Terrific officials right from SK Wankhede!

It was at a reception for the Indian and visiting England team of 197273 at the Taj Hotel in Colaba that I first heard that Bombay as Mumbai was called then was going to get another cricket stadiumThe 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 lsquoWherersquo To which Wankhede saheb replied with a laugh lsquonot too far away from herersquoAjit 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 lsquohope you guys know swimmingrsquo Both of us looked quizzically at him to which he added lsquonot far from here means the sea no Wherersquos the place in Mumbai near here fora stadiumrsquoBirth of a stadiumWhat 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 thereSK WankhedeBeing 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 Mumbairsquos cricketers had a lsquohome groundrsquo at lastOver 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 WankhedeBefore 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 itselfAll 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 gameTravelling by local train for the matches alongside so many other cricketers playing for different clubs made one understand the importance of never taking onersquos 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 trainrsquos doors then when one reached the ground one had to make sure that all that effort taken to get there was worthwhileSo 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 didnrsquot ask for a break but kept on bowling till his captain gave him a breather Thatrsquos what lsquokhadoosrsquo 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 ofMCA deserves creditThe 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 playerThere 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 chairsThat 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 themOf course I havenrsquot 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 cricketThis 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 involvedIt 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 wayMake 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 ownersThe 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 gameA big shoutoutThe 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 isWankhede Stadiumrsquos 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 businessProfessional Management Group