Brabourne Stadium: down memory lane

On Wednesday morning I saw on TV, MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara walk out for the toss at the Brabourne Stadium at the third Test and my mind was transported back to 1956!

It was in 1956 that I was first introduced to Test cricket. I was barely 12 years old and had no clue whatsoever as to what Test cricket really was about. Although, like all Mumbaikar children, I too played cricket, mostly with a tennis ball or even a ball made out of rags, I had never seen a Ranji Trophy match, let alone a Test.

In 1956, the Australians had come to India, under the captaincy of Ian Johnson, on their way back home from England. My cousin had got three tickets for the match - for himself, his wife and his younger brother. As the younger brother was taken ill, I got the chance to go for the Test.

When we got to the ground, I was completely dumbfounded. I had never imagined so many people could congregate in the same place and at the same time. The noise was unbelievable. Our seats were in the East Stand, in those days, comparable to SCG’s The Hill! We had to barge our way through the crowds to find three empty seats (no reserved seats in the East Stand then). By the time we sat down, the match had already started.

We were so far away from the middle that it was difficult to make out who was fielding and who was batting. My knowledge of cricket was marginally better than that of my cousin, in the sense that I knew that in cricket they score runs and not points! Every player was in resplendent white clothing, though I had no idea who was who. I remember seeing these two tall fellows, running towards the stumps, waving their arms and finally bowling the ball, which I swear, I never saw, until it was being passed from hand to hand, back to the bowler. I learned later that those two tall fellows were Ray Lindwall and Pat Crawford.

As my cousin’s younger brother recovered from his illness, the next day, the first day of that Test match was all I could see. But that was enough to convert me into a total cricket addict. After that I had a chance to Tests against West Indies, Pakistan and finally an inter-collegiate final between Ruia (my college) & Siddhartha College. The rivalry between these two Mumbai colleges was no less fervent than that between England & Australia.

After the establishment of the Wankhede Stadium, the Brabourne sort of faded in the background, but not in my mind. Even today, some memories of those matches are as fresh in my mind as if they happened yesterday. Some memories do stand out among a host of others. The fearsome West Indian duo of Wes Hall and Roy Gilchrist running in to bowl and then ending up within hand-shaking distance of the batsman.

In one of the matches, Garry Sobers was batting, hitting the ball to all corners of the ground. Polly Umrigar, the Indian captain went up to Ghulam Guard, the bowler and had a word with him. A couple of balls later Guard sent down a bouncer at Sobers. Before anybody realized what was happening, the ball was sailing into the middle of the crowd in the East Stand. That was the first time I saw a hook played off the front foot!

Then there was the sensational announcement in the press that an Indian actress, Anju Mahendru, relatively unknown at that time, had got engaged to Sobers. As a publicity stunt, I don’t think, it has been bettered, yet!

Then, in a Test against Pakistan, at the fall of the first wicket, as the No. 3 batsman was walking up to the wicket, a gentleman in front of me, stood up and started clapping enthusiastically, welcoming Hanif Mohamed to the crease. Only Hanif was not even playing in the match!

Oh, memories, memories! To add to all those, Thursday I collected another treasure. That was the sight of Virender Sehwag, marching towards his third triple century. The only difference this time was, though Sehwag was on the hallowed and my beloved turf of the Brabourne Stadium, I was thousands of miles away in London. May be, my body was in front of the TV, in the sitting room. But my spirit was most definitely behind the bowlers arm in the North Stand. An unforgettable experience, indeed!