It is not without reason that people address Mumbai as the nursery of Indian cricket. There is no shortage of cricket tips that one can get here from former cricketers, given that many of them make it a point to turn up for most domestic matches and address the youngsters.
Though Rest of India beat Mumbai in the Irani Trophy match on the day I arrived here, the advice and encouragement some of the players got from ex-cricketers after the match should take them a long way.
Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar was at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium to watch the action and address the boys after the match. His vital tip to them was "keep your eyes always on the ball; not only when you are about to face the bowler but even before it.
“Keep your eyes fixed on the ball even when relayed to from the wicketkeeper to the bowler through the fielder. Watch the ball as it travels to the bowler all the way.”
Gavaskar feels that this way, even if someone is sledging from close in position, your concentration will not be affected. “This shuts you away from the distractions that the short-leg or silly point fielder may cause by constant chirping,” noted Gavaskar then went on praise Mumbai batsman and rising star Shreyas Iyer who scored over a 1000 runs this season. “Anyone who gets a thousand runs must be a special talent. He probably might not always get a season like this, but even if he gets an 800 plus season will be fantastic.”
Speaking to Gulf News, Shreyas Iyer said: “It’s a great feeling to get a compliment from a top cricketer like Gavaskar. It is also a dream to get even mentioned by him and I am happy he has got an eye on me.” When asked about how was it to become the highest run getter in India’s domestic cricket, Iyer said: “I played every match positively taking it one by one. Last season I had scored 809 runs and my aim was to get one run more than the previous season and I am so happy that I got much more and I hope to continue this approach.”
Along the same lines, former Indian player Pravin Amre mentioned an incident that demonstrated the existing bonding between former players and youngsters in Mumbai when Gavaskar went to Mumbai Central train station to see off the Mumbai team to Bengaluru to play a domestic game.
Nag-Poor
If cricket fans are hurt, they do not hesitate to belittle the centre. When fans turned up at the Vidarbha Stadium for the Scotland-Zimbabwe match in Nagpur, they were told that tickets were not being sold at the stadium; instead they would have to get it from a place 20kms away from the venue. Immediately a fan created a banner calling Nagpur as Nag-poor show, and that caught the headline in some newspapers.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s cricket too has emerged as strong favourites to win their Twenty20 World Cup. They recently defeated Australia and Sri Lanka in a series. Indian fans hence are expecting a double delight with both the men and women likely to emerge champions.
