Col. CK Nayudu, and the team that he led in the first Test played on Indian soil against Douglas Jardine-led England, will be celebrated as the Bombay Gymkhana.
The year-long festivities will end with a match against MCC on Dec 15 next year
MUMBAI: Col. CK Nayudu, and the team that he led in the first Test played on Indian soil against Douglas Jardine-led England, will be celebrated as the Bombay Gymkhana hails the Platinum Jubilee year of the match.
While there was none who watched that game present at the Bombay Gymkhana on Saturday, the zeal with which some of those who were present spoke of Nayudu, namely Nari Contractor, said volumes about the personality of the man.
Nayudu, once peeved that the university team didn’t have a worthy opener, told a reluctant Contractor, who used to bat at No.3 or No.4, that there was every chance that he would face the new ball if an early wicket or two fell.
The philosophy made sense to Contractor and when his Test skipper Polly Umrigar, asked Contractor if he would open the innings in only his second Test against New Zealand at New Delhi, as Vinoo Mankad wouldn’t be available, Nayudu’s words inspired him.
Contractor, who had never been a regular opener before, faced the new ball and made 62. From then on, Contractor faced the new ball except twice in his 31-match career.
Contractor went on to add another anecdote.
Nayudu was at the receiving end when a gentleman’s agreement was broken during a festival match of present stars and heroes of yesteryears.
Contractor recalled that the younger team had decided to allow the retired seniors the first run, before getting into the competitive mode.
However, Nayudu, wasn’t the most popular of cricketers and as he walked in, the fielding side decided to make him earn his runs.
After facing three balls and unable to open his account, Nayudu realised that he was being sold a dummy. The next ball, he smashed it for a six.
There was also Vijay Nayudu, CK’s oldest grandson, whose impressionable mind was greatly influenced when he spent his teens in the company of his grandfather at Indore.
Nayudu revealed that the game closest to his grandfather’s heart was the 1926-27 Pentangular tournament during which he hit 153 of a team total of 187 in quick time against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
It was the first match Nayudu played against a visiting team and it brought him unparalleled satisfaction, Vijay Nayudu said.
Talking about MCC, Yajurvindra ‘Sunny’ Singh, the former player, who holds the joint record for most catches in a Test, said that the premier club was scheduled to play against a Bombay Gymkhana on December 15 next year.
Of immediate interest will be the Ian Blackwell-led Somerset’s match against Bombay Gymkhana to be played on Sunday.
The Gymkhana’s cricket academy that will be open to all talented youngsters was inaugurated on Saturday. There will also be a T20 Inter-club tournament and the RFS Taleyarkhan and Birla Sun Life U-13 tournament and an Inter-school cricket quiz.
England won the ‘first Test’ by nine wickets. However in the second innings, Lala Amarnath, scored the first Test ton by an Indian batsman, and with Nayudu (67) added 186 for the second wicket.
The premium tickets of this one-off game was sold at Rs 100, an exorbitant price, considering that a season ticket would put one back by half that amount.
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