KSCA unveils a unique museum for cricket buffs

KSCA unveils a unique museum for cricket buffs
The Times of India

Bangalore: Fans of Indian and Pakistani cricketers will have something more to cheer about now, for now the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in anticipation of the third cricket Test between the two sides, has unveiled a unique museum solely dedicated to cricket and cricket memorabilia.

The third Test begins on March 24.

Located inside Bangalore's historical Chinnaswamy Stadium, the museum has been created with the goal of encouraging youngsters to take to the sport, besides helping them to gain an insight into India's past cricketing glory.

"I think people need to know about the history of Karnataka. We have started with a book on the history of Karnataka so that the boys get know the entire history, when it started. So, we want to collect a lot of pictures of world players and put it up so the youngsters can, it can inspire a lot of youngsters by looking at the history of Karnataka",said Brajesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

J.K. Mahendra, a cricket fan who has his private collection of cricket memorabilia in Chennai, has been roped in by the KSCA to execute the project. Mahendra has his own collection of memorabilia which he has sourced from Australia and South Africa.

"I go about collecting anything and everything in cricket. I deal in memorabilia. I have some memorabilia; some have been released. I import memorabilia of Indian origin. Some of it is here",said Mahendra.

Mahendra has also engaged an artist to paint pictures of the cricketing heroes on canvas to be displayed in the museum.

The major highlight of the museum is the handprints of cricketers on cement slabs from EAS Prasanna, Chandrashekhar, Vishwanath to the present day Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman. Apart from the monochrome photographs of the yesteryears, the exhibition will have everything related to cricket from cricketing gear to awards.