Listen to this article:

In the late 1950s, Tej Saraf was a budding journalist working with The Statesman in Calcutta.

His senior colleague there was Pearson Surita, the famed cricket commentator.

Tej, always a joyful lover of the game of cricket, although only a stop-gap man on the field at times with very tiny hands that could barely hold a cricket ball with secure grip, broached the subject of bringing the prestigious Ranji Trophy contest to the backwaters of Jammu and Kashmir.

The large-hearted Pearson took up the idea, and Jammu and Kashmir came to be accorded inclusion to the national-level contest.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

At the time when we played our first game – in 1959 – all we knew of cricket was a coir or jute matting, pretty unseasoned Kashmir willow bats, a new cricket ball if and when we got one (almost never in the nets for want of allocations), lots of talent and energy, and often only roasted chick peas in our pockets for nourishment.

Playing on mat, most of our prowess in scoring came from bottom-handed, cross-batted shots, since the ball always kept a height on coir or jute.

Our star players pulled or cut with gusto, although hook shots were rarely executed with any commendable efficiency because the art of bowling bouncers was still alien.

Never having seen or played on a turf wicket, and never having been coached at any stage of our zestful immersion in the game, our left elbows never learnt to bring the bat down straight to confront the line of the ball, making driving in the V a rare sight........

© The Wire