{"id":39546,"date":"2023-12-25T04:14:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T04:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/maidans-still-the-nursery-of-mumbai-cricket-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2023-12-25T04:14:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T04:14:15","slug":"maidans-still-the-nursery-of-mumbai-cricket-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/maidans-still-the-nursery-of-mumbai-cricket-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Maidans still the nursery of Mumbai cricket | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nLONDON:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not yet 7:00 am and the sun has still to rise above a hazy Mumbai sky.<\/p>\n

But there is already a steady stream of cricketers of various ages heading into the city’s Oval Maidan, a large public park.<\/p>\n

Some are clad in traditional whites, with the children among them almost dwarfed by the large bags of cricket equipment on their backs as they hurry to attend net practice.<\/p>\n

Others, simply wearing T-shirts and shorts, are here for just an impromptu game of tennis-ball cricket with their friends.<\/p>\n

All, however, are united by a passion for the sport and maybe somewhere here there is a future star all set to follow in the footsteps of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma<\/a>, the captain of hosts India at the ongoing World Cup, all of whom once played on the Maidans themselves.<\/p>\n

Set against the backdrop of Mumbai’s High Court and Rajabai Clock Tower, in what is a United Nations World Heritage site, the scene of hundreds of cricketers gathering on the Oval Maidan has been a familiar part of the landscape for generations in a city that prides itself on being a hotbed of the game even in a country with a fanatical devotion to the sport.<\/p>\n

But girls, as well as boys, are now part of the picture, with teenager Pranjal Chilwant taking her place in a net pitched on the rough and uneven grassland \u2013 in marked contrast to the smooth surface of Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium that is staging World Cup games \u2013 to play a series of textbook drives against her male contemporaries.<\/p>\n

Watching on is her coach, Subodh Bhosle of the Steadfast Cricket Academy.<\/p>\n

“We are here every week (Saturday) from 6:45-9:00 am,” Bhosle told AFP.<\/p>\n

“Maidan cricket is very important for India and the whole world,” added the 38-year-old, in the year above Rohit when the pair were in the Mumbai youth set-up.<\/p>\n

“Here you are not given those privileges where you get a good infrastructure \u2013 when you field on a Maidan, the ground, is always up and down.<\/p>\n

“But then you are more keen on catching the ball…Here you get your sweat and blood and then you play the game.”<\/p>\n

For Pravin Amre, the journey from Maidan cricket to India honours was a dream that became a reality.<\/p>\n

Now a successful coach \u2013 two of his proteges Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur are in India’s 15-man World Cup squad \u2013 Amre, currently works with the Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.<\/p>\n

But that does not stop the 55-year-old former India batsman returning whenever he can to coach a new crop of young talents in Shivaji Park, at 28 acres the largest of Mumbai’s maidans or grounds.<\/p>\n

“I am the product of Maidan cricket right now where you are in Shivaji Park,” Amre tells AFP during an interview.<\/p>\n

“This is where I started my journey when I was a 10-year-old kid. It’s like my second home.<\/p>\n

“I was very lucky to have as my coach and guru Ramakant Achrekar (who also guided a young Tendulkar).<\/p>\n

“But Maidan cricket, it’s so tough. You can see, this is a public park. We learn about hard work from an early age, we know we have to make it count.<\/p>\n

“All the greats of Mumbai cricket started here (the Maidans). There are no sightscreens, you have to manage everything yourself,” he added.<\/p>\n

“Maybe that’s why we produce so many great cricketers,” explained Amre, who scored a hundred on Test debut against South Africa in Durban in 1992.<\/p>\n

Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy, India’s domestic first-class competition, a record 41 times, with Amre adamant the Maidans had a key role in that sustained success.<\/p>\n

“To get into the Mumbai team, it’s so challenging,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a lot of pain and 15 years of hard work for any boy to start his journey on the Maidan and then to go play at the Wankhede.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n