A trip down the memory lane through old sports magazines in Shyam Bhatia’s museum

By K.R. Nayar

Shyam Bhatia cricket museum contains many rare items gifted to him by legendary cricketers. In addition to the history of cricket embossed on the walls of the museum and the numerous autographed bats from past and present cricketers, what caught my attention was his collection of old sports magazines dating back to the 1950’s.  They are all placed among the great books written by cricketers and other renowned authors.

Shyam Bhatia with his collection of old sports magazines 

Flipping through these magazines took me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Many of them seemed familiar since I grew up reading them during my school and college days.  My window to the cricket world was through these magazines those days. Growing up in Kerala in the early eighties, we had no TV those days. So every magazine we got hold of was precious, and cover images from many of those are still vivid in my mind. 

When Bhatia showed me those magazines, I told him that I too had some of these in my small library at home. There was a time when almost every sports fan would wait for these weekly magazines. Many would cut out pictures of their favourite cricketers from them and paste them on the walls of their homes or in their scrapbooks. It is unfortunate that there are not many sports magazines published these days, and reading as a habit is also on the wane. So it was good to see them once again in Bhatia’s museum though some of the pages have wrinkled and colours faded as well. 

 Sportsweek cover story after India won the 1983 ICC World Cup 

The effort put in to bring hundreds of these magazines not only from India but from other parts of the world is truly amazing. Talking about how Shyam Bhatia managed to collect so many magazines, he said, "It was a year ago when I had discussed my desire to collect old magazines for my museum with Clayton Murzello, the sports editor of Mid-Day newspaper in Mumbai. He helped me get many of those and for that I am thankful to him.” Shyam also makes it a point to visit old books shops in Mumbai. In fact, some of the rarest cricket books can be found in the bookstalls that line the streets of Mumbai.

Newspaper clippings from the 1930's 

“I have original clippings of newspaper reports and souvenirs from cricket tours of India to England in 1932 and 1948, Pakistan to England in 1954, South Africa in England in 1951, and the West Indies – Australia series in 1951. There are many more series clippings, and all of them have been laminated to avoid them fading away. It is a great feeling to go through the daily reports and exploits of some of the legendary batsmen,” added Bhatia.

Air India's advertisement with Clive Lloyd.... in one of the magazines  

“Those days, every magazine would report all the series being held around the world with pictures. So if anyone is interested to read reports about any series, they can always read it from these magazines.  And when a great cricketer would retire, there would be extensive coverage about him in these magazines, and mostly as cover stories.” Bhatia revealed.   

Sportsweek cover story when GR Viswanath retired 

Sunil Gavaskar's interview with GR Viswanath, which was the cover story of Sportsweek and Lifestyle soon after GR Viswanath’s retirement, is also there. So is the report by renowned Pakistan writer Qamar Ahmed for India Cricketer on Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell when they retired. 

Qamar Ahmed's report when Dennis Lillee retired

Interestingly, Sunil Gavaskar was the editor of Indian Cricketer at one time and he used to interview some of the leading players then. In fact, as a youngster I was not only inspired with Gavaskar’s batting but also his interviews, and that helped me immensely when I took up journalism. He had this knack of bringing out interesting aspects from a cricketer, and they are all there in Bhatia's collection. When Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi donned the cap of Editor of Sportsworld, he would write an excellent editorial every week not only on cricket but other sports too.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's editorial in Sportsworld  

In the mid-eighties, Indian magazines like Sportstar and Sportsworld had extensive coverage of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium matches, be it the Asia Cup or the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS).

Stories on Sharjah CBFS matches

Another interesting story that I spotted in one of these magazines was about the present UAE selector Mudassar Nazar, once known as the man with the Golden Arm who produced match winning spells in the 1987 Benson and Hedges matches for Pakistan, as reported by renowned writer Pat Gibson. In addition to international matches, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy matches were also reported in detail in the Indian magazines. 

Sportsworld cover story on Sharjah 

I also remember that most of these Indian magazines costed around one rupee those days. It was interesting to see some of the advertisements in them in black and white. Some of the adverts that caught my attention were that of the Indian airline Air India featuring Clive Lloyd, and Sunil Gavaskar posing for the pain-relieving balm Iodex and Palmolive Shaving cream. 

Iodex advertisement with Sunil Gavaskar 

Sportsweek magazine would run a weekly 'Spot the ball contest’, and the response for that was huge. 'Cricket with Vijay Merchant', a weekly talk show on the radio was also advertised in these magazines. 

The popular 'spot the ball' contest in Sportsweek 

At a time when the print media is gasping for breath, these magazines stand tall like a monument for those who love to read what is printed. Merely flipping through them gives one the feeling of reliving some of those historic sporting moments and cherishing those great sportsmen and sportswomen.