Postcards from the past: How Deccan Gymkhana helped Shubhangi Kulkarni become one of greats of Indian cricket

“The 1970s were the early years of women’s cricket in India when passers-by would shout comments like, ‘Arrey, woh ladki kya karegi (Hey, what can that girl do)’. Mothers feared the sun would darken the complexion of their daughters and the ball would harden their hands,” says Kulkarni, who took 23 wickets in five matches against touring West Indies in 1976-77, which is the joint-highest for most wickets in a women’s Test series.

Cricket came to India with the British and became popular among Indians, but the women’s game was officially established only in 1973 with the formation of the Women’s Cricket Association of India. Pune hosted the first women’s inter-state nationals in 1973. Despite the advances, women players were up against more than the opposing teams. There were entrenched perceptions to fight.

“At FC, the boys and girls cricket teams had separate timings to practise on the ground. One day, the boys refused to leave. They had matches coming up and thought the priority would be men’s cricket. It didn’t matter that we were also playing. The fight continued, and eventually, we had to go to the principal to complain,” says Kulkarni.

“We told the principal, ‘They are not even winning while we have won’,” she adds.

The institutions that played pivotal roles in developing women’s cricket in Pune, and India, were situated around the Deccan Gymkhana — FC, PYC, BMCC and the Deccan Gymkhana grounds.

Kulkarni was born and grew up in the sporting environment of the area. “We used to see a lot of people either walking or jogging. Tennis and badminton were popular sports besides cricket. Not many families encouraged girls to play cricket in India in the 1960s-70s, but somehow, most of the parents around Deccan Gymkhana used to come and drop their daughters at the grounds,” she says.

The gymkhana was where Kulkarni, who was in the first women’s national team in 1976, and wicketkeeper Nilima Jogalekar, who played in the first Maharashtra women’s team in 1973, honed their skills.

Kulkarni still spends much time at Deccan Gymkhana, where her shop, Sunny Sports Boutique, is located. It has been selling sporting equipment, especially for cricket, for more than 40 years. A television is always screening cricket.

“It is exciting to see fathers watching the matches with their daughters and discussing cricket. Earlier, boys would come to the shop with their fathers, but now you have fathers bringing their daughters,” she says.

Looking back, Kulkarni recalls that her father, a metallurgist who owned a foundry in Hadapsar, and mother, a homemaker, would take her to walk up and down Hanuman tekdi at 6 am every day.

“I was fortunate to have parents who never pushed me to achieve something. As long as I enjoyed myself, I could play,” says Kulkarni. Her two elder sisters played hockey, and her younger sister became a cricketer. “At Nilima’s house, we would meet her grandmother, who used to talk cricket with us and was also a swimmer. Many women in the city were very progressive at the time,” says Kulkarni.

After practice, stopover at Appa Canteen

She and the other budding cricketers would practise at Nehru Stadium and, on the way back, most of the time, stop by Kalpana Bhel on Tilak Road for bhel. If their practice was at PYC or Deccan Gymkhana, it would be Appa canteen at the Deccan Gymkhana grounds for ‘khichdi kakdi’. “We used to go to the canteen after practice very hungry and Appa knew what we wanted. He would give us food and allow us to sit around and talk,” she says.

Schools in the city, such as St Joseph High School, Pashan, which the Kulkarni sisters attended, upheld the importance of sports and had hockey, basketball and table tennis, among others. “I was in Class 9 when we talked to the principal about introducing cricket, and that’s when I started playing cricket,” she adds.

Today, Kulkarni sees that students focus only on studies, though a few parents have realised the lucrative career options in sports. “We must have sports as a part of our education. Every day, there should be 45 minutes to one hour for playing,” she says.

As a cricket administrator, Kulkarni used to focus on fitness. She asks regular people to take to activities to maintain fitness in the city that is blessed with a hilly landscape. “I am a little disappointed now that we are building at the foothills in a way that hides the beauty of the hills. I have watched Senapati Bapat Road being constructed after the hill was broken,” she says.

Does Kulkarni always keep her discipline? “During Ganeshotsav, there is one night that I drive around in the city to see all the celebrations and eat all the delicacies I want. It’s a fantastic thing.”