Green Park, Kanpur is a very old Test Cricket Center supported by local industrialists. It is the only center in UP for public to enjoy Cricket. There was no Television then. Hearing commentary was popular at tea stalls.
You could hear on radio or read in newspapers. Commentary was strictly not ball to ball as today, Pearson Surita was more methodical but great Vizzy will go in his own world till something happened on the field. Our openers were Pankaj Roy and Nari contractor. They were good players but will get out early quite often. ML Jaisimha was a very stylist player and when he will get out early, Vizzy will quip, he was in a hurry to catch a bus. The way he spoke and as it sounded, it was pleasing to the ears. Ken Barrington was very popular fielder on boundary lines, darling of the crowds. Wesley hall used to be a very fearsome fast bowler. India won against Australia when one match wonder Jassu patel took 9 wickets.
Presently our Indian Cricket Team is very strong in all departments of the game. Our fielding used to be poor but now, it is excellent. Look how Virat Kohli plays from well inside the crease and our bowlers are fearsome.
The first Indian medium pacer was Karsan Ghavri till Kapil Dev came in the scene. Spinners were Bapu Nadkarni and Salim Durani till we got trinity of Bedi, E. A. S. Prasanna and B. S. Chandrasekhar. Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar were solid batsmen. Adding to the list, there are Farookh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan. If kapil would not have taken catch of Viv Richards, we would not have won the World Cup (of course it was a team effort).
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)