Historical Article

Anecdotes

Two anecdotes by a former member of Hyderabad Blues, V Ramnarayan

"I will close with a story from the seventies. I was a member of the Hyderabad Blues team which toured Australia, South East Asia and Bangladesh. We had a fairly competitive side with Test and Ranji Trophy cricketers, old and young, making up a merry bunch of tourists. Our wicket keeper Tukaram Surve was 47 years old and having a nightmarish time behind the stumps towards the end of the tour. At Dacca, he let go 69 byes and he was mercilessly teased and tormented by his cruel teammates who nicknamed him “Godfrey” after the great England keeper of yore."

Source: Article on Chennai Online

"I can never forget the experience of playing for Hyderabad Blues before 35,000 paying spectators at Dhaka, long before any Test nation toured the newly formed Bangladesh. We might have been a loose combination of players from all over India, but as our skipper Ajit Wadekar reminded us minutes before the toss, no matter what we were called, we were the Indian team and it was as good as a Test match. The match was played in all seriousness, like the rest of the matches on that tour of Australia, South East Asia and Bangladesh."

Source: Cricinfo Article