Memories of the gentleman's game

This picture was taken in 1963 in Bengaluru at the St Joseph Boys’ High School grounds, adjacent to Mallya Hospital. Seen in the picture is myself along with the members of Bangalore Cricketer’s Team that was formed in 1946.

This photograph was taken when the team won the ‘Sir Mirza Ismail Shield’, which we bagged consecutively for nine years. The team had many victories to its credit, including the ‘YSR Memorial Cricket Shield’, won consecutively for eight years.

G Kasturirangan captained the team and he did well to helm it to victory on many an occasion. There were seven Ranji players in the team and as the captain, Kasturirangan carefully identified our strengths and abilities and encouraged us no end. He mingled well with everybody. But for him, we would not have played as much cricket. Today, Kasturirangan is 86 years old and continues to be actively involved in various capacities with the Bangalore Cricketer’s Team and is also instrumental in encouraging young players. 
   
Most of the members of the team went on to become engineers. Among them was S Natarajan, who played for Karnataka (then known as Mysore) and Madras. He was one of the best batsmen and bowlers of our team. Then came K R Prasad, who is my younger brother. He too played some exceptional cricket even when he was working with The Sanmar Group in Madras.

Among the other notable players in the team was N Sadashivan, who also had the additional responsibility of analysing the team’s work flow and was, in many ways, responsible for the team wining many matches. An off spinner and batsman, he was working with IBM. K G Suresh, another player, held a good position in BEL and was a medium fast bowler and prominent batsman. A K Chakravarthy was a left arm spinner.

 The fastest bowler in the team was H T Bhaskar Rao, who also had good batting abilities. He represented both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in several matches. Anantharam was also one of the best fielders of our team.M R Sridhar was a good off spinner and B V Venkatadri was our opening batsman. 

We have all moved in different directions and have done well for ourselves in our respective professions but our love for cricket still remains strong. We were never paid for the matches that we played but we continued to play for the love of the game and practised very hard to steer the team to victory on several occasions. We would be paid only Rs 25 when we played for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) matches. What led us forward was our true passion for the game, giving everything but expecting nothing in return.

My love for cricket, in fact, began in school. I started playing cricket in 1952, when I was in class nine in Bangalore High School and was in the school team the next year. This passion continued into my pre-university years where I was selected to play for the inter-varsity team, and later into my undergraduate days at National College in Basavanagudi.
I also played for the state junior team as well as the Ranji team but missed being selected for the Indian cricket team in 1967 under the captaincy of the Nawab of
Pataudi.

We held our practice sessions on a ground near Madhavan Park in South End Circle. In those days, we didn’t have money to catch a bus or an auto, so we used to cycle our way to wherever we wanted to go.

We had no safety gear like the cricketers of today. Our team had three pairs of leg guards (without buckles) and a pair of hand gloves but no face masks. All of us were injured a couple of times but we never bothered about it and moved on. Although we have come up the hard way, we’ve enjoyed being associated with the sport.

We would sometimes hold our practice sessions at Vokkaliga Sanga grounds near South End Circle.

We would carry a coir mat, nail it to the ground and use it as a pitch. After practice, we would all go to a restaurant (I don’t recall the name) near South End Circle and share a coffee and masala dosa for four ‘annas’ and two ‘idlis’ for two ‘annas’.

I am 77 years old today and my love for cricket is also shared by my wife P Indira and daughters Roopa and Deepa (both are engineers who are now married and settled in the US).

Today, the game of cricket has become very commercial and has taken on different variations such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), which I feel is just entertainment and a crowd puller rather than real cricket.

I would advise aspiring cricketers to work hard with dedication, determination, concentration and application which are the main qualities required to attain success in the game.

K R Rajagopal
(As told to Nina C George) (Rajagopal can be reached on 26691200.)