KOCHI: Though it is well-known that cricket is an English invention, not many, including the staunchest of cricket fans, will be aware the modern limitedovers game has its roots in Tripunithura. It was late K V Kelappan Thampuran, a member of the first Travancore-Cochin team that played in the Ranji Trophy, who came up with the first limited- overs tournament in 1951, which formed the basis of the now popular one-day cricket. The Pooja Knockout Cricket Tournament was first played at Palace Oval with a 50 over-aside format.
The tournament, over its 67-year-history, has witnessed the participation of top Indian cricketers like Anil Kumble, Mohammed Azharuddin and Venkatesh Prasad. The idea for such a format came to Kelappan Thampuran, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday come May 19, due to his disappointment with the longer format popular which was those days but seldom produced a result. “Those days, local tournaments had two-day matches while Ranji Trophy games were three days long. When I asked him how he came up with the idea of one-day cricket, Thampuran told me it wasn't the cricket he had dreamt of playing and wanted to change it,” said P Balachandran, former Kerala coach.
“The fact there was no precedent to the format and that it was only adopted in England more than a decade later proves the visionary Kelappan was,” said Balachandran. “We lack the records of the early editions of the tournament, but there are three players — Ravi Achan, Kerala Varma and KKR Varmawho played the first edition and are still alive,” he said. The trio will be present when the Tripunithura Cricket Club, once captained by Kelappan Thampuran, along with former cricketers and organisers conduct a two-week centenary celebration of the limited-over pioneer from May 5.
“We feel he didn't get the recognition he deserved and wanted to change that,” said Balachandran. An U-13 cricket competition, to be held annually, will be launched on May 7 with the inaugural edition's final scheduled for May 20. Also, a newly constructed pavilion at the historic Palace Oval will be dedicated in the memory of Kelappan Thampuran, who was also the founder secretary of Kerala Cricket Association. “Kelappan Thampuran was someone who gave youngsters like us a chance to play cricket when the opportunities were very limited. He was a fatherly figure for many cricketers who came after him,” said Biju John, secretary of Tripunithura Cricket Club.