Played at the Barwansi Ground, Sanipat, Cosmos CC opting to bat first posted a decent total of 274/6 in 40 overs. With a decent top order start with captain Pankaj Kumar scoring 42 runs opening the innings and Pankaj Dabbas scoring 42 at no.3. The finishing touch was given by Mayank at no.5 who scored a brilliant 69 runs in 56 balls (7 fours, 3sixes) and Vedansh Nigania at no.8 playing a blazing knock of 44* in mere 18 deliveries (4 fours, 3 sixes) pushing the team towards a healthy total.
Greenfield Cricket Academy Sonipat in reply were bundled out for 224 runs in 38.1 overs despite a good effort from their opener Deepak Bharadwaj who scored 78 runs in 73 balls. Deepak has been consistent with the bat though he lacked support from the other end. Deepesh Kumar (4/32 in 6.1 overs) and Vedansh Nigania (4/49 in 7 overs) were the pick of the bowlers helping Cosmos CC win the match by 50 runs.
Vedansh Nigania who scored a quick 18 ball 44 and 4 wkts was declared ‘man of the match’
When you talk about first class cricket, not many kids or young players of this generation know the names of players who have been playing since years with excellent domestic records. India is one of the very few countries where only once you reach International Cricket or IPL can you be recognized and we tend to forget there is a whole world of First Class Cricket which is ideally the breeding ground for the players to reach into the National team going unnoticed. The amount of hardwork, passion and time first class cricketers dedicate if not more is equivalent to any International cricketer.
Rakesh Shukla is one such domestic great who left for heavenly abode on 29th of June 2019 at the age of 72 yrs. Rakeshji in his playing days was considered to be the backbone of the Delhi’s team and why not when he had the ability to bamboozle the batsman with his spin while chip in with the bat with crucial cameos at the middle and lower middle order.
In a career spanning almost 17yrs, Rakeshji played 121 first class games where he scalped 295 wkts (7 5wkt hauls & One 10wkt haul) at a stunning bowling average of 24.53 and a miserly economy rate of 2.53 with his effective leg break googlies. What’s more he was a perfect utility player averaging close to 32.00 with the bat alongwith 17 half centuries, 6 hundreds and 3798 runs with the bat.
Rakesh Shukla made his first class debut in 1969/70 while he played his last first class match in 1985/86 season. He has also represented India in Tests where he took 2wkts in the only game he got to play vs Sri Lanka at Chennai in 1982. With the bat his finest moment came in the 1981-82 final against Karnataka when he and Rajesh Peter added an unbeaten 118 runs for the ninth wicket to steer Delhi past Karnataka’s first innings of 705 for a memorable triumph.
Tamil Nadu Blues after opting to bat first could not muster up a threatening total reaching only 136/6 in 20 overs. A poor top order start coupled with tight bowling ensured that none of the batsman could make much of an impact apart from Senthil B’s unbeaten 40* off 31 balls at no.6. From the bowlers, Amol Bharadwaj with 2/10 and Yash Nagar with 2/22 were the pick of the lot.
Chasing 137 seemed like a mere formality for Uttarakhand boys as openers Rajat Parmar and Kunal Singh (43* off 31) gave a stunning 126 run stand for the 1st wicket in just 10.4 overs. Skipper Rajat went all guns loose hitting bowlers in every corner of the ground as he smashed 74 runs coming in mere 35 balls. The powerful left hander smacked 11 boundaries and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 211.43 as Uttarakhand team won the finals by 9 wkts and 8.3 overs to spare.
Opener Rajat Parmar was declared “Man of the Match” for his swashbuckling innings. Atik Khan was declared “Best Bowler” in the tournament, Kunal Singh was declared the “Best Batsman” of the tournament while Yogandurain was declared ‘Man of the Series’
After opting to bat first at Pushers Den, Gurugra, Passionate XI registered a good total of 239/6 in 20 overs which is always a big total to chase in the T20 format. Rishank Sharma opening the innings gave a flying start hitting a brilliant 71 runs of 45 balls. His innings included 9 fours and a six while Vikram Tomar who came at no.4 played a destructing knock of 62 runs in 32 balls (8 fours, 3 sixes). The rest of the batters gave starts as Passionate XI reached a respectable total.
Stalwarts XI who were off to a poor top order start did gave a tough fight with some quick cameos by the middle order consisting of Anupam (44 off 22), Supratim (33 off 19) and Jai (38 off 21). However, Stalwarts XI fell short by 57 runs getting all out for 182/10 in 18.2 overs. Gagan with 2/5 in just the one over he bowled and Ashish Dudi (2/33 in 4 overs) were the pick of the bowlers as Passionate XI won the match by 57 runs.
Vikram Tomar for his aggressive knock of 62 runs was declared “man of the match” while Rishank was equally impressive at the top of the order.
Umpiring is one of the under-rated jobs since the inception of Cricket, it’s the unglamorous part of cricket but you can’t take away the fact that it’s a relentless job which needs high levels of sincerity, concentration and dedication. The players need to stand only for a period of one innings but the umpires slog it out the entire day standing for both the teams.
They have to maintain high levels of concentration, awareness and presence of mind as even a slight distraction or shift in attention would contribute towards a wrong decision which can make or break the game. Also umpires command respect on the ground, you can’t raise your voice or behave in an unappropriate manner against them. Their decision is binding and a player has to abide by it, the respect which they command is as equivalent as a School Principal guiding his/her students on Do’s and Don’ts, what’s right and what’s wrong. Hence, a game without umpires is like fighting in the ring without a referee or a batch of students in a school without a supervisor.
And when we talk about umpiring, the Couto Brothers comprising of Ricky Couto and Marcus Couto are two of the most experienced umpires in the history of Mumbai Cricket. Talking to both of them was like a journey taking us back into the library of golden days of cricket. Ricky taking us into the glorious gloom of 80’s and 90’s while the senior Marcus sharing some brilliant anecdotes since the time he began umpiring from 1978.
Speaking about Ricky Couto, he played School level Cricket with the likes of Amol Muzumdar, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli, he played cricket till club level before he finally took up umpiring. Ricky holds the record in Limca Book of records for being the youngest umpire in the World to qualify the Umpiring examinations at the age of 16 years, 116 days. Ricky started umpiring from 1990 and so far he has officiated in over 1200+ matches across all the MCA Tournaments. With close to 28 yrs of experience, Ricky is one of the most revered MCA umpires you will come across. Ricky Couto in his teenager days started his schooling from St.Joesph Wadala, however he alongwith two of his friends Kambli (who earlier studied in Our Lady, Bandra) and Tendulkar (who earlier studied at King George, Bandra) would often practice together at the Shivaji Park ground (Kamat Memorial Ground).
The turning point was when Ramakant Achrekar sir told them that you boys will have to change your school to properly focus on cricket and that’s when all three of them got admitted to Shardashram School where Ricky and Sachin became the benchpartners between 7th to 10 std apart from playing together for their school. Ricky also quipped that his elder brother Marcus is all the inspiration behind everything on what he has achieved. Whether it was the decision of changing the school or taking up umpiring, it was always Marcus being the guiding light.
When you had players like Sachin hitting double and triple hundreds, players like Kambli and Amol Muzumdar at the middle order piling on runs, it was obvious that other players like Ricky barely used to get to bat and would mostly remain padded up which later motivated Ricky to take up umpiring which his brother Marcus advised would keep him involved in cricket with a closer look at the game.
Post a consistent career in umpiring, Ricky Couto is now at the helm of Omtex Sports as a Sales and Operation Manager where he is thankful to the director Vijay Patel who offered him the role
Now comes the Senior Couto-Marcus, talking with him was certainly a joyride back to the retro cricket days as he had the best seat in the house to watch the cream of Mumbai cricket thriving in front of his eyes. Marcus who is a MCA as well as BCCI Certified umpire has had an illustrious career of 40 years out of which he officiated 25 yrs in First Class Cricket too. Had it not been our umpire Marcus who first went to Kanga library, the historic 664-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in 1988 would have never been known to the world which catapulated both the players to national reckoning. It was Marcus who went to the illustrious statisticians Anandji Dossa, Sudhir Vaidya and Mohandas Menon who eventually verified & established that the 664 run stand was indeed a world record partnership.
People like Marcus Couto who has been a Gold Medalist in 1981 (in Umpiring) started officiating at the age of 18 are a big treasure trove of Cricket with a great cricketing wisdom. Apart from enjoying a distinguished umpiring career of over 40 years, Marcus also had an affination for the history of the game too. In the late 1980s, he wrote a book on cricket great Vijay Merchant. Marcus was a regular at cricket with Vijay Merchant programmes which he attended a record 172 times.
When we asked him to share some more anecdotes, we got to hear some interesting things about Sachin. Marcus shared “In one of the matches at Matunga, I declared a 9yr old Sachin run out. Being a small ground, Sachin then complained to Ricky that Marcus was standing too far where he might have felt I am standing quite far off because of the small size of the ground”
Another instance which Marcus sir shared with us was when Sachin used to be reluctant to wear caps while batting. The reason for him not wearing a cap being that Sachin felt that it appears as if the player is trying to do some “herogiri” or portray himself as a cool stylish batsman by wearing a cap. Ramakant Achrekar sir completely did not agree with that opinion of Sachin and gave him a proper lesson. Later, when Marcus asked Sachin on what Achrekar sir was saying, Sachin replied ‘It has an advantage, you can see the bowler better, which will save you from the direct rays of the sun.’ From that day he never batted without a cap”
When we asked Marcus sir to share any particular instances where he was under quite pressure as an umpire or any big matches where he officiated, he shared with us “It was in the One Day Match of Delhi Vs Punjab probably 7-8yrs back. There were 6 players from both the sides eager to make a comeback into the National team. It had players like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Raina and Gautam Gambhir. In that match, Yuvraj had scored a hundred. I was just thinking that I should not make a blunder as it would cost them their comeback”
We asked him to dwell further, he shared “Sehwag was knowing that this is my last season and he asked me what will you do post retirement, I said I will also open an academy like you have in Gajjar and one day I’ll visit your academy. Sehwag said why one day? Why can’t you go tomorrow? It was nice of him, he arranged a car and somebody picked me up from Haryana to Delhi, I went to the academy where I addressed the boys and it was a memorable experience”
Next day was again the match and Marcus recalled an embarrassing moment– “Sehwag was hitting brilliantly but while trying to hit the 3rd consecutive boundary, he was out caught behind with a nick, he came running towards me showing me his bat (probably to show that he did not nick it). Sehwag than cheekily said “Sir parso khana kaisa tha? Namak kam tha ya mirchi zyada thi? I remember telling him that the way you are acting (running towards me in a match post getting out with Delhi fans in crowd), people may think that I have given you wrong, I have to go back to the hotel room safe! It was a bit embarrassing for Marcus as Sehwag known for his jolly nature was just having some light banter with him.
Marcus has also written 12 books so far and one of them is on ”How cricket started in India”, it took me 8 years to complete the book, to fetch our Indian scorecards, i even went to UK from where I got some data, even in CCI where I have been serving past 35 years, i could not find our own records. Then he was eventually helped by illustrious statisticians Mohandas Menon and Anandji Dossa.
When we asked him whether he also started off by playing cricket, he said during my time our financial conditions were very bad, I went once to Sassanian ground and borrowed a bat from a rich fellow which got broke, that guy told me to pay 50 Rs which was too big a sum in 1977. That really put me off but I would come daily to the ground. I saw this one gentleman there talking about cricket, he suggested me that you study laws of cricket as it would be better for you. Then I realized that the gentleman who is giving me advice was an Indian Test Umpire AM Mamsa. I started going there everyday, MCA classes for umpiring examinations used to start at 6pm to 8pm but I would reach to Azad Maidan at 4pm getting a firsthand knowledge from him.
After 8 “O” clock, again AM Mamsa would love to have his tea, so again he would sit in the stadium restaurant till 10pm and I would not go home but sit with him getting a revision. Then AM Mamsa took me to Panchgani where I got practical knowledge. That’s how I got my gold medal where you put hardwork for anything, you get whatever you want. That’s how I started umpiring at the age of 18 where I would get 20 Rs a game everyday which was quite a good sum for me back then.
The last question we asked Marcus sir was what advice would he give to the young cricketers and he shared ”See it’s not the end of the road if you can’t be a cricketer, there are just so many avenues through which you can be connected with the sport and contribute to the field you love. If you can’t be a cricketer you can be an umpire which is also a high paying and a very respected job, if you can’t be an umpire you can be a scorer, if you can’t be a scorer you can be a video analyst, you can also be a team manager, a liaison officer, a cricket journalist, a coach, an assistant coach and just so many roles! Cricket has too many roles to offer and it’s certainly not the end of your life if you can’t be a successful cricketer”
Players Cricket Academy opting to bat first posted an impressive total of 255/8 in 30 overs. Despite a shaky top order start, opener Sarthak Pal continued to play his natural game hitting a swashbuckling 125 runs in mere 75 balls. Pal’s stylish ton included 13 boundaries and 9 massive sixes while all rounder Mehul Bhatt at no.8 gave the finishing touch hitting a quickfire 59* off mere 24 balls.
Chasing 260 runs, Sarthak Ray (82) & Parwan Dahiya (64)’s 119 run stand at one stage did appear to be threatening but Players Cricket Academy bowlers eventually restricted them to 211 runs all out winning the match by 44 runs. Mehul Bhatt who scored a blazing 59* was also the pick of the bowlers coming up with healthy bowling figures of 4/28 in 6 overs which helped him bag ‘man of the match’ award.
There are two types of batsman, one who make noise with fours and sixes, gain instant fame with their aggressive style of batting and much of the cricket revolves around them as long as they are present at the crease. Second are the ones who come in, bat around those players, silently anchor the team, hit those crucial cameos when not too many overs are left, the kind of knocks which often goes unnoticed. When india had batters like Sachin and Sehwag in ODI’s, we also had players like Kaif, Robin Singh and Ajay Jadeja who used to be the silent assassins with their crucial cameos at the middle and the lower middle order coupled with their electric fielding. All-rounder Gaurav Jathar mildly falls in the 2nd list of cricketers where his valuable contributions many a times would often get dwarfed with the presence of bigger stars and more glamorous performances!
Over the years, all-rounder Gaurav Jathar has given exciting performances, whether being a part of a record 251 run Stand for the 2nd wicket in A Div Times Shield with Kevin Almeida where he brought his maiden Times Shield Ton, whether it was taking 6/66 in 86 overs with 46 maidens vs Punjab in the finals for U17 Mumbai team, whether being part of the highest 7th wicket partnership of 128 runs with Neelkanth Parab in the U17 league or smashing 300 runs alongwith 25 wickets in the Cooch Behar Trophy. It was on the back of his consistent all-round show he went on to represent India U19 team which toured Australia, South Africa & New Zealand (World Cup).
Gaurav post representing India U19 in World Cup has also played for Mumbai Colts and Senior Mumbai team in T20 and One Dayers. Apart from that, he has also played for Sobo Supersonics and Arcs Andheri team in T20 Mumbai where one of his knocks define the story of his cricket career – a calm and composed 27* off 19 balls which included two boundaries in the last two balls of the over alongwith an unbeaten 28 ball 54* partnership with Azhar Ansari which had helped his team Arcs Andheri pull off a thriller this season even though the highlight performances of the match were two big half centuries from both the sides- the kind of performance which defines a large part of his cricket career where his contributions under pressure often gets dwarfed by the big boys with bigger knocks . Even in various MCA Tournaments, he has always been a helping hand with the bat.
Gaurav who started playing at the age of 6 is trained under Coach Amar Vaidya Sir and Padmakar Shivalkar Sir while he is thankful to his family who has supported him in his journey throughout. Being a true blue Mumbaikar, his ultimate aim is to represent India in Test Cricket and we certainly wish him all the luck for a promising career ahead.
After opting to bat first at the SKS Gurukul Ground, L.B Shastri team registered a mammoth total of 277/2 in 25 overs. Openers Musaif and Hemant Kataria (47) gave a 106 run opening stand in mere 9 overs which created the positive momentum. Musaif continued to throttle bowlers all over the ground as he went on to score a breathtaking 114 in mere 55 balls. An innings which included 22 boundaries while the rest of the batters batted around him putting up cameos.
Madhya Pradesh Tridents in reply were all out for just 83 runs in 19.1 overs thanks to a match winning bowling spell by Lakshya Singh Bisht. Lakshya came up with envious bowling figures of 5/14 in 5 overs with a maiden while he received excellent support from Harsh Kumar (3/24) and Aaditya (2/16) as LB Shastri Delhi team won the match by 194 runs.
Musaif for his sparkling ton was declared “man of the match” while Lakshya with 25* and 5/14 was equally impressive.
Tomar Cricket Academy opting to bat first at MAMS Cricket Academy, Haridwar posted a decent total of 179/10 in 28 overs. After a decent start by the top order, it was their Mr.Consistent Mayank Pal yet coming with a crucial half century hitting 63 runs in mere 39 balls (3 fours, 4 sixes). It was his quick batting which pushed the team towards a decent total despite the lower middle order finding it difficult to score runs. From the bowlers, Saurav with 4/19 was the pick of the lot.
Sanjay Tomar Sports Club chasing 190 runs were bundled out for 89 runs all out thanks to some really right bowling by the Tomar C.A bowlers. Chirag Rana (3/21) and Bhavishya (3/13) were the pick of the bowlers while Saksham Rana with 2/14 was also impressive as Tomar Cricket Academy went on to win the finale by 90 runs.
- Man of the match in Finals-Chirag Rana (19 off 15 and 3/21)
- Best Batsman:Mayank Pal 360 Runs
- Best Bowler: Saurav Parinja- 12 wickets
- Best Fielder: Lokesh dangi
- Most Valuable Player:Mayank pal
- Best wicket keeper:Sanjay mahlawat
- Player of the tournament: Mayank pal- 360 Runs & 5 wickets
Shri. Vikas Sonalkar, popularly known as KAKA in Mumbai Cricket Association passed away this morning in the early hours at the age of 64. Sonalkar sir was admitted to the hospital last night for a massive heart attack. He was also a MCA Panel Umpire, Umpires Sub-committee member and a very active member of Board of Umpires, MCA, active member of The Association of Cricket Umpires, Mumbai ACUM.
Late Vikas Sonalkar sir has been umpiring past 15yrs while he was a part of sub-commitee of umpires past 8yrs, he had a long tenure in the Umpires Committee too. Late Vikas Sonalkar sir was also the liasion officer for umpires in first class matches & he did a great amount of work for umpires in Thane.
Vikas Sonalkar sir even after his demise continued to contribute in his own way as he donated his eyes which is a noble and humanitarian gesture.
May his soul rest in peace.
