Mumbai, July 2 (IANS) While Ravi Shastri was blasting six sixes off an over in a Ranji Trophy match at the Wankhede Stadium in 1985, his parents had no idea about their son’s massive achievement. Shastri’s mother, Lakshmi, was told by the neighborhood bhelpuri wala that her son had done something great on that day.

Ravi Shastri’s mother narrated this incident as the most memorable moment for her from her son’s career after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 on his behalf on Wednesday.

On the occasion of the World Sports Journalists Day, the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) on Wednesday felicitated 11 doyens of Mumbai and Indian sports with the Lifetime Achievement Awards for their overall contribution to the sport at a function organised at the Bombay Gymkhana.

Awarded with a citation and memento on the occasion were billiards ace Micheal Ferreira, three-time national table tennis champion and industrialist Niraj Bajaj, badminton star and coach Sanjay Sharma, Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, former captain of Indian women’s cricket team Shubhangi Kulkarni, Olympic hockey gold medallist Merwyn Fernandis, Arjuna Awardee and former India hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho, Former India captain and noted commentator Ravi Shastri and the women shooting trioka of Anjali Bhagwat (nee Vedpathak), Suma Shirur and Deepali Deshpande, former head coach of the Indian shooting team.

The 11 awardees were hailed not only for their achievements as players but also for the impact they had on their respective sport, inspiring the next few generations and contributing to the overall development of the game in the country.

Of the 11 awardees, 10 were present to receive the awards personally, while Ravi Shastri’s award was collected by his mother Lakshmi, as he is currently in England doing commentary for the second Test between India and England in Birmingham.

While these doyens of the sports talked about how they started their careers in sports and the efforts they put in to achieve success, and compared it with current times when the facilities have improved and opportunities have multiplied.

Addressing the gathering while receiving the award on behalf of her son, Lakshmi Shastri talked about the most memorable moment for her related to her son — when Ravi Shastri hammered six sixes in an over bowled by Tilak Raj of Baroda in a Ranji Trophy match.

Lakshmi Shastri said she was unaware of the achievement, informed of her son’s achievement by the neighborhood behlpuri wala. “So, when Ravi returned home, I asked what happened and in his usual style, he said, ‘You want to know what I did then listen to All India Radio 7.30 news’. So, I went to my husband, Dr. Jayadritha Shastri, to tell him that he should listen to the 7.30 news. He asked me why, and I told him that Ravi has done something that would be mentioned in the news,” she remembered.

She said she was thrilled to read a hoarding that said that “Shastri has ‘sobared’ Sobers” — that he has equalled the record held by Gary Sobers. “That’s the best moment of his career for me”.

The other most memorable moment, according to her, was Shastri being adjudged “Champions of Champions” for his brilliant all-round performance in the World Championships of Cricket in 1985 in Australia. “Till that time, I have not heard that there was a car brand called the Audi, I did not even know how to pronounce it, just like numerous other Indians. But it was a proud moment to see the entire time taking a ride around the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the Audi car,” he said.

Four-time World Billiards Champion Ferreira remembered his coach and mentor Wilson Jones on the occasion while Sanjay Sharma talked about his battles with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for criticising the functioning the the association.

GM Pravin Thipsay said that Indian chess is going through its golden period after its success in the 2024 Chess Olympiad, in which the country not only won the overall title but also four individual gold medals. “After that, Gukesh became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, breaking the record of Garry Kasparov by four years. Towards the end of the year, Koneru Humpy won her second World Rapid Championship, making it a really memorable year for Indian chess,” said Thipsay.

Ace shooter and now a coach, Anjali Bhagwat, remembered the hard work they had to put in to achieve success, as shooting was not quite a known sport when they started. She remembered how she qualified for the 2004 Olympics in Athens as one of the favourites but could not live up to the expectations. “I was worried about what everyone would say, that I would be criticised for my poor performance. But I was greeted with a smile and told to forget it, as such things happen in sport. Soon after that, I bounced back to win the ISSF Champion of Champions award,” she said.

Former chief national shooting coach Deepali Deshpande talked about how they had to actually educate the journalists too about the nitty-gritty of their sport when they started participating and winning medals.

Merwyn Fernandis, a member of the Indian hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, talked about how he and his friends would look for their names in the newspapers the next day after their good performances.

Among those who presented the awards were Woman Grandmasters Bhagyashree Thipsay and Anupama Gokhale, Kamlesh Mehta, Aparna Popat, Olympian Vandana Rao Carvalho, and billiards and snooker ace Devendra Joshi.

–IANS

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