• Home
• /
• Sports
• /
• Cricket

Exclusive: Dubai’s Shyam Bhatia to help MCA build cricket museum in Mumbai

Dubai - Shyam Bhatia's cricket museum in Dubai has inspired the Mumbai Cricket Association

For long, the Mumbai aficionados have bemoaned the lack of a museum in the city that could showcase its proud cricket history.

That long wait is soon going to be over as Dubai-based Indian businessman Shyam Bhatia, whose one-of-a-kind cricket museum in his Jumeirah residence has left some of the most iconic names spellbound, is now all set to help the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) build their first cricket museum at the Wankhede Stadium.

“When we planned for the museum in Mumbai, lot of people asked us to visit Mr Shyam Bhatia in Dubai who has this beautiful museum. That’s why I visited his museum in Dubai recently. It’s one of the best cricket museums in the world, with one of best collections of cricket memorabilia. It’s just mind-blowing what he has done single-handedly. Only a person who genuinely loves cricket can build something like this. So we will take lot of ideas from Bhatia for our cricket museum in Mumbai,” Nadeem Memon, a member of MCA Apex Council, told Khaleej Times over phone from Mumbai.

Memon then explained why it took so long for the Mumbai cricket fraternity to plan for a cricket museum. “For a museum, you need a big planning. We didn’t have such planning in the past. We also didn’t have that kind of a place to build a museum. Now fortunately at the Wankhede Stadium, we have a 10,000 square feet space where we will build our museum. We are already in touch with some very good architects,” Memon said before adding that some of the most prominent people have joined their museum committee.

“We have already set up a committee under the chairmanship of Vijay Patil. Our committee is trying to bring in all ideas that are free and fair. We need some people who really know how to build a cricket museum. This is where Mr Bhatia can help. We also have a senior sports journalist from Mumbai as well as former Mumbai and India captain Dilip Vengsarkar in the committee,” he said.

“Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy 41 times and we have given so many cricketers to the Indian team. So our aim is now to showcase the rich history of Mumbai cricket.”

And the MCA, according to Memon, could not have found a bigger inspiration than Bhatia for their first cricket museum.

“His Dubai museum is a miracle. In fact, the BCCI has had so many big personalities over the years, but when it comes to building a museum, nobody had ever shown the same vision like Bhatia has,” Memon said.

“Today, BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world, but it’s Bhatia who has the richest and the most beautiful museum in the world. Bhatia has collected everything, from signed cricket memorabilia to rare cricket books. Now we would do whatever it takes to build a museum as good as Bhatia’s. And he has promised to help us with all his ideas and knowledge.”