Mumbai cricket is a factory. The cradle of Indian cricket which produces unique products in every era. The best born in that cradle is the one and only Sachin Tendulkar. The batting legends produced by Mumbai in each era are the ones who dominated Indian cricket during those times. Without a doubt, Sachin would never have been able to reach the world stage at such a young age if he had not been born in a place like Mumbai.
Mumbai Cricket has the best governance system in the history of Indian sports. It is enough to look at their Ranji Trophy figures to see how far Mumbai is ahead of other teams. 44 finals played. Crowned 41 times. And 14 Irani Trophy wins. Good governance system, approach to cricket by emerging stars, bonding starting from school cricket. These are the factors that make Mumbai cricket feel like national cricket.
No one can claim the wealth of players and coaches that Mumbai cricket has. Vijay Merchant, Vinu Mankad, Madhav Mantri, Madhav Apte, Polly Umrigar, Naren Tamane, Vijay Manjrekar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Ramakant Desai, Subhash Gupte, Farooq Engineer, Vasu Paranjpe, Ashok Mankad, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sandeep Patil , Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin Tendulkar… the names are endless.
Perhaps it has to be said that a group of coaches who love the game unselfishly are more responsible than the players for Mumbai cricket to reach its heights. Mumbai Cricket is a collection of coaches who go to great lengths to bring out the maximum potential of their children. While Sachin Tendulkar was traveling to the heights of world cricket, Dronacharya Achrekar’s name was also traveling around the world. Accharrekar’s name was not the only thing that stood up to his disciples, but also the legacy of Mumbai cricket.
Nowhere else in the world is school cricket given the same kind of importance as first-class cricket. School Level, College Level, Club Cricket, Inter Office Cricket Matches, First Class Matches. Cricket is in the blood of every Mumbaikar.
Children’s first steps into international cricket begin with the Giles Shield Under-14 and Harris Shield Under-17 tournaments. What sets Mumbai Cricket apart is the system in which children’s abilities are scrutinized right from the school level. Club cricket opens the door for a young player directly to first-class cricket. Things like timed field tournaments are often priced higher than first-class cricket. It has the best maturakal in the whole country. With corporates such as Tata, State Bank, Mafatlal, Indian Oil, BPCL, Air India, ACC and Customs competing against each other, there are not many opportunities for emerging players.
When cricket is dead in other places during the monsoons, it comes alive in Mumbai. Matches played on rain-soaked pitches are enhanced by the technical excellence of each batsman. Purushottam Shield, Talim Shield and Police Shield tournaments are also a platform for talented players to polish their skills. In the early days when cricket’s income was low, everyone was driven by passion for the game rather than financial security.
In 1934-35 under the wing of Vijay Merchant, Mumbai won their first Ranji title by defeating Northern India and defeated Madras in the final the following year. In the 1948–49 season, Mumbai cricket had begun to grow beyond imagination when they scored 614 in the first innings and 714 in the second innings in the semi-final against Maharashtra, becoming the only team to score more than 600 runs in both innings. After winning 7 titles in their first 20 seasons, they won the title 20 times in 22 seasons from 1955-56 to 1976-77 and 15 times in a row from 1955-56 to 1972-73. Apart from 41 Ranji titles and 14 Irani wins, Mumbai cricketers have won the Wills Trophy 8 times, the Vijay Hazare Trophy 4 times and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title once.
Mumbai cricket has a habit of churning out talent in every era. Sunil Gavaskar, who took the world to his feet with more than 10,000 runs and 34 centuries in Test cricket after leaving the arena created by Vijay Merchant, who had more strokes in hand than anyone who played before him, was thought to be unbreakable. Sachin was emerging from the same Mumbai soil that produced Gavaskar, where it was thought no one could make more headlines than the man who scored 13 Test centuries against the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garnell and Malcolm Marshall. For the next 24 years a nation awaited his arrival at the crease. As he stood at the crease, crores of people were holding their breath. Arth was calling his every shot. Every time he got out, he looked down in frustration.
Sachin Tendulkar is also a gift to Mumbai’s cricketing heritage. Nobody deserves the legend Sachin Tendulkar as much as the people who love cricket so much and walk with it in their hearts.
Ajith, the hero behind Sachin Tendulkar; But they clashed! There is such a competition
Last Updated Mar 25, 2023, 3:10 PM IST
