The Mumbai Cricket Association on Thursday honoured four Indian cricket greats by unveiling a stand and dedicating stadium gates at Wankhede Stadium.
In an era where today's cricketers seldom read reports or build personal bonds with journalists, these four belonged to a different, warmer time. They valued relationships. They acknowledged the storyteller.
'I would love to go to the place where was I born and grew up in. The nearest I came to visiting Junagarh was when I played the Dilip Sardesai benefit game in Ahmedabad.'
Young pacer Dhaval Kulkarni, the under-19 cricketer who played for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, on Wednesday became the first recipient of the Dilip Sardesai Scholarship. As the winner of the scholarship, established in memory of the late Test batsman by the Mumbai Cricket Association, Kulkarni will visit Australia for a six-week training stint at the Australian Cricket Academy and the expenses for his trip will be borne by the MCA.
Former India captain Anil Kumble made light of the cliche 'it's a team decision' and said decision making always lies with the captain.
VVS Laxman heaped praise on current Test skipper Virat Kohli, saying the Delhi batsman possessed strong basics and is a complete batsman in all formats of the game.
Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri threw his weight firmly behind the Board of Control for Cricket in India's refusal to accept the Decision Review System while also dismissing the conflict of interest charge against board president N Srinivasan, saying it is in all walks of life.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar advised young cricketers to aim for the India cap and said playing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League should not be their ultimate goal.
Despite the ups and downs, The Oval remains a ground of rich memories and monumental moments for Indian cricket.
India had refused to play a day-night Test after Australia had expressed their desire to host the team for pink-ball cricket at Adelaide during its tour Down Under in December.
Akshay Kumar has been personally funding medical insurance premiums worth Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore annually for over 650 stuntmen and their families for the past eight years.
VVS Laxman praised off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest Indian to scalp 200 Test wickets.
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday welcomed new head coach Anil Kumble into the team saying he is looking forward towards work with the legendary leg-spinner.
When former cricketer VVS Laxman was asked about his views about cricket under lights with pink ball, he said, "It's a work in progress".
'My bench mate at school was Shashi Kapoor and we were together from KG right up to the 10th standard.'
India's team director Ravi Shastri has agreed with former captain Rahul Dravid's views on not having too many bilateral ODI and T20 matches and said there should be more emphasis on the World Cup for the limited overs formats of the game.
As Team India completed 50 years of the historic 1971 Test series win in England, head coach Ravi Shastri reminisced his memories of that epic tour and explained how it ushered a new chapter in Indian cricket.
Indian captain Virat Kohli and spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin were in Wednesday honoured for their phenomenal run of form through the season in the BCCI Awards Night 2017 in Bengaluru.
Salim Durani was the 'people's man', whose impact can never be quantified by the 29 Test matches that he played over 13 years between 1960 to 1973, or the 1200-plus runs he scored and 75 wickets he took with his mean left-arm spin.
'Everyone's there just to criticise the young man and there is so much pressure on the poor guy.'
Former India captain Rahul Dravid, on Friday, urged the cricket administrators to rethink their plans of One-day cricket, if they have to ensure the longevity of the format.
Former India captain and Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji took on Farokh Engineer for his 'snide remarks' made earlier this year targetting her and the COA.
Ravichandran Ashwin's sense of humour is unmatched and he won a lot of hearts with a moving speech in which he even made up for a faux pas by former India keeper Farookh Engineer.
'What is true khadoos? Stubborn? Dogged? Unyielding? Relentless? Or something in between that? Or all of it together?' 'Just like you can't translate it, you can't teach a kid to be khadoos either. You can only inculcate that attitude in him by sharing stories of all the khadoos-ness of past stalwarts.' 'For instance, the story of Sunil Gavaskar batting left handed to counter the left-arm spin of Raghuram Bhat and salvaging a draw in the 1981-1982 Ranji Trophy semi-finals...' Rahul Dravid on Cricket's Great Oral Tradition.
'Of the 32 captains who have led India in Test cricket, only four have been pure bowlers -- Ghulam Ahmed, Venkatraghavan, Bishan Bedi and myself.' 'The captain must lead with only one idea in mind -- to win the game. The draw mentality is partly because captains lacked confidence and partly because they want to protect their record. If you don't think winning is the point of the game, there is little point in even entering the field.' 'As the Monekygate controversy raged, I received a message from Bishen Bedi, no stranger to controversies himself. "As a captain," he wrote, "take a decision you will be proud of when you look back on history".' Anil Kumble, cricketing legend, on the Art of Captaincy.
'If fame, money and comfort are the only factors that drive us, then we are playing cricket for entirely the wrong reasons.'
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