With the rise of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly as new boss of Cricket Association of Bengal, the 86-year-old veteran curator has ruthlessly been sidelined from a piece of ground that he took care of for more than four decades.
Once known as the 'professional independent curator' of Eden Gardens, Prabir Mukherjee is nowhere to be seen now.
With the rise of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly as new boss of Cricket Association of Bengal, the 86-year-old veteran curator has ruthlessly been sidelined from a piece of ground that he took care of for more than four decades.
The angry old man of Bengal cricket, who became famous after his on-field spats with many an Indian captain for not providing a wicket of their choice, Mukherjee has not returned to Eden Gardens ever since his acrimonious exit in October 2015.
The man who used to be seen at every nook and corner of CAB premises is now bed-ridden at his North Kolkata residence here. He has stopped following cricket even on television. Not eager to dig up old memories, Mukherjee emphasises on one thing that "he never worked for money during his entire money".
"I used to get some Rs50 initially for doing my job. It was just not sufficient but again I was doing it for my love for the game," he said in a quiet voice.
Mukherjee's first stint at the Eden Gardens was in 1964 after he became the secretary of Bengal National Railway Club. But it was only much later when he was managing Bengal and East Zone teams that he prepared Eden's wicket for a Test match in the early 1990s.
But he still recalls it with great pride that he was the one who prepared the 1987 World Cup final wicket in Kolkata.
Talk about Late Jagmohan Dalmiya and he has many stories to tell. He still remembers when 'Jaggu Da' once gave him Rs 10,000 as reward after he was appointed curator for the second time. "At that time, Rs 10,000 was a big amount. Jaggu Da was completely different from present-time administrators," was how he stopped short of taking a swipe at those who run the sport today and were largely driven by personal agendas and vested interests and not by their love for cricket.
Try and talk to Mukherjee about present CAB president, Ganguly, and the veteran curator just folds his hands to indicate "no comments"!
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