Cricket’s new innings

With wooden interiors and dim lighting,the museum is,as Pate puts it,“in the process of paying an ongoing tribute to cricket’s greatest”.

The artefact on display include Ricky Ponting’s cricket bat,which sits alongside those of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. “There is also a collection of bats that belong to cricketers who have scored over 10,000 runs,” says Pate,proudly. The same room also houses a golden bat signed by Sir Donald Bradman,displaying his career statistics,and there’s another one,signed by Sir Garfield Sobers. “I started thinking about a museum two years ago,when Sachin gifted me a bat,” says Pate.

Pate,who has never played professionally,did wield the willow for Pune Cricket Club. He would travel with Team India to locations in India and overseas,thus gathering many autographs,bats,balls and jerseys. He also has a special friend in Tendulkar,who is associated with one of his real estate projects.

Once he had made up his mind about the museum,Pate embarked on the task of contacting veteran cricketers. His display also contains bats signed by members of the World Cup winning teams,right from 1975. “Getting the first signature was difficult. When the Indian national team lifted the World Cup last year,for the second time,I got signatures from many players. Contacting older players was difficult,but everyone helped. Desmond Hayes helped me get across to cricketers in West Indies,Dilhara Fernando helped me with players in Sri Lanka while Ricky Ponting introduced me to many people in Australia,” he says.

There is also a room reserved for the bowling legends. It has Shane Warne’s jerseys and the sweater Muttiah Muralidharan wore when he scalped his 800th wicket,placed alongside the jerseys worn by Waqar Younis and Shaun Pollock. The room also has Kevin Pietersen’s jersey and gloves and MS Dhoni’s jersey and wicket-keeping gloves. “The Pakistani players were some of the nicest people I have ever met. Waqar Younis,Wasim Akram,Saeed Ajmal and Misbah-ul-Haq have been really generous,” says Pate.

Perhaps the biggest crowd-puller would be the room dedicated to Tendulkar. Pate admits that the items in the room are beyond any valuation in monetary terms. The cricketer’s World Cup-winning jersey,his entire gear from the match in which he scored his 50th test century,and more such gems occupy a place of pride here. “There’s an entire wall with 100 miniature bats displayed on it — each one bearing details of Sachin’s 100 centuries,” he says.

Pate has interesting anecdotes to share about the manner in which he has collected these items. He mentions that getting South African cricketer Dale Steyn’s autograph meant a wait of three days,while the toughest was to chase down former Sri Lankan player Asanka Gurusinha for an autograph.

“When I went to Sri Lanka,I learnt that he now stayed in Melbourne. I took a flight to Melbourne only to learn that he wasn’t home. But as soon as I left for Sydney to meet Steve Waugh,I got a call mid-way that Gurusinha had returned. I had to fly back to Melbourne to meet him,and then again fly to Sydney — all in a day. It was hectic but the effort paid off,” he recalls. The museum will officially open its gates on May 2. “Sachin will be coming for the inauguration. Eventually,the entry will be by appointment only,” says Pate.