The land of Vizzy & C K Nayudu finally to host a test match

VISAKHAPATNAM: The history of Indian cricket is replete with stories of the Maharajas. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Indian royalty were taken in by the penchant of the then rulers for a game, which 100 years down the line, rules the collective Indian conscience.

The Maharaja of Vizianagaram, the first man to represent this region in Test cricket, and his tryst with Indian cricket is stuff of the legend too. He would have been a proud man to see Visakhapatnam – part of the erstwhile princely state -- host its first Test match beginning Thursday.

With a ground in his palace, Vizzy, as the prince was popularly known as, went about recruiting players from India and abroad. He organised a tour of his own to Ceylon when MCC cancelled their tour of India in 1930-31 and successfully drafted Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. Traditionalists say he was a much better administrator – “a great patron” and commentator and that’s probably why the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) conducts an inter-varsity tournament for Vizzy Trophy in his honour.

It is sheer coincidence that India will host England at the ACA-VDCA YS Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium, under

Andhra Cricket Association

’s (ACA) remit. “It was February 1953 when Col CK Nayudu, the first captain of the Indian team, became the founder president of ACA,” local cricketologist Prof Prasanna Kumar told TOI on Tuesday.

“He was just 58-years-old when he led Andhra in their first Ranji match against Mysuru and coming to bat in the middle, smote a huge six off pacer Kasturirangan,” Prof Kumar reminisced.

“Col Nayudu and his brother CS Nayudu played in Guntur and taught the boys discipline, from how to don the flannels to doing their laces; they instilled the quintessence of cricket in Andhra boys,” he added. “Andhra topping the Ranji Trophy South Zone table in 1985 with

Bhaskar Ramamurthy

as the captain was a proud moment.”

Vizag eventually hosted One-Day Internationals at the Indira Priyadarshini Municipal Stadium but they still had to wait many years to see their dream of hosting a Test match bear fruit.

The Vizag District Cricket Association (VDCA) was allotted the land by the government – an abandoned tank – in 1989. “We had to fill it with red soil and flyash and Hindustan Polymer helped us do it. BCCI’s decision to give Rs 1 crore to all associations wanting to build a stadium was just the shot in the arm we needed,” said VDCA secretary Parthasarathi.

With ACA pumping in the money the stadium was completed and 2003 saw Board President’s XI host New Zealand in a three-day match before a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced himself to the world when India hosted Pakistan with his marauding 148 at the venue’s first ODI. “Not many can figure how we did it, but the fact is we finished constructing the entire stadium in Rs 45 crore,” Parthasarathi added.

With ACA secretary Gokaraju Gangaraju pursuing the case and the likes of MSK Prasad, the current chairman of senior selection committee, helping the cause, the tide turned for Andhra cricket when ICC commissioner Alan Hurst, during an inspection in 2007, suggested that minor changes were required for the centre to get Test status. The height of the scoreboard and umpires’ rooms were to be increased as per his suggestion and the ACA complied.

Nature, however, had something else in store. Cyclone Hudhud, which rocked the region in 2014, laid waste the hardwork and it is a tribute to the association and its dedicated members that they did not relent in their efforts till November 9, 2015, when BCCI announced six new Test venues and Vizag will fulfil its long cherished dream of hosting a Test match.