Grand grounds man

If the Coronaviruscaused suspension of sporting action gives you an empty feeling setting foot on the maidans of Mumbai will numb your sporting veinsThe Cross Azad and Oval Maidans form the epicentre of Mumbai cricket along with Dadars Shivaji Park and the Dadkar Maidan in Matunga The vast stretches of sporting turf are no longer decorated with cricketers with balls with stumps and marked out creases But the old faithfulsmdashthe groundsmenmdashalso known as maalis have not stayed away They continue to water the pitches in the hope of cricket resumingWho has bothered about their wellbeing in the lockdown Cricketers No Neither the administrators they say But one man who answers to the name of Praful Upadhyay an amateur cricketer and community cricket organiserFrom Tuesday Upadhyay 53 has distributed a set of daily needs to around 65 groundsmen all over Mumbai The items include tea powder wheat flour dal rice oil sugar onions potatoes salt etc Each set it is learnt has cost Upadhyay Rs 1200Like a God to usExcept Prafulbhai no one has come to help us in this Coronavirus crisis Not a single person has enquired about how we are managing to live and survive these days He is like a Bhagwan God for us I heard he lives in Borivli East and has to travel far to help us Many big players have played and till a few weeks ago practised at Cross Maidan but now no one has time for us Maybe they have their problems too Santosh Gaur a groundsman at Cross Maidans Karnatak Sporting Association KSA told Sunday middayJagdish JaiswalGaur 40 has been with KSA for the last nine years along with two other groundsmenmdashDipchandra Bari and Manjur Khan We are not used to seeing an empty Cross Maidan These are very painful days We are just watering the pitches so they can be in good condition when things get normalised I am hoping this crisis is sorted out soon and cricket resumes Gaur addedFor MB Union Cricket Clubs groundsman Raju Naik 63 who was admitted to the St Georges Hospital Fort for blood sugar issues Upadhyays largesse is nothing short of timely I was discharged from hospital a few days ago As all cricketing activity has come to a standstill no one is looking after us But Prafulbhai who used to play on this ground only on Sundays and pays ground charges is helping us He gave us a packet which includes everything to prepare our meals What more can you expect from someone who hardly knows you Jagdish Jaiswal 70 who has been looking after Dadar Parsi Colony Sports Club at Dadkar Maidan Matunga for the last 46 years is overwhelmed by Upadhyays deeds A big thank you to Prafulbhai This is not an easy task it requires a big heart People said they will do this and that for us but only Prafulbhai has done so said JaiswalJaiswal has not forgotten other kind souls and earlier deeds though Balvinder Singh Sandhu former Mumbai and India pacer gave me Rs 35000 in 2004 It was a big amount 16 years ago which I used for my sons cricketing progress remarked Jaiswal whose son Om represented Mumbai at the Under23 level Sandhu the 1983 World Cupper parted with significant amounts of money to groundsmen in 1998 post his benefit matchRecently Jaiswal benefitted from a remittance of Rs 5000 made by Nadim Memon a MCA Apex Council member in his personal capacity DPC SC secretary Tehmul Dahiwala too granted him Rs 5000When midday contacted Upadhyay on Saturday morning he was busy preparing a fresh set of packets for the groundsmen When the lockdown started I thought about whether anyone is supporting the maalis in this difficult situation Most of them stay at the grounds and there are hardly any grocery shops in their area I doubt they have any savings given their minimal income So I started working on this and distributed these sets a few days ago said UpadhyayNo help from MCA NGOsHe now wants the Mumbai Cricket Association and NGOs to come forward and help the groundsmen MCA should take utmost care of them When I asked these groundsmen whether MCA gave them money or anything they said no Its basically the responsibility of the MCA because throughout the year these men are working for cricket and MCA tournaments They should take responsibility and look after them for these two to three months in this difficult period remarked Upadhyay who has been organising communitybased tournaments for the last 22 yearsA packet of daily essentials includesWheat flourDalRiceOilOnionsPotatoesSugarSaltTea powderCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates