Legendary cricketer Farokh Engineer, who was one of Indian cricket's original glamour boys, redefined cool with his charisma wicket-keeping and debonair batsmanship in his playing days.

Now, Engineer has become the 80-year old and seems to remain a bit of regret for unheeded accomplishments, a longing for Mumbai, a need to return 'home' and a realization that he has lived his life, in essence, as an outcast.

During a cup of tea as rain pelts Birmingham, Farokh Engineer told TOI, "Outcast? That's too strong a word. I first came to England in 1966. My Lancashire stint started in 1968. I stayed on. They wanted me to. Yet if you ask me if I would embrace India or England, I would proudly say India. I have retained my Indian nationality and passport. My soul is Indian."

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Before settled on Lancashire, Engineer had offers from Worcestershire, Somerset, and Hampshire and he eventually made Manchester his home. He was one of the first Indians to play as a professional in county cricket. Farokh further added, "I couldn't resist the prospect of keeping to the furious Brain Statham. Garry Sobers was in talks too but he and Lancashire agreed to disagree. Then Clive (Lloyd) came in and we had a remarkable time. They just wouldn't let me go. They gave me three-year-contracts. At that time I would also play all Ranji games, all Duleep Trophy matches."

He stayed there after 1976, bought a house in Cheshire and started a business - export of textiles for the Caribbean - and he became English for all intents and purposes. He added, "I get the feeling India cricket kind of forgot me. I kept wanting to go back, but the price of property kept going up in Mumbai."

Farokh was seen disappointing while he said that he had never, ever got a coaching offer from India. He though, reveals that he worked with MS Dhoni on a few things with his wicket-keeping.

He further added, "Sadly, I have never, ever got a coaching offer from India, though MS Dhoni himself came to me early in his career and we worked on a few things with his 'keeping. Some of the coaches I see there aren't exactly top grade. I am appalled the CK Nayudu award has eluded me and gone to Padmakar Shivalkar and Rajinder Goel. All respect to them, but they didn't play Test cricket."

Engineer reveals that he lost all his money sometime in the early 1990s when the Bank of Credit and Commerce collapsed. He added, "I lost a million pounds in a day. It was a difficult time. I had to come to terms with it. My business collapsed. My lifestyle changed. But I recovered from that too. That's life."

He further reveals that he and MAK Pataudi are the only players to have not got a benefit match in Sharjah. 

Engineer added, "We got a one-time payment, and people confuse the two. I get the BCCI pension, of course, around 300 pounds a month, and I'm grateful. But that's not the point. Why weren't my cricketing talents better used by India? I was the only Indian in the Rest of the World XI at that time."

These days, Farokh Engineer was usually seen as a commentator or TV pundit. So has Indian cricket made him feel like a pariah? He replied, "Yes. But I'm Indian, you know. I just stay here."