Five days, 20,000 spectators, AIR commentary: It's college cricket

Five days, 20,000 spectators, AIR commentary: It's college cricket
S. SANTHANAM

NEW DELHI, JULY 16: It was the Sixties. On the eve of a Test match between India and the West Indies, Caribbean legends Rohan Kahhai and Conrad Hunte walked into the University grounds. They were surprised to see over 20,000 spectators watch the match. No, India was not playing. It was a match between St Stephen's and Hindu, two Delhi colleges on either side of a road.

Man Mohan Sood, a product of Hindu College, who went on to represent Delhi and India, recalls: ``With the last day of the collegiate final at an interesting stage, the crowd at the Kotla (where the Test was played) swelled only after the varsity game ended.''

Three decades later, no one comes to know about a Stephen's-Hindu match. There are not many spectators. Girls from Miranda House do not come to cheer for Stephen's and those from IP College for Hindu any longer. There are no five-day matches, no ball-to-ball commentary from All India Radio.

If you ever wondered why Indian cricket now is all about slips and silly points, the answer is perhaps in the empty university grounds. Or, for that matter, similar grounds across the country where locals once thronged for small matches between small teams. In cable TV days, there's no money or enthusiasm left in local cricket -- for officialdom, no time to spare for them.

For Delhi it's much more than the loss of a slice of its tradition. In the '60s and '70s, college cricket was serious business. Invariably, the final was played between St Stephen's and Hindu College, neighbours in the Delhi University's North Campus at Maurice Nagar. The University ground used to be packed for all the five days and All India Radio used to give `live' running commentary.

``There was pride in representing one's college those days. A St Stephen's vs Hindu College final used to be like an Indo-Pak War. There was so much tension and pressure. Nothing was given away and nothing taken for granted. The entire University staff, principals and students used to flock at the ground to watch the finals. On several occasions, the final used to be play-to-finish affairs. It was the sporting event of the year,'' recollects another Hinduite, Venkat Sundaram, the left-hand opening batsman who played during 1966-71 for the college and went on to play for Delhi and North Zone. A St Stephen's-Hindu final was front-page news in all leading newspapers of the Capital. College cricketers were treated like heroes. There used to be a big fan-following for them.

``There was discipline, commitment and urge to win during those golden years,'' says St Stephenian wicketkeeper-batsman, Sunil Dev, a former vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the sports secretary of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) at present.

For another Stephenian, Amrit Mathur, currently the Secretary of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), a St Stephen's-Hindu match was the `ultimate' in tension and pressure. He recalls: ``On the morning of the final against the Hindu, when my skipper called me and said I was in the playing XI, I wished I was named only the 12th man and not in the regular team. I was so tense and nervous. Just imagining playing in front of a crowd of over 15,000 frightened me. It was scary.''

``The atmosphere used to be so charged that we (Hinduites) used to take oath before the final to play the game in the true spirit and give our best for the college,'' adds Vinay Lamba, perhaps, the only batsman to have scored a 100 in each of the four finalshe played during 1966-70. And for Hari Gidwani who played for Hindu through 1971-76, the nights before the finals were sleepless ones.

Both the colleges produced several top rate cricketers, many of whom later played for Delhi and the country. The pitch and timing were ideal. Cricket in the North was just coming up in the late 1960s and 1970s.

What was the reason for better cricketers joining either St Stephen's or Hindu? ``Cricketers from the Doon School or from public schools in Ajmer used to join St Stephen's while boys from local schools in Delhi went for Hindu College,'' says Sunderam.

In Eighties, the scene changed -- as if overnight. Many colleges came up with considerable cricket teams. Colleges like Khalsa (where Mohinder Amarnath and Maninder Singh studied), Rajdhani and PGDAV (Manoj Prabhakar, Atul Wassan) took over. The balance of power in college cricket gradually shifted away from St Stephen's and Hindu. And with it, the accent shifted away from sport for the two leading cricket colleges of the Capital. And slowly, a legendary rivalry receded to memories.

This year, when St Stephen's won the University title, it was after a long interval -- 20 years.

For this generation's cricketers, these colleges are like any other. ``Young cricketers prefer colleges where they find better cricket facilities and atmosphere,'' says Shantan Bannerjee of Stephen's, the son of former national selector Sambaran Bannerjee. Adds Hindu's Rajan Gupta, a member of Delhi under-19: ``The game is no longer confined to a couple of colleges.''

Why and where did the two prime cricket colleges of India slip? St Stephen's and Hindu lost the battle to commercialism of the game. Directors of physical education started manipulating. ``Street-smartness has taken over college cricket. There is more indiscipline on the field.,'' laments Sunil Dev. Club loyalties have begun to dominate college cricket. Rivalry between sports officials of colleges have also spilled over into the cricket field. And, more importantly, gone are the days when a good performance at the college level was enough to get one into the state team.

PLAYERS' GALLERY

St Stephen's: Ashok Gandotra, Arun Lal, Praveen Oberoi, Michael Dalvi, Rajehswar Vats, Praveen Kashyap, Rajinder Sngh Hans, RajenderAmarnath, Bharat Awasthy, Prem Bhatia, S.S. Lee, Gabbu Bhatnagar, Baldev Dua, Parikshit Singh, Aditya Bhide, Ajitsinhji, Anand Bhatia, Sheel Mehra, Sunil Dev.

Hindu College: Balaji Rao, Akash Lal, Gulshan Rai, Man Mohan Sood, Rajender Pal, Vinay Lamba, Rakesh Shukla, Venkat Sundaram, Sunil Valson, Hari Gidwani, Surender Khanna, Anil Bhardwaj, Sunil Khanna, Yogesh Khattar, Sudhir Gulati, Karan Dube, M.R. Bhalla, Saba Karim, Devender Puri, Hari Om Puri, Shekhar Hardas, Vinod Gupta.