Milind Rege, the man who never tired from caring for Mumbai cricket

To write about Milind Rege is daunting especially when you try and pen down a relationship that was beyond friendship More so when itrsquos an epitaph of somebody who meant so much to youHowever hard it may be I owe it to him for all our arguments debates sharing of seeing our glass half full and half empty at timesMilind Rege and I first came face to face when Tatas played a star studded State Bank team at the Islam Gymkhana Watching him bat against Rajinder Goel S Abid Ali from the Marine Drive sprawled on his treasured Premier Padmini with Ravi Shastri on it too I saw him gesture to us in between overs I said to Ravi maybe hes recognised us as promising cricketers and wants us to join the team for Kaderbhairsquos cutlets at lunch the cutlet gravy was the USP of playing at Islam Gymkhana At lunch Milind walked towards us as we expected an invite He asked us firmly you guys sitting comfortably on the car do you mind getting off I said Does it matter sir He replied In this case it matters the car is minerdquo Meticulous and passionate about his possessions the qualities filtered to cricket and Mumbai cricket We crossed paths again when he was our coach manager for the Mumbai under22 team Poor hotel unhealthy facilities he moved us to a decent hotel without informing the association of the change After the tournament he was reprimanded for changing hotels But he wanted player comfort We hit it off since those days in the early eighties He restructured the Tata team with seven of us joining as the old of the Tata team was yielding place to newHe then turned selector for Mumbai and as our association grew he was first to criticise a failure or a poor shot as much praise a good inningsDuring one of my many arguments over the years I said to him be consistent in your opinion Milind He stopped talking to me for a bit When we made up he said I set high standards for others so I might sound flippantrdquo We kissed and made upOnly rarely we didnrsquot talk Well I listened he talked All the listening was only on Mumbai cricket batting technique field placing or even line and length of bowlers I often interrupted and saiddoesnt it tire you And he said ldquoMumbai cricket will never tire me Irsquove seen Sardee Dilip Sardesai Manjrekar Vijay Gavaskar Sunil Wadekar Ajit closely so my expectations are high from these guysrdquoAlso ReadChampions Trophy 2025 BAN vs NZ Bangladesh puts a target of 237 runs against New ZealandHis passion involvement connect with Mumbai cricket and talent was inquisitive When Mumbai won he walked tall when they lost he shrunk as if it was a personal loss It is this quality that made him an eternal Mumbai cricket romanticWe often talked about being bridesmaids of Mumbai cricket mdash never in the foreground like the groom or a bride at a wedding Test cap but always behind them I would laugh and say to him at least we had the best seat at the wedding Milindrdquo Hed debate it by saying we tried hard as hard as the bride and groomHis cricketing career was truncated by health obstacles but that never stopped him from playing leading Mumbai and building a robust Tata teamHe often spoke of the metamorphosis of the Gavaskar he had grown up with to the one who broke records of DilipVengsarkar and his elegance of Wadekar and his leadership or even spending time with Manjrekar and Sardesai as a youngster with dreams and of Sharad Diwadkarrsquos role as a father figure in his growing years The stories and anecdotes were always salivating for someone like me who thrived on cricket historyHe never held back words when Tatas lost but was always there to celebrate a win Judicious as he was in his selection of players his role in picking a young Sachin Tendulkar for CCI and getting clearances from the board to make an exception to permit him to walk into the Clubhouse when he was underage was testament to his pushing the right person by bending traditionMy relationship with him was and will be special Of arguments debates of fighting and making up of disagreements and abruptness but a warmth that was beyond friendship and unconditional in natureA daily call was mandatory unless we were sulking with each other for some unimportant irrelevant cricketing disagreementWe were much like kids in a candy store without the candy when we disagreed on cricketing issues mdash not knowing why we disagreed but knowing very well that making up would be the best part about the innocuous dramaHe had one bone of contention with me and that was I hung up the phone up during a conversation It bothered him so much that my last debate with him was about not hearing him out After that every time we spoke I asked him ldquocan I disconnect just to make sure it didnt irk himAs is my habit when Mumbai lost I would call him more for him to vent his disappointment and hear him out rather than offer my inputsI almost did the same the other day as Mumbai lost to Vidarbha in the Ranji semifinals That morning call habit will be tough to part withAs I winced with reality that he wasnt there with us anymore I also sensed his lines of disappointment much like a well rehersed script that I know I will never hear againGoodbye Milind Rege you were never the bridesmaid for me but the Don Quixote of Mumbai cricket whose tribe I see is getting extinctThe author is a former Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain