Title - A cricket rivalry to savour and salute - The Times of India

There are bridges that make two cities one, bridges that connect islands and bridges that cross rivers. And then there is a bridge that gave birth to Mumbai's two iconic cricket clubs.

The British engineers from Great Indian Penninsular Company of Railway built the Tilak Bridge in 1923 as a great service to the people of east and west Dadar. But little did those engineers realise that this connection would give birth to the healthy rivalry between two elite clubs of Mumbai cricket: Dadar Union and Shivaji Park.

The reservoir of talent had split into two. But perhaps this connection enhanced the talent even further. The two clubs in competing with each other, would play to their potential. It was said that when these two clubs met in a tournament, cricket lovers would flock to the ground much before players arrived. Time and again players lived up to their reputation, regaling the spectators.

Vasu Paranjape, captain of Dadar Union for two decades, doesn't remember a match that was one sided "The match used to spur both teams. There was hardly any difference man to man. The team that held their nerve on the day would win. I remember Ajit (Wadekar) and Vishu (Bondre) got a lot of runs against us. The rivalry was healthy and there were hardly any incidents when umpires had to intervene."

But once an altercation did take place between Vijay Manjrekar and Urmikant Modi. As usual, Manjrekar made a caustic remark when Modi appealed. In the evening, skipper Naren Tamhane made Modi apologise to Manjrekar. Next day, Modi was riding his scooter when he saw Manjrekar standing in the queue at the bus stop. He stopped his scooter and went to Manjrekar. Seconds later, the pillion seat of Modi's scooter had Manjrekar on it. Modi dropped him at his office. That was the spirit then.

Shivaji Park Gymkhana (SPG) had a strong batting line up with Madhu Patil, Vijay Manjrekar and Manohar Hardikar. Later, Ajit Wadekar and Sudhakar Adhikari joined them. Gupte brothers, Ramakant Desai and Padmakar Shivalkar were the bowlers. So skillful were they that the size of the ground wasn't an issue for these players.

Dadar Union was equally strong with disciplinarian Madhav Mantri leading the team. Ramnath Kenny, Amaladi brothers, P K Kamath, S N Shankar, Naren Tamhane backed by fast bowlers Narayan Pai, Vitthal Patil, Kamlakar Panjari and left-armer Urmikant Modi.

Wadekar says, "We were really scared of Ramnath Kenny. He was a superb batsman with an all-round game. And as a bowler, Nanu (Narayan) Pai was really quick and nasty. He would aim at your ribs all the time. Urmi Modi was a bit sharp. Vitthal Patil was good too, but a bit slow. I faced him well. I remember getting a double hundred in the Matunga Gymkhana invitation tournament against them at Shivaji Park."

Once when Dadar Union were chasing 227 against Shivaji Park Gymkhana, Vasu Paranjape unexpectedly went to bat ahead of Avi Karnik. Ramakant Desai was bowling quick and Paranjape hit two straight sixes to unsettle him. He ended up scoring a brilliant 126.

Karnik recalls, "That was a brilliant knock. He hit everybody out of the attack."

Sunil Gavaskar, who played for Dadar Union in the 70s along with Vengsarkar and Ramnath Parkar says, "The rivalry between Dadar Union and Shivaji Park Gymkhana was intense and well known in Mumbai cricket circles. The greatest tribute to Dadar Union was paid by late Vijay Manjrekar, a staunch SPG member, by sending his son Sanjay to play for Dadar Union instead of Shivaji Park Gymkhana. That Sanjay today is respected as an upright, honest chronicler and commentator is largely due to his association with Dadar Union at the start of his career."

That most of the Bombay Test stars from 50s to 70s came from these two clubs is a tribute to the spirit of the game. Dadar Union and Shivaji Park Gymkhana represent an era that seems long lost. It was a time when people played for the sake of the game.

With authentic sportsmanship, they played cricket like a sport, not business. Perhaps the adage 'Competition results in excellence' was written while watching a match between these two clubs.