Parsee Gymkhana (PG) is proud of its spectacular cricket team which plays as a unit and wins championships, doing the team and the community proud! Each team member is highly committed and focused, and has the back of the others in the game. What stands out about this team is their sense of respect for each other on and off the field and the special friendships formed within this phenomenal bunch of sports personalities, which will last a lifetime. With another Talim Shield title in their kitty, Parsi Times Sports Reporter, Binaisha M. Surti brings you PG’s success story of clinching this splendid victory.
A Brief History: Padmakar Talim and Ramesh Donde were dear friends of Manohar N. More – all pioneers of the Public School in Dadar. On 6th October, 1947, Padmakar suffered a severe appendicitis attack and passed away. Hurt deeply by his friend’s death and wanting to keep his legacy alive, Manohar More wished to institute a cricket tournament in his memory. He sought the guidance of B M Patil – senior member of the Mahim Juvenile Sports Club, who welcomed this proposal. Setting out to collect funds from friends and admirers of Padmakar Talim, they cropped up Rs. 600 which was used to buy two big shields – for the winner and the runner up. Founders – Manohar N. More, Ramesh B. Donde and Balchandra Patil – organized the first Padmakar Talim Shield Cricket Tournament on Dassehra day in 1948. It has, since, become one of the most popular cricket tournaments in the circuit.
On 23rd October 2021, a dominating performance from defending champions, Parsee Gymkhana had them clinch a massive win by 87 runs, against Payyade Sports Club in the finals, thus winning the Padmakar Talim Shield T20 Cricket Tournament, at the MIG Cricket Club, in Bandra. Put into bat first, PG notched up a mammoth 204-6 in their 20 overs, courtesy great batting by Sachin Yadav 55(32) who smashed eight fours and two sixes; Aditya Tare contributed 33(15) including four boundaries and two sixes. Later, all-rounder Parag Khanapurkar, took the attack back to the opposition with 39 (18), coupled with one boundary and four sixes. Adding Shams Mulani 20 (8) ensured PG posting a total that intimidated the opposition. Badre Alam picked two wickets for Payyade S.C.
In reply, Payyade were skittled out for a mere 117 in just 16.2 overs. Siddhesh Lad stood like a rock for his team, scoring 55 runs. PG bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals, disallowing the opposition to get back into the contest, as the run-rate kept mounting. The PG fielding unit refused to give away easy runs. Parag Khanapurkar picked 3-20 in his 3 overs; Manish Rao snapped up 3-14 in just 2.2 overs; Tushar Deshpande grabbed 2-14 in his 3 over spell; and Yash Dicholkar picked 2 wickets.
Elated and proud Parsee Gymkhana President, Mehli Golvala shared with PT, “It is a meritorious win, I saw some of the earlier matches and the final on Pitch Vision which is an amazing new concept relaying live cricket. I felt the standard of T20 Club cricket in Mumbai is very high. It has ultimately been a super team effort in winning yet another Talim Shield, despite the absence of Surya Kumar Yadav, who’s on national duty, representing India at the T20 World Cup in UAE. I’d like to give a special mention to Cricket Secretary – Khodadad, who always manages to marshal and rally his troops.”
Speaking exclusively to Parsi Times on their win, the cool and composed PG captain, Vikrant Auti, known for his unique strategies, said, “Champions retain championship titles. It’s not an easy process knowing that teams will come hard at you. This will remain one of the most memorable tournaments for me as captain. PG dominated in almost all games and won – this speaks a lot about the team. I would especially like to thank Khodu Sir, coach Vinayak Mane and our PG management for their constant support and efforts towards the team.”
All-rounder Parag Khanapurkar shared, “This is my second season at PG, and we are back-to-back Talim Shield champions. This is just the beginning and we would like to continue winning titles.” Mumbai Cricket team’s senior pro and PG’s expert wicketkeeper-batsman, Aditya Tare, added, “We put in a great performance through the tournament. We won all games with big margins – all players made good contributions. We played an aggressive brand of cricket. I’m delighted that we successfully defended our Talim Shield title.”
While Tushar Deshpande said, “My only thought while playing the Talim Shield is to make a difference for team PG and that eventually happened – we won the championship for the second consecutive year! Being in the CSK camp during the IPL and learning from senior international cricketers helped. Khodu Sir has been phenomenal – providing ample support and motivation to every individual,” all-rounder Shams Mulani stated, “Playing for PG is very special – it always feels like you’re part of something big. This is my first year playing for PG as my first-choice team. We’ve had a tremendous start. Our fierceness has helped us beat top teams in Mumbai.” Nikhil Patil added, “We’ve been playing as a well-gelled team for a whole now. We always back each other on the field, enjoying each other’s success. Everyone contributes his best in these matches.”
Renowned PG coach, Vinayak Mane said, “We played outstanding T20 cricket this Talim Shield and won it convincingly! The boys were well prepared and a strong unit. Sachin Yadav, Parag Khanapurkar, Aditya Tare, Yash Dicholkar, Shams Mulani, Nikhil Patil and Tushar Deshpande were outstanding with their consistent performances while skipper Vikrant Auti led the team very well. I would like to thank Khodadad for his constant support and the cricket committee for providing the much-needed facilities. We look to maintaining our winning streak and taking it to the next tournament.”
The man of the hour, Khodadad Yazdegardi, Vice President and Cricket Secretary of Parsee Gymkhana; as also MCA Apex Council Member, and Team PG’s biggest support system, concluded saying, “Winning a championship is a great feeling, but to win it back-to-back, being defending champions is very commendable and heartwarming. Very proud of the boys and the support staff for the hard work and sweat they put in during training practice sessions… and then going on o they went out and executed game after game. Wishing the team lots more success and many more championships.”
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