Keep honouring your heroes

As much as I was dismayed that the Mumbai Cricket Association MCA is yet to honour Ajit Wadekar with a standgateenclosure at the Wankhede Stadium despite it being over two years since his demise I was delighted to learn that a section of the North Stand will bear the name of Dilip VengsarkarThe location of the honour seems so very apt considering it was in the North Stand where the maidan players sat to watch international cricket at the Wankhede StadiumAs the cricketing fraternity of Mumbai is well aware Vengsarkar has been a campaigner for quality club cricket And he walked the talk For he was only too happy to assist Dadar Union Sporting Club whenever he was available never mind if it was on return from an overseas tour just like Sunil Gavaskar did for the same institutionIt is also remarkable that Vengsarkar played Kanga League A division cricket only for Dadar Union mdash from the early 1970s to the mid1990s Some example of club loyaltyWhile chatting about club cricket the other day Vengsarkar told me If given the opportunity I would still like to play a Kanga League gamehellipbut on the maidanHis association with Dadar Union dates back to his days of adolescenceHe hasnt forgotten his early steps there and neither has Vilas Godbole the former Mumbai opening batsman who used to play for Dadar Union in the early 1970s Vengsarkar didnt figure in the Dadar Union playing XI during the limited overs Talim Shield competition in whose final Godbole had scored a century The following weekend Dadar Union were slated to play a Purshottam Shield game Skipper Vasu Paranjape was in a quandary as to whom to drop to include young Vengsarkar Noticing Paranjapes anguish Godbole offered to sit out but insisted that Vengsarkar must play Godboles reasoning was sound Another hundred wont secure me a place in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad but a fine performance by Dilip would catch the selectors eyes Thus Vengsarkar played the game scored 70 odd against the pacy Pandurang Salgoankar according to Pradeep Vijayakar in the 1976 edition of Indian Cricket annual for Dadar Union to pocket yet another title in local cricketWhile Vengsarkar remembered that the attack comprising Salgoankar and oneTest man Ajit Pai cricket writer Makarand Waingankar wrote in his book Guts amp Glory how the opposition wicketkeeper stood on the practice plot close to the boundary on the northern side considering Salgoankars paceVengsarkar hasnt forgotten Dadar Union skipper Vasu Paranjapes gift for being the teams man of the final mdash a Mehtab Special bat a popular piece of willow way back in the early 1970sIts been a while since Dadar Union won the premier division pennant in the Kanga League They last triumphed on that stage in 1988 the very year Vengsarkar was captain of India He turned up for the clubs August 28 game against neighbours New Hind SC determined to help his team log their first points in the tournament after their previous game against archrivals Shivaji Park Gymkhana was abandoned without a ball being bowledThe New Hind attack was put to the sword by Vengsarkar who cracked an unbeaten 126 which included 14 sixes on the Matunga ground The outstanding innings was not enough for Dadar Union 1713 declared to earn a win as New Hind finished the day with 39 for four Interestingly Salgaonkar was still playing the Kanga League On the same day of Vengsarkars hundred the Maharashtra fast bowler claimed a hattrick for Dahisar CC against Shantibhai Memorial in the C division of the LeaguePace bowler Vikram Dutt who has the distinction of claiming all 10 wickets in an innings for Dadar Union in the 1982 edition of the Kanga League recalled how captain Vengsarkar happily gave him the field that he wanted mdash no midon no midoff but a short midwicket as he ran through the Rajasthan Sports Club batting order to claim 10 for 20 Dilip was tremendous and kept urging me to bowl them over I also remember how he mdash and we as a team too mdash were upset when one of our Kanga League opponents declared only at tea time which left us very little time to win the game Dilip was furious and he went out there and slammed a brilliant hundredUnfortunately we had to settle for a draw Sharjahbased Dutt who represented Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy told me yesterdayI had the good fortune of watching Vengsarkar encouraging his Dadar Union team from slips in a tight Kanga League A division game against Rajasthan SC 30 Septembers ago at Cross Maidan Vengsarkars exIndia teammate Balvinder Singh Sandhu 344 and his fellow pacer Satish Pawar 524 had bowled out Dadar Union for 85 earlier in the day You could never rule out the former kings of Mumbai cricket when it came to defending low totals So backed by some fine fielding Ramesh Rajde 615 and Ajit Puthran 336 bowled out Rajasthan for 64 A chuffed Vengsarkar asked Rajde to lead the team back to the Karnatak SA tent Rajde an enduring Dadar Union performer stepped back and asked Vengsarkar and Sanjay Manjrekar to lead the way I remember that match vividly It started late due to wet conditions but we still managed to pull off a win Ramesh was a good bowler and a team man to the core Vengsarkar told me They dont make club cricketers like Rajde anymore He passed away in 2005The MCA has done well to plan a fitting honour for Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar at Wankhede Stadium Nothing should stop them from doing the same for a certain Ajit Laxman Wadekarmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay 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