Sanskriti Mahotsav queers pitch for clubs at Mumbai's Azad Maidan

MUMBAI: A government-sponsored event called the 'Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM), on from February 6-20 at Azad Maidan, has scuttled cricketing activities for a fortnight at the ground which is considered the traditional nursery of Mumbai cricket, leaving those running the dozen-odd cricket clubs there livid.
Azad Maidan has been the venue for many historical feats in junior cricket.It has 13 plots where cricket is played round the year. Most clubs at the ground have a rich legacy-Fort Vijay CC was launched by the legendary Vijay Merchant in 1909; the Parsee Cyclists were represented by stalwarts like former India captain Nari Contractor, Salim Durrani, Farokh Engineer and Rusi Surti; Young Zoroastrian Club Cricket Club was formed by the Parsee community in Mumbai in 1850.
The clubs affected include MB Sports Club, John Bright CC, Baronet CC and Hindustan Construction.
It was at Azad Maidan that India batsman Prithvi Shaw, on November 20, 2013, scored a then world record 546 in an inter-school game. In 1987, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli had shared a mammoth 664-run partnership during a Harris Shield school match at the Sasanian CC ground in the same maidan. In 2009, domestic run-machine Sarfaraz Khan also scored a then world record 439 in a Harris Shield match at this ground.
Lamenting the disruption in cricketing activity, Nitin Dalal, secretary of the Young Zoroastrian Club, said, "I have never seen a structure like this at Azad Maidan. Now, there'll be no cricket for the next 15 days. This structure will badly damage the wickets and outfield. There were lots of matches of various age groups and local tournaments, like the President's Cup, lower division matches of the Times Shield, South Bombay tournament, which were supposed to be played at the Maidan." Young Zoroastrian Club Cricket Club was formed by the Parsee community in Mumbai in 1850.
"I agree that the Azad Maidan belongs to the Public Works Department but it's meant for cricketing activities, and not organizing morchas and functions," said Jayant Jhaveri, secretary, Vijay Cricket Club, blaming MCA officials for not intervening. "A lot of budding cricketers come here to practice in the morning and evening," Jhaveri said.
This is the second such disruption at Azad Maidan. A few years back, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority occupied nine of the 22 cricket plots for metro-related work.
On its part, Mumbai Cricket Association expressed helplessness on the issue. "Azad Maidan belongs to the Public Works Department, not MCA. Technically, the government authorities don't even need a No-Objection Certificate from us before using the maidan. Still, we have an assurance that they will not damage the wickets and the ground while organizing anything," a source in the MCA said.