Hyderabad by Walk - Clock Tower, LB Stadium

We continued the walk from Gun Park towards our final destination which was Grand Hotel. On the way i stopped to see the clock tower at the Police Control Room which always looked impressive but I never stopped a moment to admire it. 

We crossed the road and peeped at the clock tower which looks every bit as majestic as any but there's precious little written about it. I noticed that the path led to  some volleyball training that was going on in a rectangular ground which is on the border of Lal Bahadur Stadium (earlier called Fateh Maidan). We stepped inside and found many parents also sitting on steps that also served as the pavilion or seating arrangements.  It was good to see so much serious sporting activity in the mornings, parents waiting to drop and and pick up their children. Further on we came upon some handball practice to the right and then to the left the tennis stadium and tennis courts (not as well used). 

We came over to the stadium side and passed by the halls which were under the steps - the table tennis halls where I used to play in 1977 going from school, the shuttle badminton halls etc. The ground has a bit of history. It was originally called Fateh Maidan because this vast open ground was where Aurangzeb's Mughal army camped during its 8 month long siege of Golconda. When they won, they named the ground Fateh Maidan which translates to Victory Square. The name stayed until 1967 when it was renamed Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium after the Prime Minister of India. 

The stadium is owned by the Sports Council and previously it was used to play International and national cricket matches by the Hyderabad Cricket Association which had a small office in the ground. The stadium had a capacity of 25000. It hosted three tests and 14 ODIs. The first Test was against New Zealand in 1955.

This was where we watched international cricket matches - I remember watching a South Zone-England encounter in 1982 with passes we earned thanks to playing for Hyderabad Under 15 team and helping our team win (and the horrible state camp before that tour led by Prem Kumar and Kaleem Ul Haq). I remember Baig sir (and Vaseem Ul Haq sir) coaching there for years, running the show brilliantly and producing many great cricketers. I remember going to him. The exercises running up and down the steps. Another time a South Zone Pakistan and another time a South Zone West Indies. We would get passes those days - now they do not give ex-players passes anymore.  

Fateh Maidan is also where we played a few league matches for MCC under the legendary ML Jaisimha and other matches like the Thumps Up trophy between All Saints XI and Rest of Hyderabad XI which All Saints won! Also where I played a practice match against Zimbabwe in the lead up to the Reliance cup and knocked over two wickets. 

That's me bowling opener Brown! 2-17 in 6 overs.

Fateh Maidan club is also where we used to frequent with Ranjan who was a member (and since I worked in IDBI which was just across the road it was easy. The shopping complex towards the Nizam College had a cute bookstore which I frequented but never bought any book. I got my first car stereo fitted in one of those shops on the other side. Then there was the Irani cafe (don't know if its still there) which people would say was owned by actress Tabu's family. Another memory is doing one of those school drills for some state function with some sticks - crazy. Hated that.    

Somehow I realise I spent a lot of time in this area - school was at Gun Foundry, cricket was at the stadium, work at IDBI. Hmmm.