Just as I post this I am looking down my memory lane, a fictitious hot tear trickling down my cheek washing the dust accumulated out of ages and i am getting very much nostalgic. There are only certain things we can do fluently (without hesitations,shy,fear or anything) in any environment amidst any number of on-lookers. To put it better let me state an instance: When asked to sing amidst a group of people, a person who has not been trained or who is not been used to, will hesitate a lot to sing, while a singer takes pride in moving forward and coming with a short and sweet performance just like that (this is one of the main driving points for me to make this post). I have seen many examples to say it and I cant refrain from admiring people when they enjoy doing things they are best at, irrespective of the situation or surroundings. This admiration has sometimes pushed me into the trench of pensiveness on what do i think i am best at(if at all there is any) and the best possible answer was cricket.
Cricket,the very mention of the word takes me back some 17 years down the memory lane when i was already familiar with this word and the name "sachin" has already formed the part of the vibrations from my vocal chord and was at the top of my admirations. As Mom recollects that at the end of the 1992 world cup, when asked who is the winner of the cup, i used to promptly comprehend that its "Papistan"(i was 3 years old then not to know its Pakistan exactly). I can still recollect the days when i used to stay in trichy every vacation during which cricket was life for me and my cousins(Mouli,Prassanna). From the kid batsmen who needs a by-runner to a self-dependent amateur to a competant player, my cricketing skills started growing with me and i can faintly recall certain incidents like "rolling-on-the-floor fight with Prassanna on deciding who is the "sachin" of the family.....","fights between the three of us in the matches that we play between one another in which each of us individually represent the 11 odd men of the country we choose for each. sometimes we will have to imitate the particular player's batting or bowling style too and we even made detailed scorebooks too","the tour we made to Raghu anna's place which we ourselves named as "India tour of Australia" and the games we played there and not without the fights and my 'childish' reactions to Mouli when he gets me out","the games me and Mouli unitedly played against Prassanna who bravely and singly fights a loosing battle" and so on. Those days were really pleasurable to remember and i always looked forward to trichy visits. Coming to cricket in karur, it was also one of the important hunting grounds for me as i enjoyed playing there too all those years during non-vacation days. There were times when weekends were most-anticipated and some some 20 0dd people gather and play all through the day never-minding the sun or its heat. I play whenever I getr company, irrespective of it was a weekday or weekend or even if tomorrow as tough paper in annual examination etc. I was obssessed in having good bats too and all through those years i had some 6 or 7 bats.(I still have one there). Cricket was my life there too. I still remember that even in the last day before heading to Trichy I played there.
Then comes mention about cricket in school. In the school i studied, we used to have cricket matches between 2 teams formed within the school(7th standard onwards,tennis ball cricket) and prizes would be given on the "sports" day. In 7th standard I was desperate to get into a team and after a good performance during the selections i indeed got into a team in junior level as a main strike bowler. If I remember correct, i took 4 wickets with the ball and was out for a duck with the bat and we lost the match by 3 runs. Then came 8th standard wherein junior level was neglected and after hard toiling and convincing i was lucky enough to be one of the two juniors to get a berth in senior match. Of course considering the quantum of experience of others i was clearly overshadowed. We won the first match amidst controversies(mainly attributed to poor umpiring) and had a "re-match" for a fair call and lost it miserably, i remember bowling a couple of wicketless overs and scoring some 3 or 4 runs in one of them when i got chance to bat(i had a poor batting form then). I was at my peak in 9th standard both with the ball and bat and had my fair share of lime-light too. Again we had two matches that year. In the first match I had picked 2 wickets and shared the supposedly record partnership with kiran when our team was in a pathetic state (i remember scoring 30 odd runs and kiran scored some 40 odd and we shared some 85+ runs for the 6th wicket). We both perished after a good fight and others followed to end the game in a tie and which meant a "re-match" again. In the rematch i was asked to open the batting (i opened the bowling too) which i was not comfortable with, rather i was not prepared for it. I seemed like settling in nicely but unfortunately i got out scoring some 8 or so touching a wide deliverly off the legs to be caught in the deep!(Ah! blame my timing). I tried different things with the ball and got 2 wickets again and we won the match with ease with contributions from all- a team win! Then comes 10th standard and i had the opportunity to lead a team. We unianimously agreed upon "no re-match" idea and keep to it fair and true. It was the most easiest match i ever played. With debut as a captain, I had made complex plans on spells,field settings for each batsmen,winning strategies-plan A to Z :) , batting order etc but it turned out to be too simple for stuffing all those things. We had to field first and with wickets at regular intervals we restricted them to a meagre 43 in 13 odd overs (matches are 20 over games) and w e got the target in just 7 odd overs. I went in at no.3 and smashed 25+ out of the target. I enjoyed tormenting the bowlers(specially 9th class guys) and it turned out to be easy. The match started at 7.30 and first innings was supposed to end at 9.45 or so but it turned out that entire match was over by then, thanks to my team.( I also enjoyed playing the "show" matches which were played for practise just before the main games). I could not go anywhere near the game in 11th and 12th and i had played a few times at Swami's place after joining college. The next bigger stage was playing in inter-hostel tournament("Ruby" cup) here in college which i did not do well at all but indeed it was heartening to feel back in the game. All these years I have improved in my bowling especially in pace but my batting has become a serious let down( it was turn of tables as intially i considered me to be better batsman rather than a bowler).
On the whole I can reassure that cricket is my "talking" point but considering the achievements in it, i fear i have not gone anywhere above "intra"levels. I always feel bad about it and one of the main reasons is lack of opportunity. I feel let down to see that i was in schools without cricket teams and the first requirement to join a cricket team @ college was past representations or achievements in school level. I always feel i could have easily been a professional player but in the end of the day I'm not! :( But more than that my love for the game demands me for playing atleast once in a while (playing does not imply to play in professional games but to join others who play for fun in front of hostels) but considering my inability to move well with strangers(even though they are in same college, same year and share the same wretrched mess food) stops me from moving ahead but anyway the days before and during ruby cup were filled with some good cricket enough for quenching atleast a sill of the huge rock of thirst formed due to the accumulation of age old longingness to play it. Atleast last year's edition will give more enthusiasm to drive the ambitions home in the coming two years but till then the "longing" mound mounts on and i can only grin and feed on these beautiful memories deriving happiness out of the reminiscences. I cannot neglect cricket anyday even when i am not physically playing it and it has set very proundly into me and my blood. Perhaps I can wishper that cricket is my first love!!!!!
Thank you for a patient travelling in my nostalgic express into the past and hope you enjoyed the ride too :) ! Take Care :)
Regards.....
Picture courtesy:: www.themediasite.net
Then comes mention about cricket in school. In the school i studied, we used to have cricket matches between 2 teams formed within the school(7th standard onwards,tennis ball cricket) and prizes would be given on the "sports" day. In 7th standard I was desperate to get into a team and after a good performance during the selections i indeed got into a team in junior level as a main strike bowler. If I remember correct, i took 4 wickets with the ball and was out for a duck with the bat and we lost the match by 3 runs. Then came 8th standard wherein junior level was neglected and after hard toiling and convincing i was lucky enough to be one of the two juniors to get a berth in senior match. Of course considering the quantum of experience of others i was clearly overshadowed. We won the first match amidst controversies(mainly attributed to poor umpiring) and had a "re-match" for a fair call and lost it miserably, i remember bowling a couple of wicketless overs and scoring some 3 or 4 runs in one of them when i got chance to bat(i had a poor batting form then). I was at my peak in 9th standard both with the ball and bat and had my fair share of lime-light too. Again we had two matches that year. In the first match I had picked 2 wickets and shared the supposedly record partnership with kiran when our team was in a pathetic state (i remember scoring 30 odd runs and kiran scored some 40 odd and we shared some 85+ runs for the 6th wicket). We both perished after a good fight and others followed to end the game in a tie and which meant a "re-match" again. In the rematch i was asked to open the batting (i opened the bowling too) which i was not comfortable with, rather i was not prepared for it. I seemed like settling in nicely but unfortunately i got out scoring some 8 or so touching a wide deliverly off the legs to be caught in the deep!(Ah! blame my timing). I tried different things with the ball and got 2 wickets again and we won the match with ease with contributions from all- a team win! Then comes 10th standard and i had the opportunity to lead a team. We unianimously agreed upon "no re-match" idea and keep to it fair and true. It was the most easiest match i ever played. With debut as a captain, I had made complex plans on spells,field settings for each batsmen,winning strategies-plan A to Z :) , batting order etc but it turned out to be too simple for stuffing all those things. We had to field first and with wickets at regular intervals we restricted them to a meagre 43 in 13 odd overs (matches are 20 over games) and w e got the target in just 7 odd overs. I went in at no.3 and smashed 25+ out of the target. I enjoyed tormenting the bowlers(specially 9th class guys) and it turned out to be easy. The match started at 7.30 and first innings was supposed to end at 9.45 or so but it turned out that entire match was over by then, thanks to my team.( I also enjoyed playing the "show" matches which were played for practise just before the main games). I could not go anywhere near the game in 11th and 12th and i had played a few times at Swami's place after joining college. The next bigger stage was playing in inter-hostel tournament("Ruby" cup) here in college which i did not do well at all but indeed it was heartening to feel back in the game. All these years I have improved in my bowling especially in pace but my batting has become a serious let down( it was turn of tables as intially i considered me to be better batsman rather than a bowler).
On the whole I can reassure that cricket is my "talking" point but considering the achievements in it, i fear i have not gone anywhere above "intra"levels. I always feel bad about it and one of the main reasons is lack of opportunity. I feel let down to see that i was in schools without cricket teams and the first requirement to join a cricket team @ college was past representations or achievements in school level. I always feel i could have easily been a professional player but in the end of the day I'm not! :( But more than that my love for the game demands me for playing atleast once in a while (playing does not imply to play in professional games but to join others who play for fun in front of hostels) but considering my inability to move well with strangers(even though they are in same college, same year and share the same wretrched mess food) stops me from moving ahead but anyway the days before and during ruby cup were filled with some good cricket enough for quenching atleast a sill of the huge rock of thirst formed due to the accumulation of age old longingness to play it. Atleast last year's edition will give more enthusiasm to drive the ambitions home in the coming two years but till then the "longing" mound mounts on and i can only grin and feed on these beautiful memories deriving happiness out of the reminiscences. I cannot neglect cricket anyday even when i am not physically playing it and it has set very proundly into me and my blood. Perhaps I can wishper that cricket is my first love!!!!!
Thank you for a patient travelling in my nostalgic express into the past and hope you enjoyed the ride too :) ! Take Care :)
Regards.....
Picture courtesy:: www.themediasite.net
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