Abhishek Sharma’s Amritsar: Where cricket meets kulchas and kites

Abhishek Sharma

It’s Sunday evening at the Gandhi Sports Complex Ground, first constructed in 1932, where the assistant curator Raju is approached by some players of a local cricket league. “Abhishek Sharma ethe hi khede ne? (Does Abhishek Sharma also play here?),” they wonder. Raju points to the adjoining Badminton Hall behind the stadium. “Hanji, te ground toh bahar chakke uss badminton hall te marda si (Yes, and he would hit sixes landing at that badminton hall outside the stadium),” he said.

Raju’s grandfather Rakha Ram, worked as a curator at the ground too, post independence. Leading to the store room, the Amritsar native would point to a picture of former Indian captain Kapil Dev being handed a congratulatory message by Sir Richard Hadlee on breaking his then world record of 431 Test wickets. The stadium hall also had pictures of pre-Independence India pacers duo of Mohammad Nisar and Amar Singh. “My grandfather spoke about seeing Bishen Singh Bedi and others in their prime at the stadium. Later, I watched 1983 World Cup winner Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal paji get a welcome here.”

When Abhishek’s father Raj Kumar Sharma started dropping off a young Abhishek before heading to his bank duty, they would watch over him like guardians. “He would sit in the stands after nets and ask us to get him juice, which he was very fond of. Even if it rained on some days, he would do his fitness drills,” shares Raju.

Fellow curators Hansraj and Mangal Das, join in, with Hansraj having worked during the India New Zealand ODI in 1995, one of only two ODIs hosted by the ground. “Abhishek always asks for good bouncy wickets. While he works on tackling spin bowlers, he also believes that a good pacer can be lethal even on slow wickets,” Hansraj explains, adding the hook and pull shots flew naturally from his bat. He’s heard tales of Viv Richards’ destructive batting here in the 1980’s. “But then we too have been lucky to witness our Abhe,” shares Hansraj. “I mean Abhishek. For us he is Abhe.”

In a city, where Sundays begin by devouring naan, poori and kulchas for breakfast, mornings also mean starting the day at the famous tea stalls. Giani Tea Stall, located on Cooper Road near the Ram Bagh complex, built during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, is helped by septuagenarian Gurmit Singh since 1956. While Giani, which has seen the likes of Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Daler Mehndi, Diljit Dosanjh and Sidhu visiting and tasting the tea, remains a crowd favourite, the last decade has seen new tea shops offer a wide spread of tea, paneer bhurji, bun butter, butter toast and bun omelette. This Sunday morning too, joggers dig into their grand breakfast, happily discussing previous night’s 16-ball 30 by their own ‘Ambarsar da Munda’ Abhishek in the fifth T20I against New Zealand.

“Politics or Cricket are discussed at almost every table. I remember listening to cricket commentary over radio and having discussions over the batting of the likes of Kapil Dev, Viv Richards, Mohinder Amarnath or bowling of Bishen paji. In the last 6-7 years, new tea-stalls have opened with all the glittering boards. Just like the new gen Abhishek Sharma, who has brought pyrotechnics on the cricket pitch with his shots,” says Narinder Sandhu.