A 25kg cricket book and Ashwin’s 100th Test match ball at Shyam Bhatia’s museum

By K.R. Nayar

Cricket never ceases to excite. Like life, cricket is a game of various uncertainties. If you thought that only cricket matches will surprise you, then you are in for a correction. A cricket book too can literally stun you. And mind you, this impact is even before start reading it.  I experienced it at the Shyam Bhatia Cricket museum – a cricket book weighing 25kg. In fact, the total weight is 32kg, including the 7kg book case. This is the latest addition to the Shyam Bhatia cricket museum that is filled with not only cricket memorabilia but also takes you through the history of the game through its exhibits.

 

Shyam Bhatia with his latest addition to his museum - the 25kg book on 1983 World Cup 

If that was not enough to get a cricket enthusiast thrilled, there was more. The cricket ball with which Ravichandran Ashwin played his 100th Test match during the Dharmasala Test match against England is also here. Bhatia had recently gone  to Dharmasala to not only witness the Test match but also distribute cricket kits to budding youngsters. He was presented the ball signed by the legendary spinner.

 

Shyam Bhatia with Ashwin's 100th Test match ball 

The 25kg weighing cricket book is on India’s 1983 World Cup triumph. This was gifted to Bhatia by the man who had donned the gloves in this stunning world cup triumph for India, the legendary wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani. As soon one opens the book case,  a pair of white gloves beckons you to wear it to turn the pages. This is similar to the one worn as an inner glove by a wicketkeeper before he puts on his actual glove.

 

Gopal Jasapara, renowned coach and curator of the Bhatia museum, with the gloves 

India’s 1983 World cup was indeed stunning and this book turned out to be astonishing and as amazing as the matches in England played nearly 40 years ago. As I turned the pages wearing the glove, it took me on a journey to each of those matches. The heroes of India’s win narrate those moments through their rare action photos. There are 1,700 glossy photographs in the book capturing those glorious moments. 

 

Yours sincerely tries to lift the 25kg cricket book on 1983 World Cup

Created by Opus India, which specialises in limited edition large format books, only 15 copies of this flagship edition of this book are available,  and the UAE cane be proud of the fact that one of this is in Bhatia’s cricket museum. Bhatia is planning to create a special shelf to house  this heavy book, and is likely to be placed next to a five-feet tall bat carved out of pure wood created by Dubai-based engineer Mustafa Shareef. 

 

Ashwin’s 100th Test match ball

 

The past and present in cricket are all there  in Bhatia’s museum. Everything that happens in the game is recorded here. I have been fortunate to spend many hours here and always returned inspired, swelling my knowledge about the game.

Yours sincerely with Ravichandran Ashwin at the Shyam Bhatia museum in 2016 

Ashwin may not have thought twice before handing over this ball, which is an important part of his career, since he has visited this museum and spent a long time here. I have always been amazed by his  responses to questions  that are given after some good thought and with the right choice of words.  To my query some time back on what he thinks would be a spinner’s greatest skill, he’d said: “As a spinner the highest prowess is the sign of mastery over spin bowling, and this comes with a lot of thinking, out thinking a batsman, and ironing out technical glitches over a period of time.”

 

Shyam Bhatia during the cricket kit distribution at Dharmasala  in the presence of former BCCI President Anurag Thakur 

On his recent trip to Dharamsala, Bhatia also collected autograpged photos of 50 legendary cricketers like Don Bradman, Frank Worrell, Lance Gibbs, etc.  The child like enthusiasm while showing them to me has to be seen to comprehend his deep passion for the game. He is forever willing to travel that extra mile to bring cricket history to this museum.