Delhi’s Iconic Sonnet Cricket Club Gets Evicted, Left with No Space to Practice

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Sunday turned out to be a sad day for Delhi cricket as the iconic Sonnet Cricket Club was evicted from its long-time base Sri Venkateswara College. Sonnet Club, which began in 1969 under Dronacharya awardee coach Tarak Sinha, has produced over a dozen India cricketers and numerous players representing various states in the domestic circuit.

Sonnet Club was launched by Sinha at the Birla School in Kamla Nagar and travelled to Ajmal Khan Park in Karol Bagh, DCM Ground, PGDAV College, Rajdhani College and Piknic Hut before being based in the Sri Venkateswara College. Now, suddenly, the club is without a home and space for the current students to train and hone their cricketing skills.

“Yes, today was our last day of practice here. When management changes, some new people come in. Some of them are sports-minded, while some are not. We have been practising here for the last 22 years. Madam (principal of the college) then said to us that today, April 30, will be your last day here,” Devendra Sharma, the long-time coach at Sonnet Club, told IANS.

Sharma, who played 14 first-class matches for Delhi, was left wondering over the turn of events which has left Sonnet without a base now and clouds of uncertainty looming large over its future.

“I completed all the practices today, and have just come out of the club. All the students were asking me where we would get to practice next. I told them, ‘Beta, I don’t have any space right now’.”

“If the college allows, then we will practice here definitely. But I felt that if madam isn’t interested in seeing that we should practice there, which is why we have not been given any reason behind us being asked to go from here by her. We used to pay on time. We didn’t have anything to do with Madam or management. We just used to do our practice and go.”

As of now, Sonnet has four coaches and 100 students enrolled under it for practice, out of which 40 boys are state players.

“We had been practising here for so long in this college. Presently, we have our students Ayush Badoni and Hrithik Shokeen currently playing IPL for Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians respectively, apart from producing an Indian player like Rishabh Pant.”

“Before his accident happened (last year), he had met ma’am (the principal) and had said to her that there shouldn’t be a problem with the club. Like, suddenly we were told that we cannot practice here anymore. I am trying right now to find a place for practice. But I haven’t found anything till now. I cannot tell anyone where the next practice session would be held,” added Sharma.

Quizzed on any particular reason behind Sonnet being asked to move out of the college ground, Sharma remarked, “See, in the college, there is a department of physical education and the people who wish to practice here. This is a South college and there’s a South lobby. They didn’t want us to practice here.”

“The former principal of the college, Dr A Sankara Reddy, met and tried convincing madam by saying you are doing this wrong, but she didn’t agree and said, ‘practice cannot happen here anymore’.”

For now, finding a space for the hundred students enrolled under Sonnet to practice is a high priority for Sharma. “Our U-14 team is the best, which is captained by Vedant Sehwag, the younger son of Virender Sehwag. Both boys of Viru play under me at the club and even he said, ‘Where my kids will play now?'”

“Today was the last day and I told the students that ‘I will myself inform you about where the next practice will happen’. Otherwise, as of now, there’s no space. Some students were crying in the morning, wondering what will happen next. I said to them that God will give some space to us; and what if he gives wisdom to madam.”