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.
The beauty of Mumbai lies in the story of every comman man and his struggles to reach where they are. Yes Mumbai is the city of dreams but no one knows that in this city of dreams, you have to slog it out to make it big. 19yr old swing bowler from Mumbai, Anjdeep Lad who has played for Mumbai U19, Mumbai U23, Parsee Gymkhana and Aakash Tigers in T20 Mumbai so far with best performances of 7/117 vs Madhya Pradesh in Cooch Behar Trophy, 5/64 vs Andhra Pradesh in CK Nayudu Trophy, 5/28 vs Tripura in CK Nayudu Trophy & 5/45 vs Sind Sports Club in Kanga League A Division is one such example of a hard working boy making a name for himself in Cricket. Anjdeep shared his emotional story with Cricketgraph and we are sure most of the readers will find it touching.
Anjdeep shared “My first cricket coach was my father- Ajay Lad, he infused the love of Cricket into me, made me fall for the game. My dad really wanted me to play cricket & started off by making me bat first, I started playing with a season ball when I was 4 & then came Sulakshan Kulkarni Sir whom i met in 2015. Kulkarni sir has also been a huge turning point in my career.
Anjdeep started playing cricket at the age of 4 as a batsman where his father would put in hours during the weekend and both would practice at Navy Nagar. Anjdeep who is now a recognized swing bowler did not started off as a bowler back then in his early days!
When Cricketgraph asked him to elaborate more on his growing up days, Anjdeep said-
In 2013, i used to bowl a bit, just as a part timer though but I was always told by my school coaches back then Rishi Mayekar and Salil Babar sir that i was fairly quicker than the other bowlers and my dad being a fast bowler himself who has played for the Western Naval command & the Inter Services Tournaments saw that I had a fair bit of pace too!
So came 2014, during a summer Vacation Camp Selection, dad came and told me to remove my pads, take the spikes and go bowl. I turned out to be the quickest in my center. That’s when I took up bowling seriously. That’s where my main attribute i.e pace bowling took shape. I really can’t thank Dad enough for that spontaneous decision he made which changed my career. I wasn’t really a good batsman with just a few scores here and there but when it came to pace bowling, I was making a mark in the U16’s. Then obviously another turning point was when I met Sulakshan Kulkarni Sir. Before that, I really was a bowler who was fairly quick who just came in and bowled. But with the time I had at his nets, his practice tours, i started to pick up a few things from his vast experience and he actually changed my attitude towards cricket. Kulkarni sir bought upon a huge change in my mentality as a cricketer & that was very very important. He made me believe that I had a something special about my bowling & that made me really confident. I remember he said once that you will play for Mumbai very soon, and the very next year i made my debut for Mumbai U19 in 2016.
When we asked him whether he faced any struggles as a teenager, Anjdeep further shared with us-
Before I actually made my Mumbai U19 debut, things weren’t really that easy. There was a time when I just wasn’t getting picked in certain places. Sometimes not performing but that’s a part and parcel of the game. But the worst time I had in my life was back in 2016. I had played for Mumbai U19 in the One-Dayers but did not perform enough in the U19 Selection tournament and was subsequently dropped from the Cooch Behar team. That’s when a huge bomb was dropped on me. Adding more worries to my woes-my dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer stage III advanced. He was in the hospital most of the times going through operations. I was in the standbys at that time & the uncertainty of what would happen next would completely weigh me down. My dad’s degrading health, me just not being in the team. I didn’t know where things were going, where things were leading too. It was a really really tough phase but I got through it thankfully. Unfortunately dad didn’t, he passed away in April 2017 just a week before I left for my Zonal Camp. Today I am playing more to complete my dad’s dream of seeing me as successful cricketer than anything else in the world.
There are many people I am thankful for in this journey but one of them and the most important one is my 1st coach-my dad. He gave me a reason to live for, to strive for, to work hard for cricket. That’s the best gift any dad could ever give a child. A clear path to follow, dad put in hours of hardwork into me, i just wished he was here to see everything I have achieved till now. I am even grateful to my coach Sulakshan Kulkarni Sir and my mother for standing there with me through all the tough times she’s been through. I also want to convey a big thank you to Rohit Bhalla sir who helped me alot with practice during my tough phase between 2010-2014.
When asked on his further goals, Anjdeep shared:
My Ultimate Goal is to play Test Cricket for India but short term goals is to break into the Ranji Trophy Side soon.
Let’s wish the young man all the luck for a great career ahead as he has certainly made his dad, his coach, his mother and everyone related to him proud at such a young age.
NCML after being put to bat first registered quite a healthy total of 200/3 in 20 overs which in most of the cases is good to defend. The foundation for a big total was laid down by their openers who stitched a massive 152 run stand in just 88 deliveries. Himanshu Bharadwaj opening the innings scored a scintillating 75 off 47 balls (11 fours, 2 sixes) while wicket-keeper opening batsman Mohit Rathi scored 94 in mere 53 balls (12 fours, 3 sixes) tearing apart bowlers in every corner of the ground.
Reach 11 in reply were all out for 132 runs in 17.1 overs on the back of some excellent bowling by NCML bowlers. Sridhar with 3/3 in 1.1 over was the pick of the bowlers while Anil (2/26) and Himashu Bharadwaj (2/33) came up with timely wickets.
NCML won the match by 68 runs while Himanshu Bharadwaj for his all-round performance was declared ‘man of the match’
Adi Manav Group opting to bat first at Shiva Cricket Academy could not muster a big total getting all out for 137 runs in 28.1 overs. They had batsman chipping in with Nikhil (35) and Sidak (26) giving starts but they lacked someone who could make a big individual score. From the bowlers, Anshu with 4/15 in 5 overs was the pick of the bowlers.
Defending a low total of 136 runs, the pressure was certainly more on Adi Manav Group but they managed to successfully defend it on the back of some good bowling. Rahul Sharma Cricket Academy were bundled out for just 75 runs thanks to a fantastic spell by Anuj who came up with envious bowling figures of 6/13 in 3.4 overs including a maiden. Anuj gave a breakthrough almost at every 4th ball he delivered which are some amazing bowling numbers! He maintained excellent line and length not allowing any batsman to settle in as Adi Manav Group went on to win the match by 62 runs.
Anuj for his excellent spell was declared ‘man of the match’
Indeed, it is a great honor for India that India’s First MS Dhoni Residential Cricket Academy has been opened and fully operational since last one year at Nagpur – Maharashtra. The joint venture of SGR Sports Academy and Aarka Sports Management has shaped the first of its kind residential cricket academy in India with patronage of former Indian Cricket Captain MS Dhoni. 21 st November 2018 was the most awaited day for Nagpur and India when MS Dhoni himself inaugurated the Academy at Gaikwad Patil International School Dongargoan Near Jamtha International Stadium Nagpur. The two faces behind this academy are the two sports passionate brothers Mr. Mangesh S Raut and Mr. Lavlesh S Raut.
For the uninitiated, Mangesh was a born athlete, he was an expert player in multiple sports like cricket, football, handball and ball badminton. Mangesh Raut has played at National level and he has represented Maharashtra State in Handball. He was also a star in ball badminton where in he has played at University, State and National level tournaments. He started his carrier in sales and marketing in LG electronics and went on to become the Area manager in a short span of time. After that he played a new role of CEO in Dental college at Nagpur for 3 years. Post that he joined a company as Director of sales and marketing who was in the sector of air conditioners. Mangesh is indeed one versatile personality with a good corporate experience into various businesses & now he has forayed into a new challenging field of sports which he loves the most for the development of grassroots cricket.
USP of this academy is, all the coaching patterns and overall concept is developed by the man himself-MS Dhoni for the budding cricket players. Daily minimum 6 hrs of extensive coaching and practice makes this academy different from other academies. Coaches are certified by BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India). Academy regularly focus on nutrition, strength and conditioning, balanced diet, mental strength etc. Regular practice matches within the academy and with the invited clubs from all over India is very regularly conducted for giving hands on expertise on playing matches with different players and conditions. SGR sports academy has achieved a milestone that players even from from UK and South Africa have visited the academy for specialized training in spin bowling in a span of less than one year.
Clubs from all over India regularly visit the academy for practice matches on regular basis. SGR Sports academy also arranges overseas tour to South Africa, England, Australia and many more cricket playing countries. Academy is having best of the facilities spread over 30 acres of beautifully landscaped area which includes full cricket ground with 4 central wickets, 6 outdoor practice nets, 4 indoor practice nets and bowling machine. A CBSE education from grade 1 to 10 along with hostel facility for both boys and girls is within the campus. Academy is very much connected to Airport and Railway station by private transport.
Prominent International cricket players like Ms. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodriges have visited the academy for sharing their world class experience with our players and boosting their morale for different formats of cricket at different levels. SGR Sports Academy is also affiliated with Vidharba Cricket Association and they are putting their best efforts to give world class facilities and coaching to young cricketers. Nine girls from different age group have been selected for VCA (Vidarbha Cricket Association) probables camp which is ongoing at VCA Nagpur. Our players are selected for state teams like Odisha, MP, CG and Nagpur while our 2 players have been signed by a leading sports brand from Assam. Academy is certainly getting a huge response for all age group players from all over India as well as from Nepal. Players coming from Jammu Kashmir, Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and many more other states have already enrolled with the academy.
For more information about SGR Sports kindly log on to
Website – www.sgrsports.com
FB page – MS Dhoni Cricket academy Nagpur
Contact : +91 8600106939
