The Mumbai School Sports Association's (MSSA) inability to preserve the original score sheet of the match in which Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli put on a world record partnership of 664 in an inter-school Harris Shield match 25 years ago has attracted the ire of Kambli
“I am really upset that MSSA couldn’t treasure the sheet with a world-record partnership on it. I felt bad to read an MSSA official treating the score sheet like an ordinary one.
“If MSSA was unable to maintain the sheet, they could have given it to me or Sachin. We would have treasured it for the rest of our lives,” fumed Kambli, who only recently managed to get a copy of the 1990 edition of Guinness Book of World Records which highlighted the record for the first time.
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Vinod Kambli
Tendulkar (326 not out) and Kambli’s (349 not out) feat was achieved against St Xavier’s (Fort) at the Sassanian Cricket Ground in Azad Maidan.
Umpire and cricket lover Marcus Couto, who ran from pillar to post to get the feat featured in the record books was equally upset: “It’s a shame that MSSA was unable to take care of such a priced possession.
The original sheet had scores scribbled by eight to nine players. With the help of some inter-school officials, we compiled a fresh sheet with correct details of the match. The original score sheet was a landmark achievement and it should have been treasured. An Australian collector wanted to buy that score sheet for Rs 10 lakh, but the MSSA didn’t have it,” recalled Couto.
Meanwhile, MSSA defend destroying the famous scoresheet. “The documents were lying in the office and termites destroyed them. Also, in those days, we did not have the facility to scan score sheets. That’s another reason why the MSSA doesn’t have the sheet.
“You cannot expect us to store files that are 25 years old. And, it was the duty of the then cricket secretary to save it. I was merely a teacher at Sule Guruji school then,” said MSSA cricket secretary H S Bhor.u00a0
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