Off the mark in style......

6th Dec 2008 – It was the 16th anniversary of the fateful day when the Babri Masjid was brought down. The city police had geared up to prevent any untoward incidents. To add to it the weather forecast read “cyclonic depression formed at Bay of Bengal, 450 kms south east of the Chennai coast. Heavy showers expected for the next couple of days”. Back home we were hoping that the cyclone will stay away atleast for a day. The reason being, it was more than a month since we had registered ourselves for a 20-20 tournament, but every weekend the rain-God ensured that we never even had a chance to enter the field. We didn’t want a repeat of the same story “match cancelled due to rain”.

The D-day arrived. Atlast our wait had come to an end. It was the first match of the tournament for us. The clear sky which was occupying almost the entire week slowly started darkening and showed signs of a possible shower. Not to be discouraged by it we all gathered at the ground by 13:30. As I went for the toss, I had no second thoughts in deciding to bat first in the event of winning it, the weather being the primary reason and the absence of the full strength of the team being the other reason. Moreover it was almost a month since we had had a practice session or a match. This had a rustic effect on all of us, who are already losing our agility, thanks to the comforts that come along when working for a MNC. So batting first was the best option for us to score runs enough to apply pressure on the opponent. As I had hoped the toss turned out to be in our favour and with no hesitation I declared that we would be batting first. Since both the specialist openers of the team were absent on that day, I had to take up the task of opening along with Prakash, who was sent in to try his luck swishing his bat.

It was the first over with the bowler bowling around the wicket, Prakash was waiting for the ball to be pitched up, to give it a whack. It ended out to be a maiden over with Prakash yet to get off the mark. Next over as I looked up to face the first ball, the moment it was released I started moving my feet towards the place where the ball would land. But it seemed to be eternity till the ball arrived. Immediately I realized that the length of the pitch was too long, longer atleast by 5 yards. Realizing that it’s no point standing at the crease to face the ball, I started to walk in for every delivery that was bowled. Managing to connect one ball which went to the boundary, before that over ended I had succumbed to an in-swinger that took my middle stump. Soon afterwards in the next over, Prakash followed without bothering the scorers. It was left to two new batsmen in Rajesh and Koushik to stabilize the innings. Since the ground was too small, I had expected that the longer the presence of Rajesh, the more the score would be for the team. But it proved to be a miscalculation as Rajesh nicked the ball to the keeper and walked back. The team was tottering at 19 for 3

Then walked in our saviour Rajiv. The terribly short of match practice was evident when he faced the first few balls. Particularly the half-volley which was pitched right up there inviting to be hit for a boundary, while he ended up having his foot rooted to the crease and the bat trying to connect. The ball found the inside edge and rolled on to the short mid-wicket fielder. While on the other end, Koushik had no inhibitions in thwarting the ball to all the corners for boundary. Initially, Rajiv who was playing the second fiddle to Kaushik soon managed to get a grip over the situation. It was a cautious yet appropriate innings by him that helped us to stabilize the innings. One wicket at that juncture would have been curtains for the team. Thankfully, with all the years of experience behind him, he knew that merely staying at the crease will bring runs to the team. And that’s what he did before Koushik who couldn’t resist the innocuous bowling of the opponent spooned a full toss straight under the throat of the sweeper cover fielder. He was followed by Rajiv, but not before he had ensured that the team had crossed the danger mark and was in a position to reach a competitive score, decent enough to defend. It wasn't a blitzkreig knock from him, but more of a responsible stay at the crease that ensured the score board was ticking. After Rajiv, it was a mere procession of batsman going in and trying to chip in. We ended up scoring 160 for 8. It was definitely a good score considering the precarious position we were in the first few overs. But to be honest to the fact regarding our potential in batting and taking into consideration the sub-standard bowling and fielding of the opponents, further helped by a small ground, we should have atleast scored a minimum of 200 runs hands down without any fuss. Nevertheless we knew 160 was defendable.

The tactic was simple for the second innings. Stick to one side of the wicket and not to attack too much. Dot ball was the order of the day and we wanted them to throw the wicket rather than we try to get one. But Rajiv had different idea. Sensing that the batsman doesn’t require that much of a respect to have a spread out field, he brought in the fielders and had two men in catching position. It soon yielded him result as the first batsman was caught off-guard by a rising delivery. His attempt to pull proved futile as the ball ballooned up only to be held gleefully by param at first slip. The next wicket was a LBW which swung late. On the other end, the left arm spin bowling of Param proved to be too much for the opponent as they struggled to score him. The first six overs hardly went for any runs.

The change of bowling brought in the brothers to bowl at tandem. The senior one proved his seniority at the field also by bowling a tight line. The younger one had a tough time completing the over as the batsman decided to attack him. His over-stepping adding to his grief, Girish had a nightmarish beginning to his spell. He gave way for Koushik who was brought in at the 10th over to try and restrict the run flow. On the other end, I decided to roll my arm over and fill-in for the fifth bowler spot. I knew that if the next 6 overs I could squeeze between me and Koushik and if we manage not to give away too much, the latter part will be taken care by the strike bowlers. That’s how the script exactly turned out to be. Koushik with his impeccable line and length bamboozled the batsman, while at the other end, I, with a spread out field managed to contain the run flow and earning a wicket in the process. Koushik ended his spell with two wickets and after that it was just a matter of time before we won. By the end of 15th over we knew that the final nail in the coffin had been hit. So we decided to relax a bit by giving bowling practice to other bowlers who didn’t get to bowl. End of the day we had convincingly defeated the opponent by a margin of 44 runs. They ended up with 116 for 9. Rajiv, deservingly was adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’ award for his 43 runs and two wickets.

We are off the mark in the tournament with a comprehensive win…….. Let’s hope the trend continues.

regards
Sri Kumar