More Cricket

Having started on cricket in previous post , I'll continue with few memories of cricket. When I was in school , I used to spend my holidays either at home playing or my grandma's village. It was the time of Sankranti and we usually have a school break for about ten days. I was around nine or ten years of age and was having a blast in holidays at the village. Usually spend time going to my uncle's fields or playing along with others of my age group. One early morning there was a buzz outside our home. People were going in groups with bats in hand. My uncle had some casual talk with them . They were a person short and I said that I would like to play. I looked out of place among them as they were all quite few years older than me. On the way I came to know that it was a regional rivalry ( among two streets of village )and they would be playing for money . I was tense as this was the first occasion I being involved in a match which money was involved. Ground was surrounded by bushes . Opposite team batted first . I was made to field close as they thought I would not field well and my mistakes would result in boundaries. I enjoyed fielding close in. I dismissed two batsmen (run outs) , one which was a direct hit. They put up a good score and my team was going on well with our chase. At that stage I thought my part was done for the day and was happy that I played my part well. From a healthy position , a dramatic collapse put us in bother. Though runs needed was less , wickets were thing of concern . I was the one left apart from the other two at crease. I was praying that these two win it for us and I shouldn't be needed. Rarely do things go on as planned or the way we want. Another one got out of the last ball of a over and we had one over to go with three runs to get. I had to go out to bat. I was still hopeful of winning and me not getting to face a ball. Striker wasted two balls and got out going for a big hit. I was left to face three balls with three runs needed. Our team was resigned to defeat. Seeing my diminutive size , bowler relaxed and just bowled a loosener. I dispatched the ball into the bushes and our team was victorious. I couldn't believe , overcome with joy and was mobbed by teammates.

In school our class had the reputation of being the most indisciplined one in entire school. We maintained this legacy till we left school and took no measures to change it at all. By chance if any new teacher came with no opinion about us , it took very little time for other teachers to give description about our class. When in class eight , there were plans to have a match between students of class nine and ten for sports day . We were against it and insisted that we also be given a chance to play. Though there was certain opposition , it was decided that we take on a combined team of classes nine and ten . I was my team captain and chose to bat on winning the toss. Our team was a well balanced one. We batted deep and also had quite few bowling options. We put up a good score with contributions from all those who went in to bat including me . We knew opposition strengths and weakness as we had already played them many times. Three or four of us discussed and set fields , bowled according to plan. I initially took my position in slip and in later stages fielded close in . Took two good catches of their important batsmen. They could never go at the required rate and in the end we won quite easily. It was a memorable victory as whole school was watching and practically all teachers were supporting the other team.

Cricket was pretty much part of our daily schedule in BTech. We played almost everyday after college.  In our first or second year we played a match against fourth year guys. There was a bet involved of around hundred bucks or so. We had first go with the bat and scored above one hundred and fifty in fifteen overs. When it was their turn to bat , they were pretty dismal . We were on way to a handsome victory with just a casual  effort with ball. Then trouble started with umpire , a guy of batting team , calling two of our bowlers for chucking. First guy somehow completed the over. The second guy was so irritated . He uprooted the stumps , started hurling expletives . He also said that they could have the money as charity and there was no need to cheat for mere hundred bucks. One of us , of course not me , had to intervene and cool him down and stop him. I was completely taken by surprise because this guy was the last person I expect to lose his composure. ( This guys name also starts with H and its not me .)  I still have a good laugh when I recollect those events. In BTech I was badly injured my hand just before exams , playing cricket. Luckily I didn't have to struggle as exams were postponed and my injury healed in time. I still have a memory of it on my palm.