One who broke away from the herd to enter Wankhede

The clock struck four in the morning. Sticking to his daily routine,Dawood Patel rushed to his cowshed in Nala Sopara.

The clock struck four in the morning. Sticking to his daily routine,Dawood Patel rushed to his cowshed in Nala Sopara. A few hours after being greeted by the moos of his cows and buffaloes,Dawood was in another part of the city,now surrounded by the urbane buzz of keyboards and black suits at a destination many can only dream of in Mumbais cricketing circles. He had just won a seat to the managing committee of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). So when the MCA election results were declared,Dawood couldnt contain his excitement and hugged bystanders whom he barely knew. Those who knew him couldnt stop themselves from quipping: Kal MCA office mein doodh batega (MCA will celebrate with milk cartons). Many others were simply surprised to see how a man who owned a small tabela (cowshed) had made the extraordinary journey to the MCA office.

A few days after the election,he is half asleep in his cowshed at dawn. But in these three hours,Dawood needs to keep a steady eye on the activities of the dairy to prevent his helpers from committing any malpractice. Being in the business of selling milk means Dawood has to ensure his herd of cattle is properly fed as well.

I cant tell you how much this result means to me. Despite being an aam aadmi,I will be a part of the decision-making at MCA. I had no godfather in this election; I contested on my own. All my hard work paid off. No one in my family would have ever managed to reach such heights, he boasts.

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Dawood,51,had earlier been offered to join Sharad Pawars Pawar-Mahadakar group but was asked to not contest at the last moment,to accommodate another candidate. At last,Dilip Vengsarkar asked him to join his panel and Dawood agreed.

Having started as a cricketer and later becoming a local umpire,Dawood had never managed to keep himself away from cricket. Since childhood,he bunked school and later managed to dodge working at his fathers milk shop to play cricket. Though he never managed to make it to higher levels,Dawoods interest in the sport never reached the end overs. In 2003,Dawoods journey began in the MCA,and he took his first steps as an administrator while handling Mumbais rain-tourney,the Kanga league.

Those in MCA say Dawood never said no to any task assigned to him. That goodwill still helps him now. A day after an MCA official told him politely that he brought the whiff of fetid milk with him when he walked into the swanky office,he promptly stocked up on bottles of perfume without a sulk.

After being elected,he couldnt stop flaunting the call-record of the congratulations message he received from Sharad Pawar. Coming into the MCA taught him many things,and he credits those to Hemant Waingankar,former MCA joint-secretary,who helped him immensely.

Tea with Tendulkar

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Dawood still remembers the time he visited Sachin Tendulkars home and had a cup of tea with him and displays immense pride in saying that Sunil Gavaskar knows him by name. How many people can go and have tea at Tendulkars place? Early morning or in the train I sometimes hear about Tendulkar or about the Mumbai team, and I cant help chuckling at my great fortune.

Having the name Dawood though can sometimes be a drawback,at least in Mumbai. Once Dawood called a voters residence,but the response he got was of undisguised shock. I called this voter once and ended up speaking to his mother,but she was plain scared. She asked me arre kuchh galti ho gaya kya mere ladke se? She was relieved only when I repeated my name several times and clarified, he explains with a guffaw.

A regular day for the dairy owner starts at the crack of dawn at his cowshed. A few hours later,the milk is delivered and now some hours of sleep later,Dawood is on his way to the MCA to tie up loose ends of organisation as another tournament gets underway.