You have known him as a feisty cricketer and a star commentator. And now the 60-year-old is playing an active role at CC&FC as general committee member, with the club entering its 225th year. Arun Lal chatted with t2 on what the club means to him.

I have grown up in CC&FC

I think CC&FC has a great sporting heritage, one of the greatest in the country — 225 years of cricket in India is what we are representing actually. In that sense it has a history, tradition and heritage, a legacy which is beyond parallel. It’s something huge and extremely special. 

I became a member in 1978. So, almost 40 years! More than anything else, I have grown up in CC&FC. When I came as a young trainee (in a tea company) to Calcutta for the first time, I was given a membership. In those days, I don’t think there were more than a few hundred members. So, it was very personal. It was like home.
Well, now the membership has expanded. I think there are almost 2,000 members now. The club still represents something very special in the country. I don’t think there is any club quite like this. Forget about the country, in the world! After Lord’s, this is the second oldest cricket club in the world. 

I was often asked to sit out!

I have very fond memories of playing all kinds of sports… cricket, football, hockey. I really loved it. I have grown up in the city playing all these sports at CC&FC and getting to know everybody in the city. Even now the cricket and football Merchants Cups are sponsored by The Telegraph. It was such a lovely tradition in the cricket club that somebody like me was often asked to sit out in a Sunday game! ‘You get to play so much cricket… let the members get a chance to play’, I was told. I would go there and watch the match rather than play. So, it was more hockey and football that I enjoyed at the club. 

Fond memories. A lovely,  traditional club. Lovely people. The seniors have always encouraged the juniors. I remember how we celebrated 200 years of cricket at the club. At that time, if I remember correctly, the board president (BCCI) was Madhav Rao Scindia. We played a match at the club in which Madhav Rao Scindia’s XI featured the likes of (Sunil) Gavaskar and (Ravi) Shastri and (Dilip) Vengsarkar, (Syed) Kirmani, Bishan Bedi… a lot of ex-India cricketers had come... we had a great celebration.

225 not out...

Now we are on the cusp of 225 years. We’ll celebrate that rather well. I have been in the committee for a year. I think it’ll be a great honour in the 225th year to take the club forward. The vision and tradition of the club is such that it would be an absolute honour. We would also like to make a contribution to sports in the city. We already do. 
We are also the oldest football club. If we can organise it, we would like to give an international flavour to our games. We are pioneers in rugby, hockey, football, cricket, tennis. This is one of the few clubs which has cricket, hockey, football, rugby, swimming and tennis. In that sense we are unique. We’ve got cycle polo as well!

All members are very special. And that is what makes the club so special.