The score must go on!

The redsoil pitch at Mumbairsquos Wankhede Stadium always poses a tough challenge for batsmen Another tough challenge at the Wankhede is the giant manual scoreboard which is operated by around 20 scorekeepers amidst testing conditionsDay One of the India versus New Zealand Test on Friday was yet another hectic day in the office for these scorekeepers who have to continuously run up and down a flight of winding stars to operate the giant scoreboard placed atop the corporate boxes near the grand standPradipkumar PuthranICC mandateThese people have to first climb around 130 steps to reach the top of the scoreboard which is perched around 80 feet above the ground Besides there is no provision for a washroom or ventilation either There are two digital scoreboards at the Wankhede but the manual scoreboard is a mandatory fixture as per the International Cricket Councilrsquos guidelinesPradipkumar Puthran 62 who is supervising operations of the manual scoreboard explained how he and his team go about their arduous tasks ldquoWe donrsquot have any ventilation inside the scoreboard room We donrsquot have a washroom either so each time someone has to relieve himself itrsquos a long walk down first and then up again back to work Itrsquos similarly tough if one needs to take a tea or snack break It keeping score is a stressful job as the boys donrsquot get much time for breaksrdquo Puthran a former Reserve Bank of India employee told midday on Friday Puthran who used to play cricket and football as a hobby recalled how then Mumbai Cricket Association subcommittee members Vilas Sawant and Surendra Shewale approached him back in 1987 to operate the manual scoreboardlsquoPure teamworkrsquoldquoIt was the 1987 Reliance World Cup semifinal between India and England when we operated a manual scoreboard for the first time Itrsquos pure teamwork Throughout the match I coordinate with my 20 operators and a couple of MCA scorers like Deepak Joshi and Harshil Patel in this Test Even if one of my boys goes down for a break its difficult to keep score correctly because each person is assigned a specific task So while one boy is updating the score of the batters another is looking after the analysis of the bowlers and yet another is keeping a tab on the total score or the wickets lostrdquo added PuthranSenior MCA scorer Vivek Gupte acknowledged the effort of the scorekeepers He said ldquoFirstly reaching the top here is tough And you can imagine how these boys work during summer without any ventilation I have seen them remove their shirts while working inside the scoreboard room They canrsquot even refresh themselves as there is no facility here for itrdquo Joshi who previously kept score in several Tests ODIs and IPL matches from the cool confines of the air conditioned press box also highlighted the plight of the manual scorekeepers ldquoItrsquos definitely a tough job considering the height of the scoreboard and other obvious issues But the view of the ground from up there is just amazingrdquo he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever