Finally, Test cricket comes to Nayudu’s home

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

indore, october 6

“Justice has been done to Indore,” says Amay Khurasiya, the left-handed batsman from Madhya Pradesh who played a thrilling brand of cricket but could play only 12 One-day matches for India. “Indore should have become a Test centre much earlier.” Two Indore men, Colonel CK Nayudu and Syed Mushtaq Ali, were the early batting stars of India. Both of them were extremely attacking batsmen and would have approved of Khurasiya, a swashbuckling batsman who could hit the ball to the roofs over the stands in the grounds he batted in.

Nayudu’s 153 and BCCI

Exactly 100 years ago, a few months short of 21 years, Nayudu made his first-class debut, for Hindus against Europeans in Bombay. Nayudu soon made himself known as a rare batting talent. Ten years after his debut, he played an innings that paved the way for India’s entry into Test cricket. On December 1, 1926, he smashed 11 sixers and 13 fours in an innings of 153 against MCC. That knock was a sign that Indian cricket was strong enough to form a national board, and BCCI was set up two years later, in 1928. When India played their first Test match, in 1932, Nayudu was the captain. Another Indore man, Mushtaq Ali, later made 112 in Manchester, the first overseas century by an Indian players

Justice delayed?

Before India became free, Indore was the capital of the Indore State, also called Holkar State. Between the 1944-45 and 1954-55 seasons, Holkar reached the Ranji Trophy final 10 times, and won four titles. What happened after that? Holkar became Madhya Pradesh, Nayudu and Ali retired, and Madhya Pradesh reached the Ranji Trophy final only once after that, in 1998-99. 

The princely states became irrelevant, and Indore, despite a rich history of cricket, too, lost its relevance. India’s early home Tests were confined to the metros; Kanpur and Lucknow in 1952 became the first non-metros to hold a Test.  Khurasiya believes Indore should have been made a Test venue before Kanpur. “Justice has been done to Kanpur, but we deserved to hold a Test match before Kanpur, we really should have been given a Test before Kanpur,” says Khurasiya. “I’m not comparing Indore with cities like Mumbai or Chennai. We’re not at that level. But our city is more deserving than, say, Kanpur. It’s a beautiful city, in terms of culture, people, governance and there is very low crime rate. The city has a great past and a great heritage. CK Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali were from here.” Indore produced some excellent cricketers after Nayudu and Ali but only one of them, Narendra Hirwani, had a significant career for India. 

Big names

Actor Salman Khan and Lata Mangeshkar were born in Indore. Kishore Kumar was born in Khandwa, 130km from here, but came to Indore for college. More relevantly for Test cricket, Rahul Dravid was born in Indore, though he played for Karnataka. It’s clear that Test cricket would be welcomed whole-heartedly by Indore and its residents. Yesterday, crowds braved rain to welcome the Indian and New Zealand teams to the city. “It was amazing,” said New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen. “People lined up the streets, and at some places the crowd was three persons deep. Today at the nets, we had a huge crowd, and they cheered the shots our players hit at practice.”

“One way you can make sure the game is popularised is by taking it to smaller centres where there is a lot of interest among the spectators to come and watch the game,” Sanjay Bangar, India’s batting coach, said today. “But if we have to continue to attract crowds to Test cricket, we need to make sure that on ground we provide them the best facilities... Be it drinking water, clean toilets, the entry and exit. We’ve seen that the crowds like to come and watch cricket.”

“It’s very good to have a Test match here,” says Khurasiya. “When we were growing up, we always loved Test cricket. So it’s a gift to the people of Madhya Pradesh, that the world’s top cricketers will be here for five days.”

Clean stadium

A word about the stadium — the best thing about it is that it’s in the city and easily approachable. The stands are clean and tidy, as are the toilets. The outfield is lush green, and the pitch is among the best in India, offering bounce to the pacers. It helps the swing and seam bowlers deep in the winter. The stands are named after India’s and this region’s great cricketers. The press box is named after journalist and editor Prabhash Joshi, who was born in Indore. Joshi loved cricket and had passed away soon after watching a match between India and Australia. Joshi, Nayudu and Ali would have been as delighted as Khurasiya is that Test cricket has come to their city.