Cricket in Rajasthan prior to 1960 was being played mainly at three centres viz : Jaipur, Ajmer and Udaipur. Cricket at Udaipur had picked-up momentum from 1956 onwards, when office of the President of Rajasthan Cricket Association was shifted from Ajmer to Udaipur. In Jaipur, cricket was kept alive mainly by Ustad Azim Khan at the Centurian Ground of JCC. Azim Khan, a demon matting bowler of his time, kept cricket going on in his own way by charging a nominal fee from youngsters at the JCC Ground. He used to polish all old, balls by both polish at the night to give youngsters a new ball next morning. In fact this practice is followed till date by the JCC organizers. The contribution of Ustad towards keeping cricket alive was by no means ordinary. After the death of Azim Khan, Rajasthan was lucky enough to have Mr. N D. Marshall, who settled down in Jaipur after retiring as Senior NIS Coach and who had coached in Jaipur in his tenure, placed at the disposal of Rajasthan State Sports Council and was appointed by the council as a local coach. Like Ustad Azim Khan, Mr. Marshall also coached till his last moment, coaching mainly at St Xavier School and S.M.S. Stadium. The coaching presently rests in the able hands of Mr. Arjun Naidu, who is also retired NIS Coach. The credit for introducing organized Coaching Camps for the youngsters must go to Mr. Ramji Kak, who in his capacity as the Vice-president of Rajasthan State Sports Council was instrumental in the appointment and posting of Mr. N. D. Marshall and Mr. Arjun Naidu in Rajasthan almost throughout their tenure as NIS Coaches.

For the spreading of cricket in Rajasthan the formation of Jaipur District Cricket Association in the year 1960 was a major contributing factor and Mr. Ramesh Divecha an Ex-test player, then posted in Jaipur, was the first Secretary of the JDCA. Subsequently Mr. G. R. Sunderram, working with M/s. Man Industrial Corporation Limited, Bombay, also an Ex-test player, was posted at Jaipur for the encouragement of cricket and who very ably organized local cricket in Jaipur with his very soft and mild way of persuasion and has contributed tremendously towards the growth of cricket in Jaipur. This obviously led to the formation of many other District Cricket Associations and finally resulting in the formation of as many as 23 District Cricket Associations to date. This is a record for any State federation and it was a pleasant surprise to all including the Rajasthan State Sports Council, when as many as 21 Districts participated in the Senior State Championship for Colvin shield at Jaipur in the year 1982. Similarly as many as 18 Districts participated in the State Junior Championships for Dungerpur Shield at Fatehpur (Sikar) in 1981.

In fact the concept of an organized Junior Championship was possibly first adopted in Rajasthan of all the States, when the Dungerpur Shield was introduced even prior to independence during the State time and the Shield was presented by the present Maharawal Laxman Singhji of Dungerpur. It is indeed unfortunate that this Shield stands as misplaced and lost from 1965-66 onwards.

Rajasthan entered the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the year 1961, when they beat Madras in the Semi-finals and played Bombay in the final at Udaipur on 8th 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, March 1961. This was the start of the pinnacle of Rajasthan entering the finals of the National Championship for as many as 8 times to date. It is indeed strange to note that inspite of so many entries in the final, Rajasthan could not win the coveted Ranji Trophy the glamour of Indain Cricket, but it will be perfectly justified to say that in each of the final none of the opponents put their chances of winning at more than 50% at any time, at times even less.

While the progress of Rajasthan Cricket is started from 1956 onwards, however, the spread of cricket at the grass root level is started with spreading from 1960 onwards, which was due to the devotion and time given by leading Rajasthan players, Salim Durrani, G. R. Sunderram and C.G. Joshi, and the well established players but young lads like Raj Singh, Hanumant Singh and Suryaveer Singh, who played Club level Cricket and spent as many as six to eight weeks in season by playing and staying at Udaipur and Jaipur. It was this contribution that brought in fresh crop of youngsters like Parathasarathy Sharma, Laxman Singh, Hemendra Surana, Sunil Benjamin and Jitendra Bhatnagar and also the then teenage players like Vinod Mathur and Sharad Joshi. All these players subsequently served Rajasthan most admirably and have brought credit not only for themselves but for their State and the Promoters of the game also.

During this period all possible incentives were made available to the youngsters in the form of free lodging and boarding, a newly formed cement wicket at Man Industrial Corporation Ltd, at Jaipur and the coaching by Mr. N D. Marshall. Salim Durrani was employed at Jaipur who stayed for a considerable time and was a great morale booster to the youngsters.

It was often commented as to where was the need of professional players like Vinoo Manked, V.L. Manjerekar, S. P. Gupte and others or to import other players who were staying outside Rajasthan but playing cricket for Rajasthan. This is a matter that needs an explanation or clarification. I can say without hesitation that but for this decision to bring in prominent players to play for Rajasthan, the standard of Rajasthan Cricket in absence of the company of good Cricketers would not have been anywhere near to what it has been during the last 15 to 20 years. Intact this point is well proved by the fact that with the departing of these players, the performance of the Rajasthan players at the senior level has diminished considerably as compared to the standard of Cricket what it was between 60s and 70s. This does not necessarily mean that the standard of cricket in general has gone down. But while the general standard of cricket has come up in Rajasthan the same has remained sluggish at the inter-state level for want of good cricketing company. In fact to overcome this shortcoming we must engage either more competent players playing in Rajasthan at local level or regularly send our senior teams to good matches outside the State. But for Manjerekar playing for the State we would not have had this Hanumant Singh and Salim would not have been this Salim but for the availability of Vinoo Mankad playing for Rajasthan. In fact most of the good players produced by Rajasthan are a result of their playing in company with the best players, whom if we prefer to call outsiders or imported then it is a matter of shame.

The most appreciated and talked about match between Rajasthan XI and MCC in 1961 was played at the Maharaja College Ground. This match not only paved the way for Durrani to play for India but also paved the way for more International matches to be played in Rajasthan at Jaipur. The shortage of an organised ground was solved when truely the finest Sportsman Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on 4th November, 1963. At this function, my introduction with this great man and leader was one of the most inspiring factors to whatever contribution that has been made to the growth of Stadium and to the game of cricket by me. This inauguration was an incentive for the growth and construction of another District Stadium at Chaugan in Jaipur in 1966. Until these two Grounds came up, Ranji Trophy matches and other important matches had to be played at Maharaja College Ground or the Railway Ground at Jaipur, Mayo College Ground at Ajmer or at Maharana Bhopal Noble College Ground, Udaipur. With the gradual growth of S.M.S. Stadium, the birth of first Turf Wicket in Rajasthan in 1969 at this Stadium, which was freshly laid, enabled RCA to organize the match between Australia and Central Zone. Unfortunately till date this wicket continues to remain the only turf wicket in Rajasthan. This Turf though relied a number of times has held almost all the National and International matches including the match between the Board President's XI and the West Indies in 1974, a fixture second only to a Test Match. The most important match so far in Jaipur i.e. the one day International between India and Pakistan is being also played at the newly re-laid same Turf wicket at S.M.S. Stadium The wicket, however, does not seem to have received the good-will of the press and that too inspite of the fact that this wicket has in all the matches always played as good cricket wicket should play. During Wills Trophy tournament in the year 1981, played on this wicket, the wicket was truly a green top as compared to some of the Test Wickets prepared by experts in Madras and Bombay, which have been worse than road tracks.

One of the most notable performance of the RCA during the last 15 to 20 Years has been the spread of cricket to the interior of Rajasthan by holding National Championships Viz: Ranji Trophy, Col. C. K. Naidu Trophy, Cooch Behar Trophy and the Vijay Merchant Trophy as well as the State Championships viz: Colvin Shield and Dungerpur Shieid at various Centers in Rajasthan. Important matches have been held at desert places like Bikaner, Sardar Shahar (Churu), Fatehpur (Sikar), Khetrinagar (Jhunjhunu) and at deep hinterland places like Bharatpur, Chittorgarh and Tonk. The introduction of cricket at various Centers helped the selection of youngsters from all these places not only for the Junior and Senior Tournaments of the State but for Inter-State Matches also. Earlier cricket was limited te Ajmer, Jaipur and Udaipur only but it has now really spread throughout Rajasthan and it is here that the maximum contribution of RCA lies. The die has been cast. The coming events will bear the fruits. The performance of RCA and the work it has done during this period should not be judged from what we see right in front but will be seen in the years to come.

Cricket in Rajasthan had to undergo frequent changes of playing conditions as compared to other States, who have their own turf wickets. Cricket in Rajasthan which was originally played on the Jute matting had to be played on coir matting as a result of change in Ranji Trophy rules made by the Board. Then again the coir matting had to be replaced by Turf for knock-out rounds.

The complicity of these changes and the problems connected with this can be understood only by the people who play this game. This in fact is one of the reasons why Rajasthan has always found it difficult to perform better on turf wicket. The availability of just turf wicket in Rajasthan is indeed a most disappointing factor and a subject which RCA proposes to tackle by having a Stadium of its own. For this purpose the State Government Vis-a-Vis Rajasthan State Sports Council should coma forward to have more turf wickets at various Centers.

Rajasthan during these years have played a very prominent role even in the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Mr. P. M. Rungta was first appointed as Vice-President of the Board in 1962, who ultimately rose to the highest position of the President of the Board and enjoyed his full term of three years as President. His active participation in the Board matches made Jaipur a venue to hold not only the meetings of the various sub-committees but to hold more than one Annual General Meeting of the Board. Representatives of Rajasthan have held number of other important positions in the various sub-committees of the Board including important Committees like the All India Selection Committee, All India Coaching Committee and the Umpires Sub-Committee.

Raj Singh was the first man from Rajasthan to become a Member of the Selection Committee and I followed him on this Committee. Incidentally, Raj Singh who has made cricket his life, is a person for whom Rajasthan is really proud of. He has contributed to this game not only as a gentleman sportsman but also as a fine commentator and an organiser, who has shouldered the responsibility of Manager of the Indian Team to England in 1982. Hanumant Singh is another Rajasthan's product, who has not only played for India but was the Manager of the Indian Team to West Indies in 1983.

Rajasthan has in Mt. Abu an ideal coaching center for the summer period and its location gives us the added advantage of easy accessibility and should be considered as a permanent Coaching Center of the Board for the summer Camps. The All India Coaching Camp for youngsters has been successfully held at Mt. Abu in 1982 and also the Central Zone Coaching Camp in 1981.

Rajasthan was the pioneer in staging Col. C. K. Naidu Trophy tournament and also the Vijay Merchant Trophy Tournament for the first time at Jaipur in the year 1976 and 1980 respectively. Since the start of these tournaments Rajasthan had won the Central Zone Championship in Col. C. K. Naidu Trophy held at Jaipur in 1978 and also the Cooch Behar Trophy held in 1981 at Indore. The winning in the above Championships speaks well about the up liftmen of cricket at the junior level in the State.

State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur in the year 1978 has started an All India Tournament to be played at Jaipur every year. This is a tournament recognized by the Board and it gives an ideal opportunity to the youngsters to watch top players in action. This tournament will benefit the youngsters in the long run.

With the gradual spread of cricket, the local Press started taking keen interest. In fact Cricket was the first game which drew attention of the local Press and only during this period that separate columns on sports started appearing and ultimately like the National Papers, a full page of the Press is now devoted to Sports.

It was the game of cricket and its spread in Rajasthan from 1960 onwards, which was instrumental in developing the interest of the Press as mentioned above. Mr. Sidhnath Tiwari, to the best of my recollection, was the the first man of the Press who took keen interest to give publicity to Cricket in Rajasthan Press. Subsequently Mr. Prakash Bhandari has brought dignity to the standard of Sports reporting.

As I try to recollect the events from 1960 onwards, certain incidents and performances bring back cherished memories. The entry of Rajasthan in the finals of Ranji Trophy for the first time in 1961 was one of the greatest times for Rajasthan cricket. Rajasthan winning the Mewar Trophy, presented by His Highness of Mewar, was another glorious moment for Rajasthan. Winning of the Duleep Trophy by the Central Zone was another memorable moment, particularly because the Central Zone Team mainly consisted of Rajasthan players. Some of the scintillating performances by Hanumant Singh i.e. a century and a double century in the same match in the finals of Ranji Trophy played against Bombay at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay in the year 1967, this performance will need a lot of time to equal. It is not only the century that mattered but the way it was scored with Hanumant in complete command from the first ball. Parathsarathy Sharma, a local product, who learnt his cricket in Rajasthan from his first ball reached the goal of playing Test match, was another satisfying moment.

On the other hand there are equal numbers of depressing events that come to my memory. Hanumant not being selected for all India Team that toured Australia in 1967-68 . The unfortunate part of the whole thing was he was considered as physically unfit on ground that never existed. It was a fact .which was most bitterly realized later when the whole truth came out. There was some irony of fate which has struck maximum to the Rajasthan Players. It is well known that good Right Arm Leg Spinner perform best in Australia and similarly a left Arm Spinner can perform best in England. Rajasthan Players like S. P. Gupte and Salim Durrani, who were the greatest bowlers of their time and of their type and it is really most unfortunate that S. P. Gupte was never picked up for India to play in Australia and similarly Salim Durrani was never picked up for India for the tour of England. Had this happened the performances of Indian Teams abroad would have been much different than what they stand. Some of the youngsters promise a lot but fade out. Laxman Singh being a classical example. Suryaveer Singh, a wicket keeper opening batsman, elder brother of Hanumant Singh, often discussed among the Rajasthan Team has a better prospect than Hanumant. Against all advice Suryaveer Singh gave up wicket keeping and with this vanished a prospect which was a near certain to play as a Wicket Keeper Batsman for India. Kailash Gattani, a lion hearted bowler was not picked for India, particularly when we see many others with much lesser performance being picked up as opening Bowlers.

...by Shri Kishan Rungta