Lockdown woes: Cricket autographs collector Anil misses his Wankhede trips

With Coronavirus forcing cricket to be played in a biosecure bubble and behind closed doors avid autograph collectors like Anil Karkhanis are left high and dry in the new normalKarkhanis 72 who has been hunting for autographs of cricketers since he was 15 has been confined to his Thane home for over a year now due to the Covid19 pandemicBefore Coronavirus struck Karkhanis would be spotted wherever the action would be in Mumbai Be it an international or domestic match the diminutive Karkhanis would quietly wait outside the dressing rooms of Wankhede Stadium Cricket Club of India DY Patil Stadium or MCArsquos Bandra Kurla Complex ground The last autographs he managed to get were of Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan when they played for their respective office teams during the DY Patil T20 Cup just days before India went into a national lockdown in March last yearldquoI really miss going to the stadiums My family does not allow me to venture out too much for precautionary reasons due to Coronavirus I particularly missed my trips when the IPL matches were being conducted in MumbaiThere was no question of going to the Wankhede or wherever the teams were practising as they were anyway in a bubble So meeting them for an autograph was impossible The security would have been extratight as wellrdquo Karkhanis told middaycomKarkhanis followed his passion while working at Government Dental College Fort ldquoI hardly missed a match in Mumbai ever since I started collecting autographs I have never asked for any selfies with cricketers My only aim was to get their autograph I just love doing itrdquo Karkhanis saidHe boasts of possessing over 2000 autographs of cricketers His first one was of Khanderao lsquoKhandursquo Rangnekar who featured in Indiarsquos 194748 tour of Australia Karkhanis was 15 when he took the autographSir Don Bradmans autograph is Anil Karkhaniss prized possession to dateKarkhanisrsquo most cherished autograph is of the legendary Sir Don Bradman ldquoI got it after showing a lot of patience I first wrote to Cricket Australia who directed me to the South Australian Cricket Association SACA I did that and after four months I got a reply with Sir Donrsquos autograph It is quite pricelessrdquo Karkhanis saidItrsquos not that Karkhanis begins his chase once the cricketer is established He cherishes the fact that he got India skipper Virat Kohlirsquos autograph when he was representing the national U19 team ldquoThe India U19 team were put up at the Sea Green hotel on Marine Drive Churchgate I took his autograph thererdquo he recalledAutograph of India skipper Virat Kohli when he was playing in the national U19 teamLike everyone else Karkhanis too is hoping the pandemic ends soon so that he can get back to his favourite hobby