Mid-Day Opinion: Kanga League’s inevitable times

Yajurvindra Singh (extreme left), Ramesh Rajde, Kiran Mokashi (partly hidden), and Sandeep Patil share a joke during an Over-40 cricket tournament at Khar Gymkhana on October 29, 1995. All four cricketers were part of the 1986 Dr HD Kanga League held from July to October that year. FILE PIC/ASHISH RAJE

For some time now, the Dr HD Kanga Cricket League, whose 79th edition begins on August 15, has yearned for a full congregation of Mumbai cricket's best to play alongside the rest. But expecting the current crop of international and domestic cricketers to turn out, along with a healthy sprinkling of former India and Mumbai stars, borders on the impossible.

The best part of Mumbai's most popular cricket tournament is its past. Unless the authorities come up with a masterplan to restore its significance, star value, and stimulus it enjoyed in eras gone by, the Kanga League's glory days may remain just that - a part of its past. The task will require some juggling of player schedules and while they do that, focus must also be on ground conditions which shouldn't endanger players.

I turned back the pages to 1986 - 40 years ago - to see what sort of ‘star' presence the Kanga League enjoyed in its top two divisions. Newspaper clippings from that season reveal that Mumbai-based members of the Indian team who toured England in 1986 figured in the league on returning home.

Among them was Sandeep Patil, who was not picked in the XI for any of the three Tests in England. He made an immediate impression for Shivaji Park Youngsters (SPY). At Matunga on July 27, his medium-pace bowling fetched him 3-15, a spell that included seven consecutive maidens. He and Mahendra Walinjkar (5-22) bowled out New Hind for 69 after SPY had posted 126.

Patil proved tireless when he bowled unchanged (eight-ball overs) in both innings against Jolly Cricketers on August 24 at neutral venue Sunder CC. His match-winning haul of seven wickets contributed to Jolly being dismissed for 29 and 90 for a 10-wicket win. Earlier that day, Patil's fellow England Test series tourist Chandrakant Pandit, and Prasanna Nadkarni scored briskly for SPY to declare at 104-7.

It was not all that one-sided when World Cup 1983 stars Patil and Balvinder Singh Sandhu clashed at Cross Maidan where SPY took on Karnatak SA on August 31. Patil's guile was on display again when he claimed 6-31 as the hosts were bowled out for 82 in response to SPY's 114. SPY would have liked to score more, but were tested by Karnatak pacers Sandhu, Deepak Rai, and the late Sharad Rao.

The 1986 edition of the League hadn't exactly witnessed Patil's batting heroics yet, but on September 14, when SPY took on Islam Gymkhana at Marine Drive, Patil followed up his 4-51 (that helped his team bowl out the hosts for 78 with Ravi Gadiyar claiming a six-wicket haul) with a strokeful 38 in a swift 90-run stand with opening partner Ravindra Singh.

Singh missed a century by five runs as SPY declared at 188-4. Their bid for full points was thwarted by Salim Kamaluddin (50 not out) and Mukhtar Ibji (42 not out), as Islam Gymkhana closed at 109-1. Singh, who was asked by Patil to open the innings, told me: "We were going for five points and Sandeep Sir asked me to just take singles and give him the strike. But I turned aggressor too, scoring 95 in 72 balls," Singh told me.

The two Sunnys - Gavaskar (Dadar Union) and Yajurvindra Singh (Jolly Cricketers) - graced the 1986 League; Gavaskar getting a mention for his innings of 16 coming to an end courtesy ex-Mumbai Ranji pacer Ravi Kulkarni at PJ Hindu Gymkhana on August 24 and Yajurvindra for his unbeaten 37 against Islam Gymkhana on September 21.

The Test player to produce a headline-making performance in 1986 was Kenia Jayantilal, who had played one Test for India during the epic 1970-71 series in the West Indies. Jayantilal's MB Union were sinking at 44-7 on August 3 while replying to New Hind's 93. Jayantilal (23 not out) joined forces with future Mumbai player Raju Shirke (32 not out) to see MB Union home. Three weeks later, Shirke claimed 7-59 to help MB Union defeat CCI, who were bowled out for 131 at Cross Maidan. MB Union then reached their primary target with a wicket to spare.

Shirke, currently a junior cricket talent-hunt director for MCA, has the distinction of being part of two different Kanga-winning teams - MB Union in 1984 and Sunder CC in 1990.

Also among the Test men were Karsan Ghavri (PJ Hindu Gym) and Lalchand Rajput, who smashed a hundred for Rajasthan SC in the B Division, against Worli SC on October 2.

The India stars got busy with Australia's tour of India, which included a tour match against Mumbai at Gwalior that saw the participation of nearly all who figured in Kanga League 1986. Dadar Union, challenged by MB Union and SPY, won the A Division pennant for the second year in a row, thanks particularly to impact performances from Sanjay Manjrekar, current Mumbai senior selector Jitendra Thackeray, Salil Datar, Vikram Dutt, and Ramesh Rajde.

Forty years on, those clippings from 1986 serve as a reminder of what the Kanga League once meant to Mumbai cricket - a tournament, where the stars mingled with their less illustrious teammates for fun, and games that were anything but easy.

mid-day's Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.