Mumbai tour diary - 3: Meet Rajesh Sutar who had once thrashed Shane Warne along with Sachin Tendulkar, and take a peek into Omtex's ‘I Can We Can’ (ICWC) cricket facility in Saphale

 By K.R. Nayar 

Cricket takes you to amazing places and sometimes one gets to meet amazing cricketers in unexpected places. G Force Cricket Academy’s ten-day tour provided such an opportunity. Rajesh Sutar, the Operation Head of Omtex (ICWC), is a cricketer who has performed heroics with his ability to thrash any bowling attack. In 1998, this Mumbai allrounder had thrashed Shane Warne while batting with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Rajesh Sutar... a man with memorable heroics 

The tales of people and venues has always made my cricket tours colourful and memorable. Gopal Jasapara introduced us to Rajesh Sutar,  the person who had conceived Omtex's 'I Can We Can' cricket facility after his playing days. When Rajesh started showing us around the facility, that was when we got to hear about his exploits as a cricketer. He narrated the tale of how he had played the legendary late Shane Warne with guidance from another legend, Tendulkar. A little away from where he was narrating the incident was a huge poster of Tendulkar

G Force Head Coach Gopal Jasapara near the Sachin Tendulkar poster at ICWC

“It happened during India’s 1997-98 home Test series against Australia. The Aussies played Mumbai in a three-day warm up game at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai in February 1998. I was in the Mumbai team that was led by Sachin Tendulkar. He had told us not to be in awe of the Aussies, especially Shane Warne, and that we should try and win the match. Batting first, Australia declared at 305 for 8 through Michael Slater’s 98 and Ricky Ponting’s 53. When I came out to bat, Sachin had told me not to give unnecessary respect to Warne and avoid looking into his face. I could feel Warne’s aggressiveness when he bowled. Once when I square cut one his flippers to the boundary, Warne adjusted his sleeve and bowled a beamer as his next delivery and looked straight into my eyes. Tendulkar came up to me and reminded me not to look into Warne’s eyes. Later I went on to  hit 43 runs off 45 balls with six boundaries and a six. Tendulkar went on to crack an unbeaten 204 to help Mumbai declare at 410 for 6. In the second innings, Australia were bundled out for 135 with Raju Kulkarni taking five wickets and we won the match by 10 wickets.”

Rajesh Sutar remained one of the most fearsome batsmen, setting many records. In the Pepsi One-day domestic matches, he had once scored 118 off 68 balls against Saurashtra at Rajkot and followed it with another century off 60 balls against Maharashtra at the Nehru Stadium in Pune. “I was considered a pinch hitter and have opened with Sanjay Manjrekar, and played in the Deodhar Trophy, before an injury struck me and kept me away from the game for nine months. That injury took away my hopes too.”

The spacious indoor cricket facility at ICWC

After his playing days, Rajesh Sutar went on to become a selector for Mumbai. “I remained as a Mumbai selector for 14 years both for the junior and senior teams. I was a selector when Tendulkar played his last first class match for Mumbai, and was fortunate to watch his spectacular knock against Haryana at Lahli in 2013.”

The dormitory with bunk beds that can accommodate 36 cricketers 

Thereafter Rajesh Sutar decided to devote his time to groom cricketers and designed the Omtex ICWC cricket facility. “Today this is one among the best cricket facilities. It is a place where cricketers can give their best and work hard. Saphale is a non-polluted area. It is located 60km away from Mumbai and 60km from Gujarat. The indoor cricket facility is probably the biggest in the world with 10 net facilities and a full run up facility backed by Pitch Vision, the latest technology. The artificial turf is made of shock pads inside to avoid any injury to the leg. The dormitory with bunk beds can accommodate 36 cricketers and there is also a complex where teams can stay for a longer duration and train. One gets the best vegetables here as well as fresh fish. The Ugandan team had played and trained at this venue before the covid pandemic,” said Sutar. A sports shop with Omtex made sports equipment, a masseur room, conference hall with screen and cameras are all available at the complex.

Sports shop with Omtex made sports equipment

Coaching facilities here are of the highest standards. “We have three players from the Mumbai senior team who train here . In the junior teams from Mumbai, from almost all categories, we have three to four players who have trained here. Sameer Gawas is our batting head coach. He is a former player who has represented Thailand. We have Ajit Rodrigues and Yograjan as bowling coaches. Mayuresh Yelwe is also a bowling coach, Bharaduraj is the assistant bowling coach and Badhsah Sayaad is our trainer. Badhsah is an athelete who ran in the 400m during the Asia Cup,” said Rajesh Sutar, whose son Chinmay Sutar plays for Mumbai and is one of the most promising cricketers having already represented the India Emerging team.  In the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup, he even hit an unbeaten 104 against the Hong Kong Emerging team in 2019.

The picturesque Omtex ICWC cricket ground 

Backing his dream to make the ICWC facilities the best are the Directors Vijay Patel, Unmesh Kulkarni and Rajesh Mhatre. Former Test star Suru Nayak is the Project Head. All of them have been working together to make this a successful project by living up to the name ICWC (I Can We Can) which is also meant to not only motivate cricketers but everyone who visits this complex.