My goal is to play till age of 90 & Secure World Record
Cricket, O! Cricket. The gentleman’s game. Second most popular sport worldwide. Requires lots of agility, athleticism, mental strength, physical fitness. Circa 1957! THE HINDU, was publish
ing a weekly sports magazine. Sport & Pastime. A fantastic compendium of articles of different sports played during those years and all pictures in Black & White that in itself was eye catching!
My Pastime after school was this, Sport. My voracious reading habit developed. I give entire credit to this magazine for making me an outdoor sportsman.
I Had Already Become a Fast Bowler!!
1960.. Brabourne Cricket Stadium. Bombay India vs Pakistan test series. A Budding cricketer in the stands fully absorbed. Fast bowlers raise the hackles on the nape of my neck! Same year I became a resident of Def Col.
I began winning countless awards in athletics, while honing my bowling skills. In 1965 I joined Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Lodhi Estate. I got to read in school library lots of autobiography books. I coached myself recalling pictures of actions by bowlers. In 1967 & 68 we were two times Delhi interschool champions. Every Monday my name appeared in Times of India & Hindustan Times for consistency in taking wickets and winning awards. 1968 I joined Regional Engg College, Tiruchirapalli, Univ Of Madras, Tamilnadu.. played two years of tournament, won BEST BOWLER Awards. Was elected To the District. Won Best Bowler, Best All Rounder & Most Promising Youngster Award ..’73 and left for post-graduation to USA.
My passion never let up. In USA for 5 yrs my outdoor sport was primarily tennis!
I kept up the hard self-coaching work with high quality practice sessions. Before every game, while with North India’s then largest corporate company, I put pressure on myself, motivated my teammates around me which made it so much easier in winning tournament matches in Delhi & Mumbai.
Icing on the cake was in 1989-90, for two years I was Cricket Team Manager For Escorts Sports Club and under me were Kapil Dev, Raman Lamba, Manoj Prabhakar, Chetan Sharma, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Jadeja, Hitesh Sharma, Ajay Mehra, Rajesh Puri, Vinay Dutt Sharma (Current A Block Resident), Vinay Yadav, Naveen Negi, Vijay Yadav & Other Haryana, Delhi Univ potentials. In 1988, I was blessed to be (got their autographs too) sitting with Sir Edmund Hillary first Mt. Everest climber, then New Zealand Ambassador to India, Richard Hadlee then world’s best all-rounder and others.
My passion for the game burns bright even today. Since 2013, I played in various NCR tourneys, have won so many awards and keep getting wickets. I open the attack even today.
I am 73 young. Hold National Record of Seniormost Still Playing (even among Still Alive retired India level, who don’t play) Cricketer. My goal is to play till age of 90 and Secure World Record. I seek blessings of all readers.
