Delhiwale: Galiyan cricket wali

During your next walking tour of Old Delhi, try catch a glimpse of Nadeem, Kashif, Atif, Arib, Hayat and Kamran. These super six are being hailed by the historic quarter’s cricketing world as among the top players in the recently concluded BMMTA Cup (full form—Bazar Matia Mahal Traders Association).
Matia Mahal, with about 700 shops, is among the Walled City’s most boisterous bazars. Last week, the market’s association hosted a T10-style cricket tournament involving eight Old Delhi teams in seven matches held over four days in Chandni Chowk. The audience at the Shanti Desai Sports Club was made up of Walled City’s cricket fans, along with students of a school close to the playground. Commuters from the nearby Metro station frequently joined the spectators.
Each team was sponsored by the pairing of an iconic Purani Dilli establishment with the resident welfare association of an equally iconic Purani Dilli street. So Apex (the tournament’s winner!) was sponsored by Noori Masale and the RWA of Pahari Imli, White Tiger by Karim Hotel and Gali Choori Walan, United Team by Al-Jawahar restaurant and Katra Gokul Shah, Spartans 313 by Naresh Chandra Jain & Co garment shop and Matia Mahal, D Super Kings by Al-Yamin restaurant and Dujana House, Delhi Warrior by Aslam Chicken and Gali Gadhiya, Haveli Riders by Kamaal Sweets and Haveli Azam Khan, and Knight Riders by Haji Mohd Hussain chicken fry restaurant and Madarsa Wali Gali.
Talking of galis, it is prudent to remember that gali cricket is impossible in Old Delhi’s maddeningly crowded galis. The serious players drive every Sunday to the grounds of distant Ghaziabad and Noida. Their weekdays, though, are devoted to careers outside the cricket. Take the tournament’s aforementioned six cricketers. Batsman Nadeem helps run Hayat Guest House in Matia Mahal, all-rounder Kashif manages a paint shop in Gali Choori Walan, batsman Atif has a crockery store in Meena Bazar, all-rounder Arib has a job with a Gurugram multinational, and bowler Hayat mans a call centre in the same so-called Millennium City. And Kamran, who divides his time between Gali Pahari Darziyan and Dubai, and trades in scrap metal, was the tournament’s only bowler who did not concede a single boundary or a single chhakka.
As for the tournament’s Man of the Series, all-rounder Abdul Hadi administers a machine tools shop in Meena Bazar. He captained the winning team Apex, which defeated White Tiger, chasing down the target with 7 balls to spare. The team was awarded a cup, medals, plus ₹11,000.
This week, on Wednesday evening, captain Hadi stood outside his shop to pose for the camera, acutely aware of not being dressed in a cricketer’s uniform—see photo. Also see the photo below, showing him in his team’s dress, holding the cup on the stairs of Jama Masjid.