India, June 14 -- I still vividly remember the first day of the third Test at Eden Gardens, Calcutta - the moment my lifelong romance with cricket began. It was the winter of 1974, during the India-West Indies Test series. I was just eight years old, a curious boy drawn by the electric buzz of the crowd and the anticipation of something big. The chill in the December air did nothing to dampen the excitement. That morning, unknowingly, I stepped into a world that would accompany me through the next five decades. That game, that series - it wasn't just cricket. It was the spark that lit an eternal flame.
India, under the regal leadership of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was down 0-2 in the five-match series. The team had lost in Bangalore and De...