Aligarh: With the establishment of a cricket club on 8 January 1878, Aligarh formed a strong connection with the gentleman's sport. Founder of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan used to encourage sports and he made Mahmood Alam the captain of the cricket club, whereas Ramashankar Mishra was made the secretary of the club.
The first sport to be played in the university was cricket, after which other sports started. In 1936, when Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan became Chancellor of AMU he gave huge donations to varsity.
After that the Willingdon Pavilion was established after the Viceroy of that time. The foundation of the cricket Pavilion was laid in AMU in honor of the Viceroy and even today AMU students play in the cricket pavilion. On the completion of the pavilion's 100 years, a Cricket Academy is now being started.
Who was Lord Willingdon
Lord Willingdon was the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936. During his tenure, the Round Table Conference was held, while he established the Indian Army Academy (IMA) in Dehradun in 1932. It was during this, in 1934 that Gandhi ji again started the Civil Disobedience Movement. The Bharatiya Kisan Sabha was established only during the tenure of Lord Willingdon and the foundation of the pavilion was established in 1936 in Aligarh Muslim University in the same name.
1878: Cricket Club formed in AMU
Cricket was born in England and the game started to be recognized in the world in the 17th century. Slowly, it reached India and became a game of passion here. It also has many interesting stories attached to it. In films like Lagaan, cricket was shown in the backdrop of colonialism and nationalism. The law of cricket was written in 1744. In 1760, the first cricket club was formed in Hamilton. The Cricket Club was formed in 1878, a year after the establishment of MAO College in Aligarh.
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Lala Amarnath learned cricket closely here
Rahat Abrar, AMU, Public Relations worker said that since 100 years of the university has been established, the Cricket Academy will also be started here in collaboration with Old Boys. Many players including former Indian captain Kapil Dev, Kirti Azad, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Rizwan Shamshad have played here in the grounds of Willingdon Pavilion. Aslam Ali, Shamshad Ali, Mushtaq Ali have also played cricket here. Independent India's cricket captain Lala Amarnath also learned the nuances of cricket here.
Pitch made from soil brought from Punjab
The Pavilion is always maintained and facilities including a mower, roller for pitch making are also used in its maintenance. Since the stadium is from the time of the Britishers, the foundation stone on which the name of the then Viceroy Willingdon is written is testimony to its oldness. For 30 years, Madan Lal has worked here as caretaker. He told ETV Bharat that the cricket pitch has been made from soil brought specially from Punjab.
