Hyderabad, January 05: With the CSIR-NGRI tests confirming the present Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup is not of pure gold, the disappearance of the original cup is steeped in mystery. Even as old-timers are at a loss of words to express their shock, some members of the present committee seem to be the least worried about the fraud. One member even went to the extent of saying, “The loss is only Rs 24 lakh and we can have a new cup made of pure gold.”
The cup in use now is, in fact, the second. The first one was retained by the winning team captain Maharaja of Vizianagaram or Vizzy who refused to give it back in 1931. The Nawab had to remake another cup and since then the winners have been handed the rolling trophy with the original being kept in the State Bank of Hyderabad locker. The cups are believed to have been made in England and the first cup was valued at Rs 7,000 in the Rs 30s. The cup was of unique design and was solid in weight. It had a tremendous antiquity value, too. The last time it was valued at Rs 2.77 lakh in 1988.
The cup is always brought on the final day of the tournament from the SBH with help of security guards. Once the final match was over, the cup is taken back to the SBH locker. “It is still a mystery,’’ said former secretary PR Man Singh. The only way the fraudsters could have done it was to replace the original with a replica and put it in the box. But as Arshad Ayub, president, HCA said, it is difficult to say when it was replaced. With NGRI unable to throw light on the possible time when the fake cup was made, the HCA is puzzled. The only way is to see old photographs of the cup and compare it with the present one.
Now, Man Singh has demanded a police probe. “I am surprised that HCA is keeping quiet. Let the state government order an inquiry,’’ he said. Venkateshwaran, joint secretary, said they were open to any probe. “We are open to any probe to ascertain the details of the cup. It is a huge loss for the HCA,’’ he said. The Dowlah Cup, once the blue riband tournament of the country. It attracted top players of the country and the world like Mohd Nissar, CK Nayudu, Mushtaq Ali, Lala Amarnath in the thirties, Kapil Dev, SM Gavaskar and GR Vishwanath later, and Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid of the present. And, Hyderabad’s ML Jaisimha was the cult hero at the tournament. In fact, it had been a first class tournament till 1971 after it was revived in 1962. It was even covered by Wisden, the cricket bible.
–Agencies