Blades of Glory History
The history of Blades of Glory Cricket Museum begins with a loss.
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In 2003, Rohan Pate's autograph collection was stolen by a spectator at a match, and he promised himself he would build the greatest cricket museum the game had ever seen.
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On 2 May 2012, soon after India's 2011 World Cup win, that promise opened its doors in Pune. Today, the museum holds over 75,000 pieces of memorabilia and is known to many as the "Temple of Cricket".
How One Stolen Autograph Collection Built the World's Largest Cricket Museum
The Day an Autograph Collection Vanished: Where the Blades of Glory Story Began
In 2003, Rohan Pate, a former under-19 cricketer and lifelong collector, was watching a match when a spectator took his entire autograph collection. Years of patient collecting were gone in a moment.
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Most people would have moved on. Rohan did the opposite. He decided that cricket's treasures deserved a safe, respectful and permanent home, one where every fan could see them and no one could take them away. That decision is the reason Blades of Glory exists.
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From 5,000 Artefacts to a Dream Museum: Why Blades of Glory Was Founded
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Rohan spent the next nine years rebuilding. He collected bats, jerseys, balls, caps, photographs and signed memorabilia from across cricket's eras, and by 2012 he had accumulated more than 5,000 artefacts.
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The purpose was clear from the start. Preserving cricket's rich history, its cultural significance and the collective achievements of the players and teams who made the game what it is.
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The museum was not built to show off a collection. It was built so that the story of cricket would never be lost, stolen or forgotten.
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Founded on 2 May 2012, Months After India's 2011 World Cup Triumph
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Blades of Glory Cricket Museum was founded on 2 May 2012 in Sahakar Nagar, Pune. India had lifted the World Cup in 2011, and the country's love for the game was at a historic high. The timing mattered.
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A nation that had just celebrated cricket glory now had a place to relive it, and to understand the long road that led there.
From a beginning of around 5,000 pieces, the collection has grown to over 75,000 artefacts and memorabilia, and the museum now holds the World Record Academy title for the largest cricket museum in the world.
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Why Fans Call It the "Temple of Cricket"
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Cricket lovers across India and beyond call Blades of Glory the "Temple of Cricket", and visitors tend to understand why within minutes of walking in.
Virender Sehwag has famously called it “the best museum” he has ever visited.
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Players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Viv Richards and Darren Sammy have visited the museum, with Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar holding a special place in Rohan Pate's heart.
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The Evolution of Cricket: A Journey from the 1700s to the 1900s
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The tour begins at the very start of the game. The first gallery traces the evolution of cricket from the 1700s to the 1900s, including how bats, balls and equipment changed and how the MCC Laws of Cricket developed over time.
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Before you see a single World Cup bat, you understand how a village pastime became a global sport. It is the context that makes every later exhibit mean more.
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The Sachin Tendulkar Section: A Wall of 100 Mini Bats
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The Sachin Tendulkar Section is the emotional centre of the museum. Its most famous feature is a wall of 100 mini bats, one for each of his international centuries.
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Alongside it you will find his bats and his iconic jerseys from the 1990s through the 2010s, and a section on the Team of BoG that explains, with clear reasoning, the best of the best in the game.
For millions of fans who grew up watching him, this is the closest they will get to standing inside his career.
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The Virat Kohli Section: A Tribute to the Greatest Batter of This Century
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The Virat Kohli Section celebrates the greatest batter of this century. It holds a collection of his jerseys, including the match-used jersey from his 154 against New Zealand, and the iconic bat he used in IPL 2016, the season in which he scored 973 runs. A live scoreboard is updated every time he scores, so the section keeps growing as his career does.
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World Cup Winners' Signed Bats: An Iconic Collection
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One of the most iconic sections in the museum is its collection of team-signed bats from World Cup-winning sides, covering 1983, 1987, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023. Each bat carries the signatures of the players who lifted the trophy. Standing in front of them, you can trace cricket's biggest moments across four decades.
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More Treasures: Bats of Root, Pietersen, Dravid and Laxman, and Harbhajan Singh's Match-Used Balls
The galleries also hold bats used by Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, and the match-used balls from Harbhajan Singh's most iconic victories. Each piece comes from a moment fans still talk about. For more of the museum's rare memorabilia, follow @bladesofglorymuseum on Instagram.
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From Watching Cricket to Living Cricket
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Blades of Glory is the journey between watching cricket and living cricket. It is a museum for every age, from young children seeing their first cricket bat behind glass to grandparents who remember the matches the exhibits come from. Its aim is simple and lasting: to preserve cricket's history, culture and collective achievements for every generation. For every cricket lover, it is the place they have always wanted to visit.
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Plan Your Visit to Blades of Glory
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Address : 3rd Floor, Govind Gaurav Apartment C, Swanand Society Lane 1,
Sahakar Nagar 2, Pune 411009, Maharashtra
Phone : +91 98224 54567
Email : business@bladesofglory.net
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Get in touch to plan your visit or to book a group or school visit.​
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