They shaped’ Delhi’s cricket fortunes

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) recently honoured five veteran cricketers for their “valuable contribution.” The five men turned up for various clubs in the local league at a period when the tournament had some meaning and purpose. Unlike today, performance alone mattered for selection into the state team then.

Despite the lack of coaching facilities available then, all the five cricketers recall with nostalgia the seriousness with which the league matches were conducted and played.

Dilbagh Singh, Ashok Nanda, KNN Mallick, SK Bansal and SN Mishra belonged to an era when DDCA league matches were played seriously. Unlike at present when matches are either not played or are fixed’ to suit a particular club owned by a DDCA official. The less said about the standard of umpiring and the indiscipline of players the better. (This season, a couple of players were warned and barred from further participation for arguing with umpiers).

“Indiscipline was something unknown to the players of our time. I feel sorry that discipline has been sacrificed at all levels now,” the veterans lamented. “We played the game for pleasure but in all seriousness. During our period, there were not many tournaments as these days. Getting jobs or seeking admission into colleges were not the reasons for our playing in the league then,” they said in unison, hitting at the lackadaisical attitude of today’s youngsters.

Dilbagh Singh played for Delhi Eaglets in the local league for nearly 44 years, which is a record of sorts! He stopped playing only about 4-5 years back, but he one cannot miss his presence at some DDCA game or the other which the officials play. Dilbagh played in A1 division since 1950 and was a regular member in All India Ministry Tournaments from 1964 to 1974. He played a lone Ranji match for Jammu and Kashmir in 1964. Several cricketers from his club have turned out for the Services, Railways, Delhi and Punjab. His son, Bantoo Singh, who played for Delhi for about seven years, was among the prominent club members to have played first-class cricket.

Ashok Nanda represented Telefunken Club in DDCA league since 1969-70. Beginning with C division, the club slowly rose to A division. A chartered accountant by profession, he represented Delhi in school and college teams. Sveral of his trainees, who went on to play for various states in Ranji Trophy, always got encouragement from Nanda. The trainees from his stable inlcuded Arvind Mathur, Ajay Mehra, Ajay Puri, Sanjay Mehra, Satish Puri, S K Dutta, Dhanraj and Sushil Kumar.

KNN Mallick, now 72, is best remembered as the man who introduced the summer cricket in Delhi. The 50-overs each side used to be played in two shifts, keeping in mind the scorching heat in the Capital. He also introduced the Mayor Shield (1959-69) and was the first to experiment with cemented wickets (1975) in Delhi clubs. A founder-member of Patel Nagar Gymkhana in late 1950s, he played DDCA league as a batsman and resigned from his DDCA membership in 1969 owing to differences with the then management.

SK Bansal, 56, started Young Association. From 1962 to 1997, he played in the league as a medium pacer and a middle-order batsman. Hailing from Rajasthan — attended camps at Mt Abu under the guidance of prominent coaches like AG Ram Singh and Azim Khan — he played along with Vijay Manjrekar, Salim Durrani, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Kailash Gattani, V R Sundaram and K N Rungta.

Several of his club cricketers went on to represent Delhi in Ranji Trophy, including Raj Narain, Megh Raj, Deen Dayal, Rajan Mehra, Sanjay Mehra and D K Jain. Bansal also worked in the DDCA in various capacities.

SN Mishra’s Universal Club made its entry in DDCA league in 1947 and he was a regular member of his team in the local league till five years ago.

The game, they concede, has become totally commercial now. The fivesome feel they will not be able to fit into the present system where the pleasure of playing has long been lost. Yet, they feel a happy and contended lot, having been able to contribute something towards the game.

With age catching up, they may have stopped playing. But they still retain the same amount of energy and enthusiasm which they are now directing to promote the game though their clubs, training a new generation of disciplined’ cricketers.