Test Match

The year was 1964, the season, winter. The best of climates in Calcutta. No sweltering sun, no torrential rains and a definite “nip” in the air. The Siberian cranes along with other feathered friends were flying hundreds of miles to their winter abode- Calcutta.

This year, we had some non-feathered guests also, the M.C.C team led by M.J.K. Smith. The English side was coming here to play one match of the Test Series. Among their stars were Colin Cowdrey, Ken Barrington and John Edrich.

India was being led by Mansur Ali Khan aka Nawab of Pataudi. The team had an array of celebrities, Polly Umrigar, Dilip Sardesai, Chandu Borde, Farrokh Engineer, E.A.S. Prassanna, Ramakanth Desai, Salim Durrani and M.L. Jaisimha.

Then, a boy of class IV and an avid follower of any sports, be it cricket, football, table tennis or athletics, I was a regular subscriber to Sport & Pastime. Dutifully full page portraits and action photos of my divas were cut out meticulously and pasted in my scrap book. The very mention of their names turned me starry-eyed!

Imagine then, the excitement in this young mind when I was told that I would go to the hallowed Eden Gardens to witness the opening day’s play of the Calcutta test match! As expected, I could hardly sleep the whole night. Aseshdada, my friend, philosopher and guide (all of three years my senior) came to our home to escort me.

The teeming multitude of people slowly making its way towards the galleries was by itself, awesome. The stadium was covered with tarpaulin and bedecked with festoons and hoardings of Boroline, K.C. Das, Vicks Vaporub etc. Young boys were distributing colourful vizors and tiny score cards, and I helped myself to a few of both. The experience of moving in that sea of humanity was one of its kind; colours of all shades were around me, so were lunch baskets, haversacks, water bottles, binoculars. You name it, it was definitely there!

We went in after our tickets had been verified and climbed a few steps to occupy our allotted seats. As they were all numbered I wondered how far number 1 would be from 70,000!

The players were practising on the field. I peered through my binoculars and could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted some of my idols!

After half-an-hour or so, I asked my escort, “How long will they practise? Won’t the match start?”

He stared at me in stark horror, which could not be misinterpreted. “The match is going on. It had started a couple of minutes before we even took our seats.”

So much for being a budding sports buff!