Category: Cricket Stories

We had a fantastic conversation with C.D. Gopinath, now, 87 years old. He is the only surviving member of the Indian team that won the test match against English in 1951-52, India’s first ever test win, in Madras (now, Chennai). He shared few anecdotes.

“My favourite stroke was ‘square cut’, though it is a difficult stroke to play. During a tour match of England, my coach, Bert Wensley asked me not to play square cut because I mostly got out, while playing the stroke. For 2 matches, I did not play square cut. My coach was happy, but I was not. I appealed to him that I wanted to play square cut, since it gave me great pleasure. My coach agreed to let me play the stroke, but advised me not to play as opening batsman and put me further down in the batting order. I was very happy and agreed at once.

Seeing my love for cricket, my wife named our house in Coonoor “Cover Drive”.

Students
Eureka Schools, Koovathur
2018

We spoke to Lt. Col. Deepak Agashe(Retd.), the General Manager of Deccan Gymkhana. He showed us an interesting document on the life of the Late Mr. B.N. Bhajekar. Some things we learnt:

Mr. Bandopat Bhajekar started the Poona Young Men’s Cricket Club along with his brother,Mr. L.R Bhajekar and Mr.Keshaorao Puranik in the early 1880’s and from their arduous work, developed it into the Deccan Gymkhana club.

Mr. Bhajekar also made great efforts to raise the necessary funds to develop the P J Hindu Gymkhana club in Bombay. His ambition was to raise Indian cricket to the level of English cricket during the colonial period.

Preetika Sastry and Suniti Khurana

The Orchid School

Pune

I played cricket every day for 8 years before I began working. I’ve been playing since I was around 8. I was eager to get back into playing cricket when I moved to Australia in 2015. I was introduced to a cricket group through a work colleague and in my first year with them, I was mostly the 12th man and a substitute. Cricket in Australia is far more organised than it is in India. You have be part of a cricket club which in turn requires to be part of an Association. All of this was new to me and I busy trying to make sense of this all.

In the 2016-2017 season I was a regular for the club which was aptly named Never Too Late Cricket Club. The group was made up of all age groups. We were a band of cricket enthusiasts who still wanted to keep as fit as possible while enjoying the game we loved.

This season was the highlight for the club. We lost only one game. In the semis, we played the defending champions who we had beaten quite comprehensively in the last league game with me taking 6 for 22 in 15 overs. That may had a role to play when we faced them again in the semis and we got them all out for 100 and me with figures of 4 for 32 in 14 overs. We faced our arch rivals in the grand finals and over the two days we ended up winning quite comfortably. We had done it!! We were champions in Division 3 of the Churches and Community Cricket Association.

My personal contribution saw me finish with 21 wickets at an Average of 11.57 in 10 games handing me the Best Bowler for the Club that year. It has since been 2 years and the fire to play still rages. I started playing indoor cricket. During the winters I play a T20 tournament, apart from trying my feet at football. Cricket is a sport I love to play, and am self taught. Considering that, I am very happy that I can hold my own when I play against professionals. I wish to continue to contribute in whatever possible to the sport and aspire to keep playing, health permitting.

Samir Varkey

Adelaide

2016

The incident dates back to an afternoon almost 2 decades ago. We rode through the heavily congested lanes of Chhawni – the ever so crowded markets of Indore, towards the Holkar stadium and just a couple of lanes before, turned in and parked. We entered an old house and a young man, in his early 30s greeted us. My uncle seemed to know him well. “I’ll tell Baba you are here”, he said and went inside.

I looked around the hall and was amazed by the number of trophies, silverware, medals, and photographs. I fixed my eyes on a photograph which read – ‘Syed Mushtaq Ali being honored with the Padma Shri’. I was awestruck – A tall, dashing man entered the hall and we all stood up – it was Him. One of the most aggressive, swashbuckling batsman the country had seen, and He oozed every bit of those qualities. His finesse and mannerism was remarkable, epitomizing what a sportsperson is made up. After a brief catchup, my Uncle introduced me to Sir – ‘He has recently started playing for his school team and wants to be an Indian cricketer’. I got up and touched his feet. He asked me what I enjoyed doing the most. And like most kids of the 90s, pat came the reply, “Mujhe Sachin banna hai”.

He walked us around the awards and the memories, intently talking about the hard work and struggle, over a cup of chai. We then asked for his permission to leave. I distinctly remember his neatly organized leather briefcasefrom which He took out a photograph and autographed it for me.

I hopped onto the Chetak, sandwiched between my Father and Uncle, as we rode back through the bustling lanes of Indore, smitten with an unforgettable afternoon.

Vasu Agarwal

Visual Artist

Indore, 1999

I was on my bike at a traffic signal. There was a Mercedez ahead of me. As I edged to the side of the car – I saw Dhoni in the passenger seat! No tinted glass, nothing. He signaled to be quiet as it was rush hour, and we could have caused a jam. I agreed….but then…couldn’t resist asking him for just photo. He rolled down his window, and using my very simple phone, I took a pic of him, with me stretching from my bike. I got to say this much to him, ‘Sir, aap jo bhi kar rahein ho, wo bahut acchhe kar rahein ho’.

Dr. Rajas Nitsure

Ayurveda Practitioner

Pune