ne of the most popular stadiums in the country, with the capacity to seat 55,000 people,  Chinnaswamy Stadium has towered over the City for almost three decades now. When one thinks of the stadium, the first thing that comes to the mind is a huge stadium filled with spectators at a cricket match. But beneath the rows and rows of seats and the huge floodlights, lies a treasure trove of cricket history. Inside the stadium, where offices and small function halls are located, a huge collection of cricket memorabilia adorns the walls. Presently, these collections are open to club members, those who come there as a part of training camps and of course, to the spectators whenever there is a match being played. But once some dedicated space is finalised, the KSCA plans to open a museum soon for public viewing. 

“Initially, we noticed that most stadiums have photographs of officials associated with the place. But there are a few places, especially abroad, where the focus is on displaying memorabilia related to cricketers. So we decided to do something similar and put up photographs on display,” says Brijesh Patel, general secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, who after taking over as the secretary decided to start this collection. Walk into his office and you spot an autographed bat from a 1926 England-Australia series. Trophies are lined up on the panels along with other photographs.

One of the corridors in the gallery is dedicated to Karnataka cricket - so if you slow down in the 70s and 80s you might actually spot a young Brijesh Patel as well! Look closely and read the captions and you can discover interesting details - like, before the Chinnaswamy Stadium, cricket was played on RSI and Central College Grounds! This section also has a rare photograph of Vishwanath after his debut 100. Other rooms have photographs of Karnataka players mostly and also of a few international players. One interesting photograph is of Don Bradman during his debut in 1927. Photographs of the players with Heads of States  like Queen Elizabeth and  Indira Gandhi also hang on these walls. Special collages like Kumble’s ten wicket haul have a special place in the gallery.

But it’s not just the photographs, this amazing gallery also has a collection of autographed bats, balls, caps, blazers and what not! Balls autographed by not just Indian bowlers but also international ones like Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath are displayed here. Autographed bats are aplenty- from team autographed ones, like India-Australia test match in 2004 or more specialised ones like, bats autographed by Karnataka players in the Indian team for every world cup. There are miscellaneous items like a glass crystal dinner set given to Inzamam-ul-Haq for his 100th test match appearance. Brijesh said that they also focussed on letters, documents and articles that are of interest. A document signed by the 1933-34 team includes Gandhi’s signature; a letter to N Vishwanath informing him of his selection to the team has details of life in the sixties - like ticket fares of Rs 12 and a collection of poems on K S Ranjitsinhji! You can walk back and forth through time as you go through these.

To add to this rich collection is also a line-up of hand-prints by both local and international players- a range that includes greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards. But where did it all come from? Says Brijesh, “The stadium had a few things of its own but most of these objects we have here is collected from cricketers and their families. They have been generous in giving us photographs and all these memorabilia. We have a lot and there are still many cricketers that we haven’t contacted!” The best part about all this is that it’s maintained extremely well — everything is framed and preserved or kept in glass cases and is completely dust-free — showing that there is truly a dedicated and passionate association protecting this collection. 

 The objective is not just to collect and preserve these invaluable items, says Brijesh Patel, “This is for all those young and aspiring cricketers who play for the State. We hope that they will look through all this and feel proud of their State’s rich cricketing tradition and be inspired.”