When Swami Vivekananda took seven-wicket haul at Eden Gardens

Narendranath Datta known by the name of Swami Vivekananda was one of the major force, who majorly contributed in the concept of nationalism in colonial India. He is arguably one of the best spiritual writers, prolific thinker and great orator in the history of the country. His contribution to the betterment of the country can never go ignored.

Everybody knows that he worked day-in and day-out in the revival of India but very fewer people know that Swami Vivekananda was an avid sportsperson, who once played at the historic Eden Garden in Kolkata.

Swami Vivekananda was a prolific leader, who was an ideal figure for the youth at that time. He used to motivate the youngsters to do physical activities more than just sitting back in their home. He was a student of General Assembly Institution where he used to take part in lots of sports activities. Moreover, he used to spent hours and hours in Akharas doing bodybuilding.

Swami Vivekananda enthralled everyone at Eden Gardens

He also possessed skills in football, fencing and boxing. In the 1880s, the sports was quoted as ‘National Timepass’ by Britishers and it was growing across the country quite quickly. There were several clubs opened in Calcutta that attracted a mass number of young individuals, who started taking sports quite seriously.

There was a club named Calcutta Cricket Club that was founded by Britishers back in 1792. And, the next famous cricket club was founded by Saradaranjan Ray, who was a mathematician back in 1884. He opened the club named ‘The Town Club’ to give tough competition to Britishers in their own game.

During a casual conversation, Hema Chandra Ghosh, an Indian freedom fighter asked Swami Vivekananda if he would like to use his hands in cricket, as reported by The Bridge. Vivekananda was delighted with the same and he responded in affirmation saying that he would love to take up the opportunity in order to become part of their squad. After that, he was guided by Ghosh quite sincerely that turned him into an impactful bowler.

Swami Vivekananda represented Town Club in a historic match against Calcutta Cricket Club at Eden Gardens. During the game, Hema Chandra Ghosh asked Vivekananda not to get carried away with emotions and just concentrate on his bowling. And soon, he went onto grab wickets one after the other. It looked like the words by his coach worked for him, who ended up taking seven wickets with only 20 runs posted on the scoreboard by the Britishers.

There is no doubt about the fact that Swami Vivekananda was no less than an idol figure for the country until now. The youth still follows his teachings to get along in their lives. He was undoubtedly an all-rounder, who was a great philosopher and player. He was one of the individuals, who encouraged the concept of Humanism across the globe as he was quite against violence.

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