Just as millions of people around the globe are cricket aficionados, so am I
My romance with the royal game started when I was barely 4 years of age and I proudly admit it continues till today when I am 71 although the game has become much more sophisticated and higher tech with its many formats.
In the sixties and seventies of the last century only 5 days two innings test cricket was played. My favorite test players were Nari Contractor, ML Jaisimaha, Poly Umrigar, Chandu Borde, Mansur Ali Khan Patuadi, Salim Durrani, Hanumant Singh, Farrokh Enginneer, and spin trio of Chander Shekahr, Parssana and Bedi while Bapu Nadkarni was magician of maiden overs.
I give credit to cricket for my command over English and Hindi languages because I used to intently listen running commentaries of five days test matches by the famous commentators.The commentary used to be broadcasted alternately on the radio in aforesaid two languages for five days.
Their flawless lucid language and pronunciation of the eminent commentators had greatly impacted my then impressionistic mind.
There are numerous anecdotes and reminiscences associated with the game that would be interesting to detail. Ours was the time of limited means and sometimes due to paucity of funds we would cut the condemned bicycle tubes to make rubber bands and would roll them over a paper giving it shape of a ball which would bounce, we drew coal lines on the wall to symbolize wickets and a small wood plank would be a handy bat.
It would now appear unbelievable that I played lot of mohalla cricket in the lanes and bye lanes of now bustling Azamal Khan Road (Karol Bagh) in fifties of last century.
Though I never played big cricket but I was always an important member of school and club cricket teams and was an opening bowler.
I was much ecstatic when I was in seventh class in 1962 in a Meerut school match, while I was bowling, our school Principal Mohan Lal Kapoor patted me with comments that you have very good line and length.
During Lions International Club conference at Delhi’s Subrato Park in 1997, a bearded Sikh gentleman came to me and asked me if I recognized him? On my negative reply, he reminded that his name was Gurmeet and we used to play cricket in Meerut adding that even after I had left Meerut my game was discussed in their parleys.
I was amazed that Gurmeet recognized me even after 32 years.
In seventies, the players from my office cricket team used to do net practice at Chandigarh’s Sector 16 cricket stadium for audit tournament where Haryana Ranji players like Kapil Dev, Ashok Malhotra, Ravinder Chadha and others used to come for practice which is how I often had the opportunity to bowl to them.
Once when I had entered into the grounds barefooted Kapil Dev had pointed out where my cricket shoes were and I had replied that they are in the kit bag of our captain Megh who has not yet reached the stadium.
How correct I was when pointing to Kapil Dev I had predicted to my friend Ravinder Arora that one day this boy would play for the Indian Cricket Team.
Even till the age of 45-46 years I used to play cricket for my Lions Club team and I still cherish the memory of my taking a hat trick when I clean bowled three batsmen in the last three balls of my allotted over in a friendly match with a local club. Once my teammates carried me around the S.D.College grounds on their shoulders when I had dismissed three IMA batsmen in an over when the later team was on the verge of a victory.
Match was crucial for them because our team had defeated them in earlier two matches.
Nearly a decade back, me and wife Sudha were waiting in a Chevrolet Car Showroom lounge for our car delivery when an elderly man walked to our table and simply whispered,“Mathur sahib your line and length was excellent.” Bewildered, Sudha asked me, “What is line and length?”