Gladiators 2

Matungas Major Ramesh Dadkar Maidan where former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar grew up playing continues to nurture exceptional talent On a Thursday afternoon three matches are unfolding on separate wickets And beyond a bunch of teenagers practising in a corner is a team of eightSome of us even have potbellies now laughs 41yearold Rohan Galatkar Pointing to the groups allrounder and the teams youngest Galatkar says none of them would have been here if it werent for Sanjay Pawar Pawar was in Class IV when we 16yearold players took him in Every single time he took a fall or got hit by a ball he burst into tears Galatkar teasesLast year Pawar now 35 created a WhatsApp group in the hope of reuniting with his childhood friends And when the Gladiators as they call themselves finally met 20 years had lapsed What happened next has inspired a documentary filmFilmmaker Aliakbar CampwalaAt 75 minutes Not Out celebrates Mumbais gully cricket scene Londonbased filmmaker Aliakbar Campwala who was born in Mumbai says Galatkar and I attended Mazagaons Rosary High School and stayed in touch But last year Galatkar called Campwala for more than a hello He said his childhood friends were returning to the cricket pitch again after a gap of two decades It was a story worth telling So I booked a flight and landed in Mumbai in January 2019 adds Campwala whose Samuel Streetmdashwhich revolves around middleaged people struggling in the countrys commercial capitalmdashwent to Cannes in 2016 Like the Gladiators Campwala too grew up playing cricket And I still play with clubs in the UK But the Gladiators are different Between 1994 and 1999 they were the superstars of Mumbais cricket arenaThe Gladiators was born in the narrow lanes of Wadalas Bombay Port Trust BPT Colony in the nineties While some of their fathers worked at midsenior positions with BPT most others were Class IV workers None of that hierarchy mattered when we assembled in the colony every evening says Siddharth Sarmalkar 39 The boys even played leagues organised by BPT for their employees and family members Soon they got better at the game So they moved their stumps to the Matunga groundSiddharth SarmalkarRenowned coach Mangesh Bhalekar took them under his wing and the team started playing at the Dadar Parsi Zoroastrian DPZ Cricket ClubBut parents werent always happy Sarmalkar especially got beaten up each time his father found out he was still playing We played almost six days a week and hiding this from family was tough because of the bruises from multiple falls He wanted me to study and secure a normal job He saw no future in cricket But Sarmalkar played his firstever match in 1998 albeit with slippers My family could not afford shoes or socksPravin More says back in the day the team would get ParleG biscuits and a cup of tea after winning a matchWhile Ajay Ghareniyas parents were supportive they too could not afford his cricket dream Once I got a chance to play in the school A day before the match I went from doortodoor in the colony asking if I could borrow a white jersey But nobody had it So I told my mother who gave me R150 from her piggy bank This could buy him a white trouser but not the Tshirt So Ghareniya 39 wore his school shirt to the game the next day During the game the trouser tore beyond repair I was embarrassed but at least I got to play he laughsAnd the rewards were not cash prizes or trophies If we won a match we got a ParleG biscuit and a cup of tea says Pravin More 41 Ganesh Phadke 43 remembers waking up at the crack of dawn to visit Dedh Galli in Chor Bazaar My mom once quietly handed me her savings and I bought secondhand white shoes for only Rs 100 We all shared the same pair We even shared the same socks pads caps and white clothesSainath Kargutkar left cricket and worked two shifts at the Indian Airlines as store keeper to buy a house for his wife in Navi Mumbai The couple is seen in a still from Not Out directed by British filmmaker Aliakbar CampwalaTheir best show was in the 1996 Mans Shield league organised by Port Trust We were playing against the Chennai team We beat them at 176 After a very long time a team which included Port Trust employees was beaten by another helmed by the kids of employees It was phenomenal shares Sainath Kargutkar 39But the heydays of Gladiators ended in 2000 Prashant Jadhav 42 had to start working when his father passed away I was only 18 and was given dads job at BPT I could not refuse as I had to take care of six sisters and a widowed mother Jadhavs mother however believed in his passion for cricket and even surprised him with a kit one day She did not want me to discontinue A few days later my sister told me that the kit was bought from the jewellery my mom had sold I was in tears There was no thinking twice about this I had to quit the gameSanjay Pawar created a WhatsApp group last year that brought the whole gang together again But the team was beaten brutally in the first tournament they played in January 2019Subsequently everyone else pulled the plug on their hopes too Kargutkar who secured a job at the Indian Airlines as a store keeper got a chance to play corporate cricket leagues That too ended in 2008 when I had to work two shifts to buy a home for my wifeEveryone slowly moved out of their BPT homes after their fathers retired and settled in different parts of the city from Parel to Panvel The boys didnt keep in touch It was Pawar who brought about the reunion We are not fit anymore We were beaten brutally in the first tournament we played in January 2019 but it got us thinking that we enjoy playing even today Galatkar says So they all made a pact Sundays are reserved for a match in Matunga Galatkar who now lives in Panvel wakes up at 4 am to get here This is the kind of dedication we show We take the game very seriously Ghareniya addsGanesh PhadkeGladiators even returned to the coach who trained them 20 years ago We told Bhalekar sir we want to play again so he gave us a slot and a pitch to play every Sunday Even now most of us cannot afford to buy a kit or a proper uniform But Bhalekar sir has helped us with that too Without him this would not have been possible More saysThe idea is to pass on the legacy to newer kids who share the same dream as theirs We train kids and share our tricks with them We also try to help underprivileged kids If they make it to the Indian cricket team Gladiators would have served its purpose Sarmalkar who now coaches the team saysBut do their families approve their choices now With old age kicking in we trouble our wives with severe injuries or mild backaches But they love how we have rekindled the cricket affair They even sponsor our breakfast Jadhav shares as the Gladiators sign offThe proud coachMangesh Bhalekar Dadar Parsi Zoroastrian DPZ Cricket Club secretary and recipient of the state and national award says These boys come from underprivileged families but that did not stop them from playing a good game They would walk all the way from Wadala to Matunga only for practice matches Their dedication amazed me If they had got financial support they would have qualified for Ranji and other nationallevel tournaments I just hope more boys like the Gladiators are encouraged to pursue their dreams It makes me so happy that the team is back on the pitch this time though playing bat and ball just for funCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates