An afternoon of nostalgia as Khar Gymkhana bring together cricketing greats under one roof

Mumbai: Jun 10, 2013

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, the Khar Gymkhana organised an august gathering of former cricketers. It was a meeting of old friends as they went down memory lane and recalled the good old days.

In attendance were Bapu Nadkarni, Salim Durani, Vasu Paranjpe, Dilip Vengsarkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Umesh Kulkarni, Ajit Pai, Kenia Jayantilal, Raju Kulkarni, Chandrakant Pandit, Nilesh Kulkarni, Abey Kuruvilla, Padmakar Shivalkar, Abdul Ismail, Sharad Hazare, Rajan Baindoor, Vignesh Shahane and Bharat Kunderan.

In recent times, Indian cricket is facing a big credibility crisis because of the spot-fixing controversy. However, the cerebral crickting minds present on Sunday are optimistic about the future and believe that Indian cricket hasn’t lost its pride.

Durani, the star all-rounder from the 1960s and the 70s told CricketCountry, "I think the Indian team’s pride is intact. Some people make mistakes, but that does not mean that cricket itself is not losing its sheen. I do not know if they have done it, but I hope it is not true."

At the same time, Durani also said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is good and it has given the cricketers financial security and has helped them showcase their talent. He said, "The IPL has given the youngsters a chance to push for berths in the Indian team."

Among the officials present were MCA President Ravi Sawant and Prof Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI Chief Administrative Office.