

By 1987, he had resigned himself to the fact that he was not good enough as a cricketer. Following in his father’s footsteps he tried his hand at Coaching for a brief period but soon found out that he was not suited for that role. Cricket had been his life for two decades and he wanted to continue his association with the game “I found the best way to stay connected was to be right in the middle and Umpiring offered that opportunity.”

He cleared the KSCA examination in 1987 and three years of umpiring in the Bangalore league and mentoring under Satyaji Rao gave him his early experience. In 1990-91, he got through the BCCI examination “While it was a very challenging phase as a cricketer, I did want to make it big in Umpiring. I learned a lot from my seniors. I had been notorious as a player but mellowed down once he took to umpiring.”

His second innings in cricket took off after 1996. He became a regular in the Duleep Trophy and other national level tournaments. In 1999, he made his international debut in an Indian team comprising of Sachin, Sourav and Rahul “It was a start studded team and I did have butterflies in my stomach that day. I went on to enjoy my international stint officiating with the best in the umpiring world.”

He was inducted into the ICC Panel in 2008 and went on to officiate in four tests and 24 ODIs. His big moments in umpiring was when he officiated in both the ODI and T20 World Cup but he considers the biggest of them of all as being involved in Sachin’s greatest moments ‘Sachin scored 185 in my debut ODI match, I also umpired when he scored 175 against Australia and when he created the World Record with the one day double hundred against South Africa. I also officiated in Sachin’s last first class match.”

He says that travelling across the world gave him great insights into the different cultures and the mindset of people in different countries. “It helped me understand both the international players and my overseas umpiring colleagues better on the field.’

He did have his controversial moments as well. In the IPL, his decision against Ashwin did not go down well with Captain Dhoni. He was also the umpire when the match referree handed a two match suspension for slow over rate. There was another when he gave his father’s mentee Rahul Dravid out, controversially. But by and large he had a fairly successful three decades career as an umpire that had begun in 1987 at the KSCA.

In 2017, aged 60 he retired from all forms of the game having officiated in 100 first class matches. It had been a significant achievement for a man who managed to score only over a 100 runs in his Ranji career. Once he became a BCCI umpire, he began to consider this as a ‘full day’ in office “Even though I was employed with Syndicate Bank and they supported me right till the very end, I considered every match that I officiated in as my full day in office. Like elsewhere in cricket, every match is a new innings. In fact, for an umpire, every ball is important. Throughout my umpiring career, I would tell myself before every ball that this is the ball that really counts."

Following his retirement, he was appointed as the Head of Faculty for umpires and anchored the Level 1 and II education programmes for Umpires in India. 

Shahvir, who will turn 64 later this month, is still very active off the field having expanded his engagement with cricket after taking up the role of Honorary Joint Secretary of the KSCA where he works closely with his Ranji Teammates from the 1980s – Roger Binny and J Abhiram. He did not have anything to write home about as a player in the 1980s but he had the resolve and the mental strength to come back strong in his second innings in cricket. Three decades is a long time for someone to be officiating as an umpire for it is a hard grind both to be standing in the hot sun day in day out as well as the amount of travelling that is required. But Shahvir had the two Ps in him – Passion and Patience as well as the Communication skill that are such important qualities for an umpire. 

It has been a very satisfying, fruitful and enjoyable second innings in cricket for Shahvir.