Doctor Fit

Meet Dr Prakash Vaze,a general practitioner from Mulund and a product of the Shivaji Park cricket grounds,who introduced a 25-over game of cricket back in 1985 to promote cricket and sports among the medical fraternity. Now,at age 59,Vaze is promoting indoor games like chess,carrom and other competitive sports like badminton and table tennis among the younger generation through the Dr Prakash Vaze Sports Foundation.

Today also an umpire with the Thane Chapter of Association of Cricket Umpires,Dr Vaze says the journey from his first cricket match in 1979 to organising tournaments across Mumbai for doctors had its own benefits. “It all started in 1979,when I was requested to play a friendly cricket match representing the General Practitioners Association. While there was nothing remarkable about the match,it rekindled the urge to go back to the nets,” he recalls. Vaze,in his childhood days,had shared the nets with cricketers like Sandeep Patil and Dilip Vengsarkar,something par for the course if you were born and brought up in Lalbaug and went to Shivaji Park for some outdoor activity.

Soon the idea of starting a cricket team within Mulund,where he was later settled,germinated. It soon took shape of the Mulund Medico Sports Club—a team of 30 doctors who competed among themselves. “It was difficult in the beginning as most of us were consultants in hospitals and also had our own private practice. Sometimes,there were situations when we had to lose a batsman or bowler due to an emergency call from a patient,” he says,adding,“During the rainy season,all of us would get calls from asthma patients while practising.”

Tournaments like the Ashwini Trophy and the Double Wicket Tournament followed.

“Our matches were always 25 overs a side,as it was difficult to keep up with the stamina of a full session and also as doctors we had very little time for ourselves and we could expect a call at any moment,” he explains.

For the Andheri Sports chapter of doctors,Vaze in 1988 had modified the game further — “10 overs with eight balls per over.”

Of course,there were moments when doctors’ wives would come up to Vaze to thank him for their husbands’ improved fitness levels. The popularity of the games — both cricket and indoor games — picked up so much that doctors from outside Mumbai also began to approach Vaze seeking to participate. Soon,doctors from Sholapur,Nashik,Kolhapur,Pune and Ratnagiri travelled regularly to join their Mumbai counterparts in various tournaments.

Today,Vaze’s brainchild the Mulund Medico Sports Club and the foundation run separately promote sports among doctors at all levels from all fields. “My foundation also teaches umpiring and we have at least three gold medalists in that category as well,” says Vaze,himself a student of umpire Piloo Reporter.

“The cricket matches always had a charm as they were only for doctors. The confidence that patients have in their doctors also increases when the doctor is continuously ensuring that his fitness levels are good,” says Vaze,whose clinic in Mulund also morphs into a library and chess coaching class on Sundays. “My patients are very understanding and encourage me to take my sporting interest along with my practice. I owe a lot to them,” he says,adding,“These days cricket and other sports have been overshadowed by commerce. For us doctors it’s pure passion,nothing else.”