A photo exhibition of cricket in Mangaluru — ‘Nurturers of the Cherry Garden’ — was inaugurated at Kodialguthu Center for Art and Culture, by veteran cricketer K Vishnu Shenoy, who was a member of the first team of Mangalorean cricketers which went to Mysuru and Bengaluru in 1957.
Organised by the Mangaluru Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), the exhibition showcases rare vintage photographs of the journey of cricket in Mangaluru from the collection of Kasturi Balakrishna Pai, former cricket umpire of the Mangaluru region.
The display will remain open to the public till February 23, between 11 am and 7 pm.
In his address, K Vishnu Shenoy said, “Nowadays, cricket in Mangaluru is not receiving the patronage it needs to produce great talented sportsmen who can participate at national and international level. I have tried to contact the official machinery many times to improve the facilities but received no response.”
Narrating the journey of cricket in the city, the exhibition host Kasturi Balakrishna Pai said, “For several years, most of the cricketing action used to take place at Nehru Maidan, situated in the heart of Mangaluru city. However, for the past few years, it has been neglected by lawmakers and there is not much cricket being played on the ground. It is essential to nurture sports. I am happy that due to our efforts, the High Court in August 2020 passed an order that no other activities, political or religious events etc should be held on Nehru Maidan, other than cricket and other sports.”
The exhibition celebrates the story of cricket in the context of the historic port town of Mangaluru by connecting places, personalities, institutions and events together. The presentation will have an assorted display of a uniquely personal collection of photographs and documents from the first Ranji Trophy match played at Nehru Maidan in 1957 up to K L Rahul’s early days in Mangaluru.
It features famous local teams and the personal profiles and biographies of ten celebrity players of Mangaluru. Photos of benefit matches hosted in Mangaluru and featuring national players are also on display.
Mangaluru’s historic narrative has a long and distinctive western colonial phase (1767-1783 - East India Company at Mangaluru, and 1767-1783, 1784-1947 - East India Company and the British Empire). Locals imbibed a lot in this period from their colonisers which persisted and integrated seamlessly into our present education, administration, language and sports routine. Cricket is one such British colonial contribution to sports.
“In its origin, a rural sport which was once highly popular in the villages of southern England in the 19th century, cricket, was made a part of the life of the industrial towns,” observes eminent historian Ramachandra Guha.
“The first mention of Cricket in India dates to 1721 when British sailors played a match among themselves in the port of Cambay,” he said.
However, it is not clear when another group of sailors got down at port in search of open space around to play their first match here. The Central Maidan attached to the old fort area and presently known as Nehru Maidan was the most probable option, he added.
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