A generation losing out on a great institution of learning

The months between July and September were then free of cricketing action and the Kanga League provided players the opportunity to prepare themselves for the tough grind of English cricket — a tour which was always considered the ultimate test for any non-Englishman.

Sunil Gavaskar once lamented the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) tendency to call off matches far too quickly at the slightest bit of rain. He contended that the very purpose of the tournament was defeated if there was a reluctance to test the skills on wet wickets. He said the decision tocancel matches should be taken on the morning of the match and announced on the radio. Announcements on radio — and now on TV — is a huge source of help for players coming from far flung suburbs and even outside Mumbai.

A minimum of five matches have to be played in a season to decide promotions and demotions. But in the last five years or so, rains — and arguably the tendency to call off matches as early as Friday and Saturday — have played havoc with the League.

In 1996, only three matches out of the 13 were played and a year later, only six could be gone through. And last year, of the five matches that could be played, two lasted only two and a half hours.

A dissenting voice against the administration is Madhav Apte, one of the living legends of the Kanga League. “The outfields are public toilets. The MCA has a lot to answer. I think the administration should take the blame for such total negligence,” says the former India batsman.

A busy industrialist, Apte (Cricket Club of India and JollyCricketers) has the unique honour of playing in every season of the Kanga League since its inception in 1948 and his tally of 5046 runs is a record in the League.

Apte is among the last of the endangered species with such loyalties to the Kanga League. Two other people with strong survival instincts are Dr Bahadur Langrana (76) — an umpire for 51 years who also gives free on-field homeopathic medical care — and Mehli Irani (70), who bowed out last year after playing 50 years in the League.

Behram Irani (Baronet and Parsi Cyclists) is another towering figure the League has produced. “The Kanga League has lost its importance. There are far too many tournaments,” says the man who was the first to capture 700 wickets in the League — his 743 wickets a record till Vithal Patil (Dadar Union) posted the existing high of 759.

“In 1948, Kanga was the tournament to play. It served as a selection trials for the Ranji Trophy matches ahead and players got jobs on the strength of the talents they displayed inthis tournament. The Talim and Police Shields followed later,” recollects Behram Irani, who is also the only man to carry his bat twice through a completed innings.

But Avi Sule, the tournament sub-committee’s present honourary secretary, believes the importance of the league can be enhanced, if not restored completely. “I think we (MCA) need to think in terms of asking players to play (in the League) if want to be in the running for the Ranji Trophy games,” says Sule, who has played the Kanga League for 27 years as an all-rounder for Maskati in B Division and then National in the premier division.

Mayanak Khandwala (36), another MCA committee member, is appalled at the attitude of contemporary players to skip the League.

“I can understand if they are away playing matches elsewhere, but most of the players do not have any qualms in missing matches even when they are unoccupied and very much in Mumbai. If the top players make themselves available not only will the standard of cricket go up but moneywill come into the game by way of sponsorship,” says Khandwalla, one of the top brokers in India.

The Kanga League has been a great institution of learning — a fact endorsed in their own ways by batting marvels like Merchant and Gavaskar. Someone like Polly Umrigar, another of the greats in Indian cricket, kept himself busy by playing G Division when into his 60s. Sadly, the present generation have failed to realise the wealth of education they can derive playing the Kanga League. The loss is entirely theirs.

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