ODISHA CRICKET THEN AND NOW

ODISHA CRICKET THEN AND NOW:

Playing any game or participating in sports or drama was never encouraged by the parents or the teachers in the earlier days .The reason being you get hardly anything out of it except for  the love for the game.

Let’s first go to the Kalahandi Cup tournament which selects the state team. This was a inter district tournament consisting of district teams plus few important clubs of Odisha and Bhubaneswar. Teams of Paralakehemundi, Rourkela Steel Plant, Sunrise club Cuttack, Misfit Club Bhubaneswar were given special status to participate in this prestigious tournament of Odisha (Orissa),no news coverage except those which were played at Cuttack that too few lines. The worst part was the matches were played on matting wickets where as Ranji Trophy on turf wickets. I remember a match at Sundargarh, where the pitch length was 24 yards instead of 22, just to neutralize the fast bowling effect of Babu Rao. This fast bowler who earlier played for Bihar and Indian schools was frighteningly fast with a suspect action (now it would have been legal action). He was playing for RSP team. The jute mat over the years got stretched which no one bothered to check. The width too was reduced to 4 feet instead of six feet. Playing conditions were horrible. The staying facilities during this tournament where ever it may be were of cattle class still then young people were very much interested just to play against state players and to get a certificate from Orissa Cricket Association. There were strict rules, if someone does not play in this tournament he would not be selected for the state team. An interesting incident did happen during that year. During this Kalahandi Cup tournament, at Sundargarh one canteen was entrusted to give free meals to the players like today’s MDM. One team which had lost its match and was supposed to leave next day finished the evening dinner which was meant for three teams. After the other two teams came out of the cinema hall they found that the restaurant has been closed. They met the organizers who with lots of difficulty arranged some stale slice bread and some vegetable curry. The next day the owner was called by the DM for explanation. He said “sir, it will not be possible to provide 24 Roti to each player with a sanctioned amount of six rupees”. The DM laughed, by then that team had left for its destination.  The RSP team was allotted one newly constructed town hall building without any lavatory facilities to stay. If one was not careful to close the doors, then coming to the room after the match, one would find a snake or a country dog in one’s bed. The whole team was asked to sleep on the floor. To be continued…….