The Royal Sport. The city of Vadodara has one sporting passion shared by all, and that is Cricket. The Maharajas during the Raj promoted this game for creating bonhomie with the British. It was also adopted as a game played by the royals. The Gaekwad Maharajas had well maintained personal cricket grounds and were good aficionados of the sport. The Palace Grounds, established by Maharaja Sayaji Gaekwad, is the venue of many International and First Class Cricket matches even today.

The Gaekwad clan did not leave their passion for cricket. Anshuman Gaekwad with distant relations to the royal clan rose to the national level and represented India in 40 test matches. His father Dattajirao Krishnarao Gaekwad was also in the Indian Cricket Team and played eleven test matches. He was the deputy comptroller of the state of Baroda.

Vadodara has produced a number of players who have played for the Indian team. Vijay Hazare and Anshuman Gaekwad are fondly remembered for their batting prowess. The city has also produced the wicket keeping legends Kiran More and Nayan Mongia. The baton now is held by Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan, in the Indian Eleven.

The city of Vadodara has its own team for the First Class Cricket Tournaments. Baroda Cricket Association formed in the pre-independence era looks after the cricketing issues of the city. The City Team has competed on the International First Class circuit also. The name of the team figures with the English County Teams, not a mean achievement for the city.

Baroda Cricket Association. The association is also responsible for maintaining the numerous cricket grounds. A medium sized city with two world class and five First Class grounds speaks volumes for the passion that is cricket. Numerous International matches have been played in the Moti Bagh Stadium and IPCL sports grounds. The first class matches are held on Maharaja Pratap Singh Coronation Gymkhana, Central College, Laxmi Vilas Palace and Alembic Grounds. The big industrial houses are also planning to set up world class cricket facilities in the city.

Holistic Approach to Cricket. The interest in the sport is not limited to the royals only. The schools in the city are organizing regular cricket coaching and interschool matches. The success of local boys Zaheer and Irfan has fueled the interest in the sport. The physically challenged, deaf team of the city became the state champions in the current year. The city has its representation in the women cricket too. Is it not a holistic approach to cricket?