TRIBUTE TO BALI- 17^th June,1993-The Express  

Iqbal Jaffer Damji or ‘BALI’ as he was known to one and all was a charismatic fellow. He was magnanimity personified. With his amiable nature and captivating smile he impressed everyone and never let anyone down.

One of his casual reproach to me would be; “When is my profile coming up?” I then used to scribe profiles for itty-bitty of Union Sports Club. I would retort: “You have the misfortune of hailing from my lineage, sorry, no profile.” Sadly I am writing an obituary

now for Bali. How tragic!

  

  

 

  Iqbal J. Damji (Bali)

I had this honour of injecting cricket sense into him way back in the 1950s when we were tots. We would block up the gully at Hurumzi in Zanzibar banging  tennis ball. I would also pull him to Mnazimoja and Khalifa grounds during matches to acquaint him with the Zanzibar cricket scene.

He used to be amazed with my craze for international cricket and would look with bewilderment at me as I tuned to cricket commentaries. He was generating interest in the game and was soon to develop into a first class cricketer. With his style and footwork the talent was foreseeable in him. I can vividly recall Agha Ahmed Jaffer, the youngest of the famed Jaffer brothers, telling us that he would grow to become a fine cricketer.

A fine cricketer he became indeed and besides being Head Prefect for Shaban Robert Secondary School in the 1960s he even captained their school cricket team which boasted of stalwarts Taher Amiji and Pranlal Divecha.

It is rather unfortunate that his cricket with the local scene gets mostly associated with the period after he was past his peak. He had left for further studies to the United Kingdom where he played for his school. Thereafter he joined the family business in Karachi, Pakistan where he played at club level.

He re-emerged on the Daressalaam scene in the 1980s and donned Union Sports Club colours. He opened their innings for several years. As usual he was stylish with a perfect forward movement. In fact he was a better bowler than a batsman and used to open the attack for Karachi Jaffries but this talent of his never got exploited on the local scene.

In the later phase his batting had somewhat slowed down and he had the tendency to prolong his innings. During my tenure as USC’s Selection Committee Member I had once remarked to him: “If you score 20 runs in 15 overs in a 30 overs game it is no good.” With confidence he countered back: “Wait, I’ll show you in my next innings.” He went on to record a fluent 51 in mere 11 overs hitting 7 boundaries in his following innings against Kinondoni at their ground.

On his way back to the pavilion he gave me a cunning look. After taking off his laggards he rushed towards me asking: “How was it? Didn’t I tell you?” I was speechless.

Handsome and somewhat short in stature, Bali was always smartly dressed and acquired the the latest in cricket fashion. In 1985 I happened to be with him in London and we had to make a round of sports shops to procure the flannels and GM bat of his liking.

It was Bali who had introduced the Imran hat on the Daressalaam scene and later distributed scores of them to his Union colleagues.

Bali was a jolly good fellow and the darling of his Union mates. They would crave for his company and he made the most ideal companion on Union’s various tours to Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, UAE and South Africa.

One incident that he never tended to forget and about which he even mocked at himself was dropping on the boundary line a dolly catch of Burhani’s Zulfikar Yusufali who was in the initial stages of his innings. Zulfikar and Kutbuddin shared over a hundred runs partnership and Burhani went on to win the game. Poor Bali always repented that miss.

Bali was popular with the children as well as elderly people. While fielding on the boundary line or adjusting his hat the crowd could be heard chanting “Bali, Bali…..”

Alas he remains no more!

He died of a heart attack on Friday, the 11^th of June at the age of 43. He leaves behind his aged father, wife and three children.

It was his popularity which thrived ‘Jambo Inn’, the restaurant where he introduced Pakistani cuisine. Sadly his own ‘Balis’ along the Burhani ground is yet to flourish. Destiny struck. God disposes what man proposes.

Indeed Bali will be missed a great deal on the Daressalaam scene. USC will miss a great member. He was on their Management Committee for a number of years and also represented them at the Daressalaam Cricket Association.