Wow, the first thing I get to do outdoors in Atlanta was to play cricket. I played quite well (according to my standards, which by the way start at below ground level). Why was it a big deal for me? Well for starters I downright suck at it. If it is batting then it's just a matter of time when the bowler aims at the stumps and bowls and gets me out, yeah you guessed it right, that happens to me usually within the first 3 ball's . But I have got dismissed in more dignified manner too, instead of letting my wickets fly all out, I let myself (as I would like to think) get out by hitting the ball as hard as I can ( placement is a just a word to me, it does not mean anything) and the ball usually(mostly) never crosses the boundary and inadvertently finds its way to some fielder's hand. I can deal with that. It's the stump outs I can't deal with.
But the Atlanta game was different, man it really was a big time ego trip for me.Before diving into the details, let me go back to a small flashback session.
Year : 1999, 10th standard .
Venue : Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom, Football ground ,Kerala.
Event : Interhouse Cricket match (not interstate, but it was a big deal to me)
My Role : summa cum laude (so I assumed) Batsmen number no 4.
We fielded first, So after letting go of some easy shots which were converted to boundaries , all thanks to me, my team's captain decided to rest their "star" batsmen, lest I get tried of all this unnecessary running . Well he was right though, after all there in no point it running around and chasing the ball if you can't catch it or at least stop it.
If you have seen all those karate movies, where the hero always start his training by running after the Chicken but never catches it.Well, that's how I looked in the field, running after the ball.Actually in the movies, the hero does catch the chicken after a while but I somehow never crossed the training stage.
The opposition made 58 runs off 15 over's . Not bad for guys who have just started to play with leather balls( ahem, I meant the cricket ball). We ( I speak for the team) were actually more scared of getting hurt by the leather ball than the humiliation of losing . So our first three wicket's went off in a total of 24 runs and in around 7 overs. So now it was up to me to step up and take me team to the path of glory . Well, it was around the same time my DAD and SISTER came looking for me (Since I had not called home to inform I would be coming late). My DAD parked the car near the football ground came out with my sister, watching the game. So what do they see, 3 guys working on me, two tying my kneepad, one helping me with the arm pads .Man I felt like a star (for a short moment though).
So I make up my mind to hit only 4's and 6's to impress my dad and make my sister burn with envy. I went to the crease, First ball and I swear to god I did not see where it went.When I looked back, the wicket keeper told me that it had just missed the stumps by millimeters .So I change my strategy, I pray "Please god , let me make at least 2 runs ", I don't want to get out on "DUCK" especially with my DAD watching, but as usual god had other plans for me. Second ball, I just swing my bat, the ball flies, my first thought "Could be a six , it looked little short of six , then I thought it has gone pretty high, should be at least a 4 , just then the god damn ball stopped traveling in distance any further (I was watching it) and dropped dead like a dead bird (you can say like "Chicken") and some dude had also been watching it (well he had to, he was the fielder) and this idiot caught it.
There you have it, my first professional cricketing experience. I was out, on a "DUCK". We lost too.We had only 3 good batsmen and my captain made the mistake of thinking I was the fourth .
On my way back home, no one spoke in the car(to my relief).But when I looked in the mirror (rear view mirror,) I saw reflection of a sinister smile in the backseat.Yeah, it was my sister, all smiles. Why you ask me, Well I had given her something to taunt me for a very long time.
So how was the Atlanta match different.....watch this space
But the Atlanta game was different, man it really was a big time ego trip for me.Before diving into the details, let me go back to a small flashback session.
Year : 1999, 10th standard .
Venue : Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom, Football ground ,Kerala.
Event : Interhouse Cricket match (not interstate, but it was a big deal to me)
My Role : summa cum laude (so I assumed) Batsmen number no 4.
We fielded first, So after letting go of some easy shots which were converted to boundaries , all thanks to me, my team's captain decided to rest their "star" batsmen, lest I get tried of all this unnecessary running . Well he was right though, after all there in no point it running around and chasing the ball if you can't catch it or at least stop it.
If you have seen all those karate movies, where the hero always start his training by running after the Chicken but never catches it.Well, that's how I looked in the field, running after the ball.Actually in the movies, the hero does catch the chicken after a while but I somehow never crossed the training stage.
The opposition made 58 runs off 15 over's . Not bad for guys who have just started to play with leather balls( ahem, I meant the cricket ball). We ( I speak for the team) were actually more scared of getting hurt by the leather ball than the humiliation of losing . So our first three wicket's went off in a total of 24 runs and in around 7 overs. So now it was up to me to step up and take me team to the path of glory . Well, it was around the same time my DAD and SISTER came looking for me (Since I had not called home to inform I would be coming late). My DAD parked the car near the football ground came out with my sister, watching the game. So what do they see, 3 guys working on me, two tying my kneepad, one helping me with the arm pads .Man I felt like a star (for a short moment though).
So I make up my mind to hit only 4's and 6's to impress my dad and make my sister burn with envy. I went to the crease, First ball and I swear to god I did not see where it went.When I looked back, the wicket keeper told me that it had just missed the stumps by millimeters .So I change my strategy, I pray "Please god , let me make at least 2 runs ", I don't want to get out on "DUCK" especially with my DAD watching, but as usual god had other plans for me. Second ball, I just swing my bat, the ball flies, my first thought "Could be a six , it looked little short of six , then I thought it has gone pretty high, should be at least a 4 , just then the god damn ball stopped traveling in distance any further (I was watching it) and dropped dead like a dead bird (you can say like "Chicken") and some dude had also been watching it (well he had to, he was the fielder) and this idiot caught it.
There you have it, my first professional cricketing experience. I was out, on a "DUCK". We lost too.We had only 3 good batsmen and my captain made the mistake of thinking I was the fourth .
On my way back home, no one spoke in the car(to my relief).But when I looked in the mirror (rear view mirror,) I saw reflection of a sinister smile in the backseat.Yeah, it was my sister, all smiles. Why you ask me, Well I had given her something to taunt me for a very long time.
So how was the Atlanta match different.....watch this space
2 comments:
lol, tat was fun reading - i somehow get this feeling tat u wre actually out the very first ball ;)
well the first ball was an out swinger :-), so I escaped.
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