Moving from Vidarbha to Mumbai in the early 1970s, leg-spinning all-rounder Rakesh Tandon quickly became a part of the city's cricketing ecosystem and Ranji Trophy team. His acumen was good enough for him to become the first captain of the formidable Nirlon team in 1977 before Sunil Gavaskar joined them the following year. Tandon was part of four Mumbai Ranji Trophy teams in 1972-73, 1974-75, 1975-76 and 1976-77.

Sachin Tendulkar's first senior division Kanga League captain, Hemant Kenkre, who represented Sassanian CC and Cricket Club of India (CCI) on the club scene, shares the story of his cricket journey which involved several seasons of the Kanga League, a tournament which is played in the monsoon months. Kenkre rubbed shoulders with the cream of Mumbai cricket in his premier division club cricket days with the CCI from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

Starting his club cricket at Rajasthan Sports Club, for whom he got a hundred in the Kanga League, and graduating to Dadar Union Sporting Club, Sunil Gavaskar's local cricket journey was nothing short of memorable. Throw in his school and college cricket at the St Xavier's institutions and you'll get a feel of Mumbai cricket's tapestry. The tough, ruthless and at times, not-so-fair world of city cricket is displayed in the form of a two-year gap between his two first-class games for Mumbai (1967-68 to 1969-70). But runs mattered finally, runs which became the main act in the Sunil Gavaskar story. This special episode of the Mumbai Cricket Podcast with Clayton Murzello, to coincide with Sunil Gavaskar turning 75 on July 10, is not to be missed.

A school cricket hero in 1974-75, Nakul Rege went on to play junior cricket for the city as well as represent the Bombay University team. He was a promising batsman and able leg-spinner, parading his skills for PJ Hindu Gymkhana, a team he was part of during their 'A' division Dr HD Kanga League triumph in 1981. Nakul talks about rubbing shoulders with the best names in Mumbai cricket and how he benefited from the likes of Test players Eknath Solkar and Ashok Mankad. In 1984, he migrated to the USA, from where he continues his love affair with cricket.

A keen interest in cricket saw a young Prof Shetty handle junior cricket affairs in city cricket, which earned him a post in the Mumbai Cricket Association managing committee in 1990.
By 1996, he was the association's secretary, graduating soon to holding key positions in the BCCI. A sought-after and trusted administrator among present and former players, Shetty has gone down as one of the pillars of cricket administration in this country. Mumbai cricket is at the heart of his interests and he spells out why in this podcast.

From a young Ruia College student, itching to be a cricketer, Dr CT Patankar rose to be an India stumper, who impressed no less a personality than India's first Test captain CK Nayudu, in the 1950s.

Despite being a fine wicketkeeper and sound batsman who could adjust to different situations, Patankar, the oldest living Mumbai-based Test player at 93, played only one Test and 10 Ranji games for Mumbai. He took things in his stride and moved to Maharashtra in 1966-67. At the age of 50, Patankar decided to do his PhD in Materials Management. In 1998, Patankar accompanied the Indian team on their Test and one-day tour to Zimbabwe.

Starting off as a leg-spinner and lower-order batsman in Pune, Milind Gunjal rose to become a key batsman for his state's Ranji team, Tata Sports Club and PJ Hindu Gymkhana on the Mumbai club scene. He rubbed shoulders with the best names in Mumbai cricket and came close to being picked for India's 1986 tour of England. He revisits his up and down first-class cricket journey which culminated with Maharashtra reaching the Ranji Trophy final against victors Punjab in 1992-93.

Runs by the tons at the junior level caused the Mumbai Ranji Trophy selectors to pick Pravin Amre as a teenager in 1986-87 for a knockout match. While he didn't set Bangalore on fire in a lost game v Karnataka, he decided to shift to Railways on the advice of his coach Ramakant Achrekar. His new team provided no bed of roses, but he scored enough runs to be picked for India in 1991-92. The following year he got a Test debut ton against SA at Durban. A Mumbai return was part of his destiny and after ending his FC career with Goa, Amre took to coaching. Success as Mumbai coach decorates his cricketing CV, but donning the Mumbai coach's cap seems unlikely. In this podcast, Amre opens up on his struggles, highs and lows. His story is nothing short of inspirational.