Homecomings are synonymous with skilled sportsperson. For Sulakshan Kulkarni, the Tamil Nadu head coach, Friday was one such event when his facet educated on the Dadoji Konddev Stadium forward of its Vijay Hazare Trophy Group E opener in opposition to Goa.
Having grown up within the central metropolis adjoining to Mumbai, Kulkarni – the previous Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter – spent his adolescence in and across the stadium that was inaugurated in 1982.
“I have literally seen this stadium coming up from the scratch and I have the fondest of memories from playing here, right from a star-studded invitational tournament organised soon after the stadium was ready,” Kulkarni informed The Hindu on Friday.
“Returning to the same venue as a coach, that too with a formidable side like Tamil Nadu, is special.”
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After making his First Class debut for Railways in 1985-86, Kulkarni made his maiden Ranji Trophy look for Mumbai at his dwelling floor the next season. Almost a decade later, he scored a gutsy 96 and a daddy hundred – 161 – in successive Ranji outings in opposition to Maharashtra and Saurashtra, respectively.
The latter, in January 1996, turned out to be the final of the six Ranji matches hosted by the stadium. After being within the doldrums for over twenty years, the stadium owned by the Thane Municipal Corporation has been revived over the past 4 years.
Besides internet hosting age-group matches, the stadium is staging Vijay Hazare Trophy video games for the second time within the final three seasons.
“This is such a sporting wicket and a proper stadium. Now with the authorities adding floodlights, I just hope that the big-league cricket keeps coming back to my hometown so that I can keep coming back here again and again,” signed off Kulkarni, with a large smile.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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