A rarest of rare fan: Abdul Khader’s love and passion for the game is breathtaking like his collection

Mohammed Rumman Khan

When we talk about diehard cricket fans in India, a few names come to mind. One, of course, is Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, who is widely recognised for attending all home matches since 2007. What if I tell you there’s another big one, if not the biggest.

Meet Abdul Khader Theruvath, who has been an integral part of every 50-over World Cup match since 1987, all the way till 2019, barring the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

The 1987 WC that was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan; the 1992 WC was held in Australia and New Zealand; the 1996 championship was again held in the Indian subcontinent; the 1999 WC was hosted in England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands; the 2003 edition was held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya; India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh together hosted the 2011 WC; Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the 2015 WC; and lastly, the 2019 WC was hosted by England and Wales.

This 73-year-old, who is the director of Kannur International Airport, attended all these World Cup matches. This happened for real.

His house in Bengaluru is like a cricket museum, with over 1,000 rare collectibles on display. He has the most extraordinary collection, which exhibits his love for the game. “Rather than counting coins, I decided to chase my passion.I believe in living my life to the fullest,” Khader says.

He has bats signed by legends of the game. You name it and it’s here! To name a few, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble, Mohammad Azharuddin, Viv Richards. The list goes on and on.

He owns over 500 cricket memorabilia. He recalled emotionally the leg-spin great Shane Warne’s autograph on a cricket ball. There’s a high possibility that if a cricket fan enters his place, he may get lost in the memories. Khader recalled conversations with Sir Garry Sobers and the Chappel brothers, besides the Waugh brothers. He said all these “gentlemen” played cricket with so much love and respect unlike the “commercialised form of the game due in the IPL (Indian Premier League), playing which youngsters are not as honest as the legends were.”

The reason he said that is because he claimed he helped a youngster (with the request not to mention the name) with whatever essentials required for the game, but after an IPL team bought him for a “decent” price, “the way he now talks has changed and that does not augur well for the game.”

Khader, who mostly spends his off time with legends of the game, said most of them are not happy with the commercialisation of the game. “Viv Richards as also many others curse the shortest format that has killed the real test of the game – Test cricket,” says he.