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(Part three.) It started in India.
Given the duration of the traditional game—in most cases spanning between three and five days—it was inevitable that at some time, someone would formalise the idea of a game of cricket played on a limited-over basis, starting and finishing on the same day.
(Copyright Associated Press.)
So, with 48 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ triumph in the inaugural Prudential World Cup final at Lord’s in 1975, the journey back to that first limited-over tournament takes us, not to England, the birthplace of the game, but to India.
For it was there in 1951 that the first limited-over event, The All India Pooja Knockout Cricket Tournament, was inaugurated.
Played during the Hindu observance of Navratri, the competition was the brainchild of KV Kelappan Thampuran, a former cricketer who was then the first secretary of the Kerala Cricket Association.
It remains the world’s oldest annual cricket tournament, hosted in Thrippunithura, the ancient and historical district of the city of Kochi. Despite the transition to white balls and coloured clothing in the late 1970’s almost everywhere else, this competition is still played in traditional whites with the red ball.
Later this year, the 75th edition of the tournament is scheduled to be played with Income Tax Department of Chennai the title-holders, having defeated GST and Central Excise of Chennai by six wickets in the final—played 45 overs-per-side, on 13 October last year.
Notwithstanding its low-key status, with none of the trimmings of a major sporting occasion, over the years it has attracted players who went on to international prominence.
They include the batsman and former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, a member of the great Indian spin quartet of the 1960’s and 1970’s, and fellow spinners Anil Kumble (fourth on the all-time list and the leading Indian wicket-taker in Tests with 619 victims), Sunil Joshi, Shivlal Yadav and pacer Venkatesh Prasad.
Another notable product is Kris Srikkanth, the dashing opening batsman whose 38 was the top score of a low-scoring 1983 World Cup final at Lord’s where India pulled off one of cricket’s greatest shock results in defeating the previously invincible West Indies.
That stunning upset by Kapil Dev’s team is seen as the spark which ignited Indian self-belief and passion for the limited-over game, extending to the present economic stranglehold of the sport.
(Copyright Adrian Murrell/ Getty Images.)
However, it must be acknowledged that a gentle flame was lit 32 years earlier by the All India Pooja Knockout Cricket Tournament, with no such designs on global dominance. That modest, influential illumination remains alive.
Next: Limited-over cricket flourishes in the English countryside.
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Fazeer Mohammed is a journalist/broadcaster with almost 40 years’ experience across a range of media.
His interest in cricket, and particularly its history, started at home via his father’s small collection of autobiographies and magazines, offering perspectives and context which have informed his commentary and analysis on contemporary issues in the game.
