The score must go on!

A team of 20 scorekeepers work relentlessly atop Wankhede’s giant, manual scoreboard without basic ventilation or washroom facilities to ensure...

The red-soil pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium always poses a tough challenge for batsmen. Another tough challenge at the Wankhede is the giant, manual scoreboard, which is operated by around 20 scorekeepers amidst testing conditions. 

Day One of the India versus New Zealand Test on Friday was yet another hectic day in the office for these scorekeepers who have to continuously run up and down a flight of winding stars to operate the giant scoreboard placed atop the corporate boxes near the grand stand. 

Pradipkumar Puthran

ICC mandate

These people have to first climb around 130 steps to reach the top of the scoreboard which is perched around 80 feet above the ground. Besides, there is no provision for a washroom or ventilation either. There are two digital scoreboards at the Wankhede, but the manual scoreboard is a mandatory fixture as per the International Cricket Council’s guidelines. 

Pradipkumar Puthran, 62, who is supervising operations of the manual scoreboard, explained how he and his team go about their arduous tasks. “We don’t have any ventilation inside the scoreboard room. We don’t have a washroom either, so each time someone has to relieve himself, it’s a long walk down first and then up again, back to work. It’s similarly tough if one needs to take a tea or snack break. It [keeping score] is a stressful job as the boys don’t get much time for breaks,” Puthran, a former Reserve Bank of India employee, told mid-day on Friday. Puthran, who used to play cricket and football as a hobby, recalled how then Mumbai Cricket Association sub-committee members Vilas Sawant and Surendra Shewale approached him back in 1987 to operate the manual scoreboard.

‘Pure teamwork’

“It was the 1987 Reliance World Cup semi-final between India and England, when we operated a manual scoreboard for the first time. It’s pure teamwork. Throughout the match I co-ordinate with my 20 operators and a couple of MCA scorers, like Deepak Joshi and Harshil Patel in this Test. Even if one of my boys goes down for a break, its difficult to keep score correctly because each person is assigned a specific task. So, while one boy is updating the score of the batters, another is looking after the analysis of the bowlers and yet another is keeping a tab on the total score or the wickets lost,” added Puthran.

Senior MCA scorer Vivek Gupte acknowledged the effort of the scorekeepers. He said: “Firstly, reaching the top here is tough. And you can imagine how these boys work during summer, without any ventilation. I have seen them remove their shirts while working inside the scoreboard room. They can’t even refresh themselves as there is no facility here for it.” Joshi, who previously kept score in several Tests, ODIs and IPL matches from the cool confines of the air conditioned press box, also highlighted the plight of the manual scorekeepers. “It’s definitely a tough job, considering the height of the scoreboard and other obvious issues. But the view of the ground from up there is just amazing,” he said.

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