The much-awaited cricket museum of the Mumbai Cricket Association was inaugurated on Saturday. While the cricket fans will be able to experience the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum in the Wankhede Stadium premises from September 22, the museum will also house the Dr. H.D. Kanga Library.
Despite being Asia’s largest cricket library, the operations of the library had been suspended for well over a decade. That the library will resume on the first floor of the museum premises in music to the ears of connoisseurs and fanatics alike. One of them is Sunil Gavaskar, the first man on the planet to scale Mt. 10,000 in Test cricket, whose statue was unveiled at the entrance of the museum.
“I used to go there when the Kanga library was at the CCI (Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne stadium) North stand and then it came here as well. I used to go and pick up books and I have also donated some books in the past,” Gavaskar said.
“Some of the books that I have, cricket books, I would love to donate it to the library so that it doesn’t have to be the coming generation, it can also be the earlier generation who want to go through some of the books, some of the autobiographies of different people that I have.”
That the library will be housed in the museum also indicates the thought of archiving the legacy of Mumbai cricket and Indian cricket through combining conventional and modern media alike. Besides displaying several artefacts and apparel of stalwarts from Mumbai cricket to detailing the legacy of Mumbai’s glorious record in domestic cricket, the museum will also have an audio-visual section through which the fans can delve into the past.
“In those days, it was more the written word rather than the digital word which is there (now). That amalgamation is wonderful and that is how it should be because it keeps you in touch with the past while looking at the present as well as the future,” Gavaskar said. “That way, it is a tremendous idea to be able to get this done.”
Gavaskar, along with former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, was among the first to be taken on a short tour of the museum on Saturday. What was it that he found the most interesting bit at the museum?
“It was just a rushed trip but My favourite part has been looking at some of the blazers because the blazers have changed over time. There are crests that have changed over time. At the start, I think, ‘the three lions’ was the crest. Now, the BCCI logo is the crest. So, to be able to see those things was something very, very touching.”
Published – August 24, 2025 11:11 pm IST