Saroj Ranjan Kar displays his rare collection of cricket mementos and first-day covers. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, March 27: The excitement is high among all cricket lovers across the globe as the countdown to the semi-final matches of the World Cup 2011 has started.

Although, Indians are waiting for Dhoni’s men in blue to take over their rival Pakistan in the first semi-final match on Wednesday, for Saroj Ranjan Kar of the Millennium City, this World Cup has a different meaning.

The 40-year-old has recently completed his thematic collection on cricket, which has brought name and fame for this stamp collector. Kar, who is also a businessman, has collected all postage stamps, first day covers and cancellations on the World Cup from 1975 onwards. His collection was completed after he added the first day issue with four cancellation miniature stamps on World Cup 2011, which was issued in Bangladesh recently.

“It all started when I was in school. Gradually, my hobby of collecting stamps became a passion and now I have maximum collection on World Cup issues,” said Kar. He has also preserved the first ever postage stamp on cricket issued way back in 1962 in Portugal.

Recalling the memories of Kapil Dev lifting the first ever World Cup trophy in 1983, Kar says following cricket is exciting because it renders a feeling of anticipation and pleasure. Kar is also the proud owner of the special first day cover having the picture of all the players with their autographs of the 1983 winning team.

Kar has collected first day cover issues on World Cup having the picture and autograph of the winning captains of respective World Cup winners from 1975 to 1996. He has also preserved the painting of the first cricket club of the world, Hamilton CC (1734). The issue was launched in 2007. A rare postcard carrying the pictures of 18-member Indian squad to England issued in 1932 with C.K. Naidu as captain, a maximum card carrying the photograph and autograph of Sir Gary Sobers (1966), a limited edition cover with a picture of William Gilbert (WG) Grace (1865), rare and original photograph of Sir Bradman also finds place in his rare collection.

Kar also won a silver bronze in the world philatelic exhibition, which was held in February in New Delhi. He plans to participate in another international exhibition, scheduled to be held in Japan in August this year. Apart from this, Kar has also collected many autographed bats, T-shirt, caps of players such as Kumar Sangakara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Yusuf Pathan. One can also find autographed cricket balls, match stumps and other items including rare collection of coins and currency of various countries in Kar’s mini museum.

“Being a thematic collector, we usually exchange stamps, players memorabilia and other items with other collectors. One of my friend in Australia had recently sent a rare postcard picture featuring Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne,” said Kar.