Malkhanagar

Shivaji Basu Thakur

Sri Sivaji Basu Thakur was the son of Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur. He was born on 6th of January, 1926. His boyhood and youth was spent in Maimansingha. He used to play both cricket and football when he was in school. While studying in Vidyasagar College he played regularly for the college cricket and football team like his father and his uncle. In 1945-46 he was selected for Calcutta University Cricket Team to play Inter-University Cricket Tournament. Later he was elected a blue. While he was still studying in college he was selected and joined the East Bengal club. From 1944–45 he played cricket for the club consecutively for three years. He also played Ranji trophy for Bengal. In 1949–50 he played for Sporting Union for two years. From there he played for Mohun Bagan club. He played there till 1963–64. He made around 40 centuries playing in CAB league, knockout tournaments and Ranji trophy matches. From 1948 till 1957 he played Ranji trophy for Bengal. In 1951 while playing against Mysore he scored 168 runs and help Bengal to increase its glory in the tournament. At that time he used to open the innings for Bengal with Pankaj Ray.

He got a job in Eastern Railway in sports quota. Railway Cricket Control came under National Championship from 1958. From then on he played Ranji trophy for Railways. He scored more than 1500 runs in Ranji trophy. In 1956–57 while playing for South Eastern Railway against Railway Board he scored unbeaten centuries in both the innings. In 1951–52 playing against the Commonwealth team he was selected for eastern and northern region. In the Golden Jubilee Celebration of CAB he played against overseas team and in 1958 he played against the West Indies team. Sri Sivaji Basu Thakur was a great coach and he had a great talent in coaching his team. In inter- Railway cricket tournament from 1956 to 1962 he was the captain of South-Eastern Railway team and under his captainship they won the trophy in 1956 and then again in 1957.

In 1957 under the directorship of Board of Control for Cricket in India he was elected as a representative for ‘Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Coaching for Coaches Scheme’. He was the only one from Bengal. In 1952 CAB selected Sri Sivaji Basu Thakur and Sri Priyanshu Chatterjee to England’s ‘Alf Gover Indoor Cricket School’. There he studied coaching for coaches training. Returning from England he became a coach for CAB between 1953 and 1964. Along with that he coached Jadavpur University cricket team between 1960 and 1970.

He became a CAB working committee member in 1964–65 after retiring from cricket. He was also a coaching committee member for nine years and selection committee member for six years. He received many awards like ‘Tamralipta Awards’ for helping CAB. Very recently in 2006 he was given lifetime achievement award by CAB. According to great cricketer Sri Gopal Basu, he was the last of the Mohicans.

In 1957 a camp was created in Pune for cricketers who will be part of England tour in 1959. He was selected and was sent to that camp. In the camp he got injured when a ball suddenly rose and hit his eye. His retina was damaged. His eyesight was affected. His dream to be a test cricketer ended that day in Pune.

Eden Gardens Legend & Romance :
Raju Mukherji
Page 127