Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVII No. 13, October 16-31, 2017
Twentyfive years of a transformation
by A Special Correspondent
The Guru Nanak College’s India Cements’ Pavilion.
This is the 25th year of India Cements’ converting the Guru Nanak College grounds into a first class cricket facility.
The sprawling playground of Guru Nanak College was lying vacant, improperly fenced, and unused for several years. It got a fresh lease of life 25 years ago after India Cements upgraded it into a lush green cricket ground with a new pavilion.
India Cements had approached the College for upgrading the ground to promote cricket. And it has succeeded in doing so. “Aparajit, Indrajit, L. Balaji, Vijaya Bhaskar are some of the students who have brought laurels to the College by playing for the State or the country”, says Dr. M. Selvaraj, the Principal, who has been associated with the College for over two decades.
The College began conducting tournaments for the Pavit Singh Memorial Trophy (instituted in memory of the late son of a Correspondent of the College), and now who conducts inter-collegiate tournaments for the Ramana Trophy.
With the development of the ground and other infrastructure facilities, the Principal said, students joining various courses are encouraged to take up, besides academics, sporting activities, particularly cricket.
The College has also started focusing on promoting cricket among women students. “Why we want to promote cricket among women is that during the Women’s World Cup in 2013, a host of international women players from England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa practised here. This had created a lot of enthusiasm among women students,” said the Principal and added, “We are planning to include women’s cricket in the annual tournaments which are conducted for men students.”
Tending the ground for 25 years has been M. Kothandaraman, Chief Groundsman, who has, since 1992, when India Cements took the venue on lease, improved the ground from an ordinary matting surface to a quality turf.
In the 1990s, the city was expanding and there were not many grounds that could hold TNCA First Division matches. “So we, with the help of India Cements, took the initiative to make this ground fit for such games and then, slowly, first-class matches started being held here,” recalls Kothandaraman. The ground is in use for more than 260 days in a year and hosts more than 150 matches.
Guru Nanak College is the home ground for Vijay CC. Rahul Dravid played for the team right from his formative years. In fact, even after retirement, he turned out in a couple of games for Vijay CC. Scores of other cricketers, from Sadagopan Ramesh to Baba Aparajith, who were also students of the College, have benefited from the facilities at the ground.
The ground has a state-of-the-art pavilion with top quality dressing rooms. It has G2 grass with six turf wickets in addition to net facilities. The venue also has an excellent drainage system which means there is minimal disruption to the matches even if there are overnight rains.
Speaking on the most memorable matches held here, Kothandaraman lists the Indian Board President’s XI vs Australia match played in 2013, Women’s World Cup fixtures, and an exhibition match held in 2001 when former players from India and Australia, who played in the famous tied Test in 1986, took part. Legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border have played here. – (Courtesy: Compass, the India Cements house journal.)
