Former cricketers missing for historic Brabourne Test

Having seen a lot of international matches from the Cricket Club of India (CCI) pavilion, mainly one-dayers, one was bitterly disappointed not to see the famous names in the game not making their presence in the CCI President's Box.

Former cricketers missing for historic Brabourne Test

The former cricketers one saw in the adjoining BCCI President's Box were former CCI president Madhav Apte, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Chandrakant Pandit and Balwinder Singh Sandhu. As an old-timer sighed: "If Rajbhai (Dungarpur) would have been here, the boxes would have been flooding with the who's who of Indian cricket."

Though most of the famous names of yesteryear kept themselves away from the CCI President's Box, the suite entertained four national selectors Surendra Bhave, Raja Venkat, Narendra Hirwani and the irrepressible K Srikkanth who watched the proceedings in a relaxed manner before they went to the BCCI headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium to join Yashpal Sharma to pick the squad for the coming Twenty20s and one-dayers.
At least someone made it to the CCI President's Box!

Sardee times
Old-timers watching the return of the real thing at the real venue were reminiscing of the good old days of watching Test cricket comfortably. A member recounted Dilip Sardesai's splendid double century against New Zealand in 1964, describing his fluent shots as if they were played just a few days ago.

Sach an aura
Even if Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth were bowling their hearts out, CCI members had their eyes glued on one man Sachin Tendulkar just like the crowds in the East and West stands. As the master batsman who made his A League cricket debut for CCI prepares to sparkle his home crowd, a member expressed feelings of most of them when he said, "Boss, I am going to have Goosebumps when Sachin walks out to bat tomorrow."

Home of cricket
If any cricket buff wants to soak in the history of Indian cricket, a visit to the CCI pavilion is a must. Entering the clubhouse is like going back in time almost like a trip down to the annals of Indian cricket one is immediately greeted by portraits and pictures of famous Indian cricketers from KS Ranjitsinhji to Sachin Tendulkar. The walls of the clubhouse reflect the glory of Indian cricket with rare pictures of the achievers, besides momentous occasions like Anil Kumble's 10-wicket haul in a Test innings. There's a restaurant named after Polly Umrigar and spacious suites named after Vijay Hazare, Nawab of Pataudi, Vinoo Mankad and Lala Amarnath. Small wonder that the CCI is called the home of Indian cricket.

Wet Wicket
CCI officials were inundated with questions about the wicket. The moisture on the morning of the match started off a buzz in the pavilion with members asking one another "Will it turn? Will it last five days? and the centre wicket has not been used for a while nowu00e2u0080u00a6" and ending with the perennial "soo laage chhe (what do you think)?"

The best quip one heard was from a senior member, who said tongue firmly in cheek: "The only predictable wicket at CCI is the Wet Wicket the bar."

Hemant Kenkre is a former CCI captain, who led Sachin Tendulkar in 1987.

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