Cricket veteran M Chittaranjan remembers ITC sponsorship of Wills Trophy

At 92, M Chittaranjan recalls his role in starting the Wills Trophy in 1977-78, crediting former BCCI Secretary Ghulam Ahmed and ITC colleagues for promoting limited-overs cricket and nurturing young talent across India

Hyderabad: At 92, M Chittaranjan, who made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1953-54 under the captaincy of the great Col.C K Nayudu against a star-studded Mysore, stands as a reminder of his contribution to giving a new direction to cricket through sponsorship in the 1970s when many were not as keen.

Why? After quitting the game early to take care of his family, Chittaranjan joined the tobacco giant ITC and played a lead role, thanks to the support of former India off-spinner and ex-BCCI Secretary Ghulam Ahmed (from Hyderabad), in convincing the BCCI to start the Wills Trophy in 1977-78, the country’s premier one-day tournament. This was five years before India, led by Kapil Dev, went on to win the 1983 World Cup.

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“Well, it took a lot of effort and many trips to Mumbai to convince the then top brass of the BCCI about the importance of the Wills Trophy and how it would help in spotting young talent across India,” Chittaranjan recalls in a chat with ‘Telangana Today’.

“But thanks to the great Ghulam Ahmed and good friends like A.S. Bhatia in ITC, who held key positions, we could finally sponsor the Wills Trophy,” he said.

“It was definitely a very expensive proposition, but since ITC was keen on promoting limited-overs cricket in a big way, and more so because it started to move away from Test cricket for lack of time, we thought the Wills Trophy was the best option. Later on, ITC even sponsored the 1996 World Cup in India, which Sri Lanka won,” Chittaranjan recalled.

Chittaranjan said that age should not be a bar, especially when someone is fit and willing to contribute selflessly for the all-round development of the game.

“Whatever restrictions were there, like having a cap suggesting that only those players who played more than 10 first-class games or below 70 years of age should be allowed to have a role in the Indian Cricketers Association,” the nonagenarian with a wonderful memory said.

On his association with the great CK Nayudu, Chittaranjan said his advice was always simple – ‘balla seeda karkey maaro’ (hit the ball hard with a straight bat).

“I was privileged to play under someone like him and against many greats of yesteryears,” signed off the elderly gentleman-cricketer, even while thanking his wife Chaya and family members for their unstinted support throughout.