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The Chinnaswamy Stadium will soon sport a cricket museum, thanks to the Karnataka State Cricket Association, writes BHUMIKA K.
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— Photo: K. Gopinathan
Former cricketer J.K. Mahendra with a few of the paintings and bats that will find place in the KSCA's cricket museum.
SAY, HOW would you like to see old snapshots of Gundappa Viswanath's moves? Or Indian spin twins Prasanna and Chandrashekhar in action? Or Kumble's famous 10-wicket haul frame by frame? Or paintings of Venkatesh Prasad or Javagal Srinath in their famous bowling postures?
Cricket stadiums and cricket clubs the world over, specially in England, boast of museums that house rare memorabilia, attracting thousands of cricket enthusiasts and tourists to a colourful history. Though the concept is catching up in India only now, the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore will be one of the first to house one, thanks to the efforts of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Leaving an impression
The office of the KSCA in the stadium is already donning a museum atmosphere, with framed black-and-white pictures of nattily suited cricketers sitting neatly in rows, stands proudly displaying precious trophies, old autographed bats, colour photographs of recent players, Hollywood-style hand impressions of cricketers on cement and more. Putting the museum collection together for the KSCA is former Kerala Ranji player J.K. Mahendra (JK in cricketing circles), who's set up a private cricket gallery in Chennai.
KSCA Secretary Brijesh Patel, who's been instrumental in bringing the concept to life, told MetroPlus: "The idea is to bring out the State's cricketing history. We have been planning a museum and collecting old photos, blazers, and caps from cricketers who've played at this stadium, over the last four years. Many of our boys don't know the history of cricket in the State. This is an opportunity for them to discover it."
Mahendra has put together photos decade-wise, starting with the 1930s. The KSCA is planning to spread the material over a 4,000 square foot space when they move to a final location within the stadium "as soon as possible."
"Once we have a space reserved for the museum, I'm sure more cricketers in the State will come forward to give materials from their collections for the museum," hopes Patel. The KSCA Secretary is planning to have a short film made on the subject so that people walking in to the museum will catch some live action too.
Among the memorabilia in the KSCA collection is a team photo taken after Karnataka's first Ranji Trophy win in the 1973-74 season where every single member of the team autographed the picture. "One of the oldest and interesting piece in the collection right now is a bat from the Australian team of 1926, when they toured England. It came to us through one of the KSCA members," says Patel.
There's also an autographed picture of a cheery Viv Richards, a really old group photo of the teams of Mysore v/s Madras that played at Central College Grounds in 1969, a picture of the Mysore University Cricket Team of 1954, pictures of Mysore Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar meeting a line-up of cricketers and officials, of the 1951 Mysore State Team v/s Commonwealth played at RSI Grounds in Bangalore and many other interesting photos of Karnataka's association with the Madras Cricket Club heroes. Under-19 teams also share space with India Schools team photos. There is also a rare photo of P.S. Vishwanath working on Gundappa Vishwanath's late cut in 1967!
To coincide with the current Indo-Pak test series (scheduled for March 24), the players room, Diamond Box, and other viewing areas have also been done up, with paintings and photographs finding pride of place on the wooden panelled walls. A painting by Calicut artist Firose P.K. of Don Bradman with Sachin Tendulkar, a portrait of M. Chinnaswamy, the able cricket administrator and KSCA secretary who changed the very history of Karnataka cricket; a collage of words and visuals on Ranjitsinghji, pioneer cricketer and the Maharaja of Nawanagar after whom the Ranji Trophy was named, and paintings and portraits of Karnataka's who's who in the bat-n-ball world dot the player's viewing arena.
Eventually, there may also be a cricket shop in the stadium for souvenir hunters and tourists looking for some branded wear and cricket memorabilia to take back home, says Patel.
Big money
J.K. Mahendra, who's been commissioned to do the museum, is perhaps one of the few serious cricket memorabilia collectors in the country, who's realised the value of dabbling in cricket merchandise. "Of course, there's big money in it," says the man who sources from South Africa and England and travels excessively.
"The idea of collectibles has only now begun in India. There hasn't been much heritage preservation in the cricket world," says JK, who set up a theme-based guesthouse — The Cricketer's Hut and then The Cricket Shop in Chennai.
Most of Karnataka's test players have been captured in paintings already for the museum. Over 30 bats have also been put together in the collection for Bangalore. Limited edition prints and plates autographed by the players will rub shoulders with the other memorabilia. Plans are on to mount and frame players' caps and blazers next.
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