After our triumphant entry to the
cricketing fraternity in PESIT, (read post “Lords of Pesit”) we were “The team”
to beat in subsequent odd semesters. Although we weren’t eliminated in the
first round, it was made sure that we never reached beyond the 3rd
round, by pitting us against potential finalists! Either of us getting
eliminated would pave way for the third team to win the coveted title. Although
the team in the subsequent semesters (3rd and 5th) was
stronger than its previous first semester avatar, I guess the stars also played
their role in keeping us grounded. So it was up to one final show down in the 7th
Semester, where we had the last chance to prove that this E&C team didn’t
win in its 1st appearance just by chance. Indeed our team was the
most experienced team in the college at that time, as would have other teams in
that semester. Also, having recognized the talents and strengths of team over a
period of 4 years, the 7th semester teams were by and large pretty
strong. I personally felt that the 7th Semester computer science
team was of equal match to ours, which boasted of two nippy bowlers who played
for the college cricket team. Our team was no push overs either. Few cricketers
who were not a part of the 1st semester triumphs were a part of this
strong 7th Sem E&C team, and each one of them was a dynamite
ready to explode. Kiran Kumar Gururaja (KKG), was my clone to the hilt.
However, he was a far better pinch hitter and bowled much faster than me. Two
left handers in any team, at the college level is more of a boon, because it is
such a rare breed, Yeah!! Also, two left arm bowlers, one fast and the other
super-fast ( No I don’t take the credit of being the fastest in PESIT, then!!)
hardly gave any respite to the batsmen. Add
to that one pretty quick bowler in Sridhar Kumar, and one giant bowler in Vinay
K (The Curtly Ambrose, of our team), the pace attack was very potent.
I don’t want to sound like a
champ, but I was the Jayasuriya of that team! only two differences, he bowled
spin and was bald. For the kind of I care a damn kind of batting that I was
gifted with, I usually used to tonk the bowling around from the outset, which
would generally cause irrevocable damage to the opponents, either batting first
or second. However, in the lineup consisting of see the ball hit the ball
batsmen, there was one Mr Cricket who valued method batting. It was Sandeep
Das, who was almost the Rahul Dravid of our team; never flashy always
dependable. Barring him, I don’t recollect anyone who could play out a maiden
over unflustered in a 12 over a side, match!!
In one match in one of the
previous semesters, I was not able to play a game, which gave the opportunity
for my clone, KKG to open the innings!! And boy, dint he perform well!! Our
team was chasing a score, and he took the opponent bowling to the cleaners and
won the match for us!! So our team had discovered another batsman who was left
handed, and was flamboyant!!
Hence in the 7th
Semester, it was decided that I would bat number 4, sandwiching our Mr
Dependable, between two southpaws. Positioning me at number 4 worked out
perfectly, as in one of the league matches, leading to the finals, we were
chasing a decently sizeable score of around 80 in a 12 over match, and our
ballistic(surface-to-air) missile bomber (KKG never believed in hitting ball
along the ground, it was always air bound, hence the name!!!. The only
difference between his batting and mine was that I had a method to my madness,
he had none!!) in the 1st over of our innings, lost his off stump,
trying to send the ball into the orbit. Enter Mr. Dependable, and the
scoreboard started ticking squeamishly. Although the run rate was not that
pathetic, at the competence level of college, you are never sure until you have
actually won the match, and you never know, you may lose couple of wickets, and
the winning team could be your opponents. One more wicket fell, and enter the
Southpaw Rockstar!!! For some strange reason, barring professional cricket, as
soon as a left hander comes into bat, all the right hand bowlers go round the
wicket, which is exactly what I want. I could easily flick the ball to
midwicket fence if it was full, or pull the ball over square leg if it’s
short!! A few monster hits to the fence from my bat, and the smile started to
return to the faces of my team members. Every cricket match has its share of
twists and turns, and it so happened that in one twist, turn and running back
for the second run, our Mr Dependable was found short of his crease and was out
in the only possible manner that he could, run out!! I was the culprit on that
occasion, calling him for an impossible second run! Our captain, Vinay K came
and went trying to slog his way out of trouble, and our little pocket dynamite
Pramod B, was connecting thin air every time he tried to smash the ball out of
the ground. Time for the senior batsman, to calm his nerves, and take stock of
the situation. I just ensured that he rotated the strike and allowed myself to
get much strike as possible. And since, the bowlers bowled to my strengths, I
was sending the ball easily to the boundary on the leg side, and with each hit
their sapping spirits, refused to motivate them to bowl accurately and
eventually we won that match, with more than an over to spare!!! In one match,
I had changed roles from being a Jayasuriya to a Michael Bevan!!
As destiny would have it, without
much hiccups we made it to the finals!!! And our opponents, our E&C juniors
from the 5th Semester!! I was happy that the E&C clan was
blessed with cricketing talent, and we could pass on the baton after that swan
song match! And what a build up to that final it was!! There was a sizeable
crowd that had gathered to watch the finals, and surprisingly for the first
time in 4 years, the girls from our class, had come to cheer up the team!! Why
did all the book worm sort of snobs turn up to witness this match? I had no
idea! Was it that they loved cricket or was it that they suddenly got patriotic
about their class being in the final? Or
was it that viva for the first part of the final year project had just got
over, and they wanted to relax for the evening? The 5th sem girls
were in their vociferous best, and that motivated our opponents further, the
front foot defense a bit more stylish, the follow through after hitting a
boundary, a bit more exaggerated and the running between the wickets a bit more
nimble. Seriously, girls can do so much good to cricket just by sitting and
watching it!!!
Our opponents batted first, and
they did bat well. However, wickets fell regularly and the decibels in the
crowd that supported the 5th sem, began to attenuate. The kind of
support that we got from the crowd, was more “English like”, which was
perfectly understandable. The 5th Sem guys were there in the finals
for the first time and it was only fair that the first timers were supported to
the hilt.
So another chase of 80 odd runs
in 12 overs, was on the cards, and considering the depth in our batting, we
were confident that the chase would not be nerve jangling. Our bomber did start
off well, and gave a decent opening stand. Once he departed, rather
surprisingly, I was sent in to bat at number 3!! Our captain did not want the
rhythm to break or he just wanted to take a chance, I had no clue about it. We had
never changed the batting order until that time, then why change it then? I had nothing against the batting prowess of our Mr Dependable, as he was
more than capable of guiding us home. If it was my day, we would be coasting
home, bagging the title for the second time, and would be a befitting
farewell!! Had it backfired? I don’t know what our captain’s backup plan was,
and moreover at the age of 19, cricket is all played out of instinct, rather
than careful planning. So amidst all the animated discussion, I took the bat
and strolled to the crease. The first ball that I faced was on middle and leg,
and boom!!! The ball had got the height, but not the distance, I could see the
deep mid-wicket fielder lining himself up to take an improbable catch!! One
huge leap by the fielder at the boundary, and the ball just eluded his
outstretched hands, SIX!!! The oohs aahs from the crowd indicated that they
were unhappy that I was not out!! Smiling at the partner at the non-striker
end, I winked at him saying I had hit it well, fully aware that it would cross
the ropes, Liar!! I could hear the captain shouting from the boundary ropes,
which meant that he dint have a backup plan and wanted me to stay at the crease
till the end. From that moment on, I knew
that match was ours to win, as I was hitting the ball pretty well. As the
target started to appear more and more achievable, our camp started to get more
and more relaxed, and the opponents started to get more and more vociferous in
their appeals!
The college seniors had the final
laugh and in a way showed who the BOSS was, and I did live up to the
expectations of our captain, and did hit the winning run!! I punched the air,
and did all the antics that professional cricketer would do! The non-striker,
Santosh came and hugged me and soon the entire team was in the bear hug
huddle!! Some girls in the class who never spoke to me during all the 4 years
of engineering, came and congratulated me, more out of a formality, I am sure!!
(not that I was craving for all the attention, but being popular at least for a
day, makes you feel good about life!!)
So there it was, the “96GSEE”
batch (For all the guys wondering what this cryptic number is, that was what
all the 1996 E&C batch students had at the beginning of their roll number)
ended their cricketing journey in PESIT with a bang proving that the first triumph
was not a fluke!! The swan song was a indeed a sweet memory!!
Note : I have written so much
about me and myself in this post, that it sounds too cocky. This disclaimer is
worth a mention at the end at least; otherwise it would be unfair to huge
cricketing talent that I played against/with throughout my 4 years in PESIT. Two
of the fastest bowlers whom I faced, were not from E&C team. One was Rohith
from the CS branch (you blink and you miss the ball, kind of pace) and the
other one Mahesh from Mechanical branch (lightning speed left hand bowler, who
could spin the ball at that pace!!). The same two were the most difficult
batsmen I have bowled against. The E&C cricket team was a bunch of
extremely talented cricketers and I was only lucky to have played alongside
them. Since I was a left handed bat and left arm bowler, I got more
opportunities to play up the order and bowl more often, both of which are
extremely essential to be successful in a 12 over game.
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