Obituary by Abdulrazak Fazal
Marhum Iqbal Jaffer Damji (Bali)
1950-1993
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 reproaches to me would be, “When is my profile coming up?” I then used to scribe profiles for the itty-bitty Union Sports Club. I would retort: “You have the misfortune of hailing from my lineage, sorry, no profile.” Sadly, I am writing an obituary for Bali now. How tragic!
I had the 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 a tennis ball. I would also take him to Mnazi Mmoja and Khalifa grounds during matches to acquaint him with the Zanzibar cricket scene.
He used to be amazed by 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 had passed his peak. He had left for further studies in the United Kingdom, where he played for his school. Thereafter, he joined the family business in Karachi, Pakistan, where he played at the club level.
He re-emerged on the Dar es Salaam 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 Jafferies, 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 leg guards, 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 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 Gunn & Moore bat of his liking.
It was Bali who had introduced the Imran Khan hat on the Dar es Salaam 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, the UAE and South Africa.
One incident that he never tended to forget, and about which he even mocked himself, was dropping 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 11th 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 Dar es Salaam scene. USC will miss a great member. He was on their Management Committee for a number of years and also represented them at the Dar es Salaam Cricket Association (DCA).
May Allah SWT repose the departed soul in the abundance of His mercy and rest him amongst the chosen ones – Aameen. We request our readers to remember marhum and all the Marhumeen with Sura-e-Fateha.
