Terrific officials right from SK Wankhede!

To see the Wankhede Stadium complete 50 years makes the chest swell with pride. Mumbai cricket was the mother that brought me into the game and gave me the initial opportunities to grow my game and develop it further. God bless the Association administrators

It was at a reception for the Indian and visiting England team of 1972-73 at the Taj Hotel in Colaba that I first heard that Bombay (as Mumbai was called then) was going to get another cricket stadium. 

The late Shri SK Wankhede, who was the President of the Bombay Cricket Association, came to Ajit Wadekar, the captain and told him that the next Test match in Bombay would be at the new stadium built by the Bombay Cricket Association. Wadekar, laconic as always, drawled ‘Where?’ To which Wankhede saheb replied with a laugh ‘not too far away from here.’

Ajit, who had a dry sense of humour, waited for Wankhede saheb to go meet others at the reception before turning to Eknath Solkar and me and asking, ‘hope you guys know swimming.’ Both of us looked quizzically at him to which he added, ‘not far from here means the sea, no? Where’s the place in Mumbai near here for 
a stadium?’

Birth of a stadium 

What Ajit probably did not know at the time was that there was a big plot of land between the Bombay University Ground and the Bombay Hockey Association ground which was vacant and unused. Shri Wankhede was going to build a stadium there. 

SK Wankhede

Being the powerful Finance Minister of the Maharashtra Government then, he was able to get all the necessary permissions and lo and behold, within a year and a half, a stadium did come up there. Shashi Prabhu, the architect, did a marvellous job and Mumbai’s cricketers had a ‘home ground’ at last.

Over the years there have been many changes to the ground and every change has added something special to make this ground a truly iconic ground, so aptly and deservedly named after Shri Wankhede. 

Before that, the Mumbai Cricket Association office used to work from a dingy ground floor area below the North Stand of the Brabourne Stadium that belonged to a private club, Cricket Club of India. The BCCI offices were also on the same side, but on the first floor. To climb those narrow stairs, to collect the gear and papers for a tour, was an exercise in itself.

All that has now changed and both the MCA and the BCCI have swanky offices at the Wankhede Stadium, as befits the Rajas of Indian cricket and Maharajas of world cricket, respectively.  

To see the Wankhede Stadium complete 50 years makes the chest swell with pride. Mumbai cricket was the mother that brought me into the game and gave me the initial opportunities to grow my game and develop it further. It gave me the basics and the grounding and the understanding that nobody is bigger than the game. 

Travelling by local train for the matches alongside so many other cricketers playing for different clubs made one understand the importance of never taking one’s place in the team for granted. That if one was pushing and shoving to get into the train and somehow managing to stand dangerously outside the train’s doors, then when one reached the ground, one had to make sure that all that effort taken to get there was worthwhile. 

So if one got a fifty, then go for a hundred, and from there to another 50, and another, and so on. If a bowler got wickets then he simply didn’t ask for a break but kept on bowling till his captain gave him a breather. That’s what ‘khadoos’ means. Never giving up even during tough situations and never giving an inch to the opposition. A Mumbai cricketer knew that there was always someone waiting to take his place. So complacency was the last thing that a Mumbai player could be accused of.

MCA deserves credit

The Mumbai Cricket Association officials are rarely given credit for the way they have run the game over the years. There have been some terrific officials starting from Shri Wankhede himself, Prof MV Chandgadkar, RJ Gharat, Polly Bhesania, Rashid Kudrolii, VB Prabhudesai, SV Kadam, Bal Mahaddalkar, Hemant Waingankar, Prof Shetty from the time that I was a player. 

There were former players like LP Jai, Khandu Rangnekar (whose humorous speeches at the annual Bombay Cricket Awards were always something to look forward to), Madhav Mantri, Polly Umrigar, Bapu Nadkarni, Ramakant Desai, Naren Tamhane, Sharad Diwadkar and Ajit Wadekar too after retirement manned the office bearers hats and brought great glory and dignity to their chairs. 

That trend has continued with Dilip Vengsarkar, Milind Rege and Lalchand Rajput to name just a few whose love for Mumbai cricket and its development knows no bounds. Mumbai cricket continues to be blessed by officials who only have the betterment and development of Mumbai cricket at heart. God bless them.

 Of course, I haven’t forgotten Sharad Pawarsaheb. He was the first to introduce the Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC), where former cricketers were given the task of suggesting the improvements and vision for Mumbai cricket. 

This committee took all cricketing decisions much to the chagrin of the elected Managing committee but Pawarsaheb knew that the CIC decisions would be only for the benefit of Mumbai cricket with no club politics involved. 

It was a master stroke and then the BCCI adopted it in a limited extent with the CAC. Most other state associations are now having their own CICs, but as always Mumbai Cricket Association led the way. 

Make no mistake, the IPL would never have taken off under any other BCCI President than Pawarsaheb. No other President would have contemplated a challenge to their power over their state units coming through the franchise owners. 

The contributions of the clubs in Mumbai cricket cannot be overlooked and the way lots of club owners spend money from their own pockets is something to admire and speaks of their love for the game.

A big shout-out 

The coaches, consultants and umpires who strove morning and evening in rain and sunshine, the groundsmen in the maidans and Gymkhanas, the scorers and the media that reports every single game have made Mumbai cricket the giant it is.

Wankhede Stadium’s Golden Jubilee celebrations began last Sunday, and will wrap up  today. It will be another occasion to cherish for all those who in their own way have made Mumbai cricket the best in the business.

Professional Management Group

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