Jamshedpur lifts Jiji

Cricket was his life’s passion,” said Dr Jamshed Irani when speaking of his father Jiji’s commitment to the game at the inauguration of the 32nd Jiji Irani Challenge Cup Cricket Tournament on November 3, 2018. Visiting Parsi teams from Jamshedpur, Calcutta, Secunderabad and Surat had come to play with the Nagpur host team in the five-day pentangular match. In a lighter vein Jamshed confided, "I think my dad would have been happier had I been a first class cricketer, rather than the MD (managing director) of TISCO (now Tata Steel)!... Though I have been away for 60 years, Nagpur is always close to my heart. I am happy to see the city has changed for the better, over the years.” He went on to inform the audience that his father was the initiator of the Guzdar League Cricket Tournament which is played to this day.
Earlier Shiraz Gimi, chairman of the Tournament since its inception, warmly welcomed Jamshed, his wife Daisy, his sister Diana Hormusji and the visiting teams. Shiraz Doongaji, president of the Nagpur Parsi Gymkhana (NPG), stated that Nagpur really looked forward to hosting this Tournament. After Jamshed was introduced to the players, the Tournament was declared open with the release of dozens of multi-colored gas balloons, by the younger boys and girls of the Nagpur Parsi community.
While the days were busy with daily cricket matches being played at two grounds with much enthusiasm, the evenings were devoted to maja-masti, fun and food, catching up with old friends and making of new ones. Each of the evening programs began with the prize distribution of the day’s matches at the hands of a senior person from the visiting teams and ended with a sumptuous dinner.

The winner of the 2018 Parsi pentangular was Jamshedpur with Nagpur being the runner- up. The Erach Pandole Shield for the Man of the Series was won by Jamsheed Hormusji of the Secunderabad team for his spectacular 260 runs, five wickets and three catches. The Best Batsman was Khushal Jilla (287 runs) also of Secunderabad. Xerxes Patrawala of Jamshedpur was adjudged Best Bowler for the seven wickets he took. The Best Wicket Keeper was Ramin Bulsara of Calcutta for eight dismissals. The Youngest Player was 14-year-old Shiamak Bhathena of Secunderabad and the veteran of the series was Noomi Mehta of Calcutta.
Snapshots, a cricket souvenir, was released by Pesho Mehta and Darub Wadia, two veteran cricketers, both now in their mid-90s. The picturesque magazine is the brainchild of its editor Khurshid Dalal.
The NPG had worked hard to provide an entertaining program for every evening. On the first evening, the Nagpur Parsi Dharamshalla lawns were turned into a colorful Maharashtrian village of ‘Jiji-pur.’ The chhamias (dancers) in their bright ghagras and chunnis with their latkas and jhatkas, got everyone into the dancing mood. The snacks were jhunka-bhakri and pooran-poris; kebabs and chips, a strict no-no. Annu Doongaji (wife of Shiraz) as the fortune teller, Annu Devi Maa, had the crowd in splits of laughter with her bhavishya-vani which forecast a sure win for the Nagpur team!

On the second night NPG secretary Tauby and Naushad Bhagwagar hosted a dinner on the lawns of their home for the cricketers, family and friends accompanying them and all those from Nagpur who had helped organize the pentangular. Good music and high spirits got the youngsters dancing and enjoying till late in the night.
The third evening saw a most entertaining Antakshari sing-along program: "Aa dékhé jara, kaunsi team mein kitna hai dum (Let us see which team is the most powerful)!” Tauby and Micky Chinoy anchored the evening that had everyone taking part.
The next night Darryl Grant and his band played foot-tapping music. The dancing took some time to get started but once it got going, it didn’t stop till the police came after midnight, on a complaint of "too much noise” by the neighbors!
The finale was a grand function on the Dharamshala grounds. The special invitee was advocate Shashank Vyankatesh Manohar, a well-known cricket administrator who had twice served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is presently chairman of the International Cricket Council. Manohar was awarded a special memento for his services to the game of cricket by Aspi Bapuna, president of the Nagpur Parsi Punchayet (NPP). Bapuna also felicitated local cricket heroes Faiz Fazal and Prashant Vaidya who have made it to the Indian national team and presented each of them with a memento.
Service Above Self Awards were presented by Bapuna to Jimmy Rana who has over the years been quietly and efficiently running a hospice for terminally ill cancer patients, Dr Thrity Patel, ex-dean, faculty of law, Nagpur University, Gev Awari, ex-member of parliament and Rhoda M. Patel, member of the managing committee of the NPP. A posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the late Jal P. Gimi, former vice chancellor of the Nagpur University.
Whilst thanking the invitees, Tauby mentioned that a big thank you also went out to Shiraz Gimi, Shiraz Doongaji, Navzar Dotivala of Jamshedpur and Jimbo Vatcha of Calcutta for organizing the daily cricket matches. She thanked the residents of Tata Baug for sharing their homes with the cricketers and Mehru Watchmaker who in spite of the personal tragedy of having lost her husband a few weeks before the matches started, stood by her commitment to cater for all the meals of the visiting cricketers and did a wonderful job of the same. The Bapuna family was profusely thanked for sponsoring the last evening function plus all the members of NPG and the many volunteers who pitched in to help. Tauby’s own untiring efforts in the success of the five-day festivities started a couple of months before the event and stretched to a few days after!
This Tournament that has grown in popularity over the past 32 years is more than just a sports event. It is an occasion for great bonhomie, of renewing friendships and bringing the community together. Everyone was heard saying "Goodbye, till we meet again next year!”