Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Cricket debacle.
No. It's not about the Indian Cricket team. You can relax and read ahead now.
I play tennis ball cricket in office practically every evening. It's a wonderful thing to compete with guys who know your strengths and weakness. Every single player has his favourite shots and his totally abysmal areas. For example, I am a reasonably good offside batsman and I can pick runs off my toes on the onside too but I am not comfortable with the pull shot or the hook shot. Therefore I am almost always bowled a good length incutter aimed at my stomach. Of course, some days I get lucky and pull that for a six and the formula against me changes for a few days. Likewise, I know which batman I can bowl the yorker to and to who I can get away with a screamer down the offside. To top it all, we play on a circular helipad (concrete base), which covers about 30 yards and the rest is all lush green lawn. Needless to say, NOBODY dives on the helipad but there have been some scintillating catches at the boundary where the fielder comes running in and dives to hold on to the catch.
So much for the preamble. Today we had a match with another group in the company. we had a practice match yesterday with those chaps and beat them hollow. Therefore everyone was in a buoyant mood. After all we do play everyday. What can ppl who play once in a while do against us. As the title mentions, well...quite a bit.
First up, we played on another ground nearby which was an ok pitch (mud) and grass all around. This ground is not preferred by us for our daily games because the boundaries are too short and a good shot is, more often than not, a six. We won the toss and put them to bat. The logic being that they do not have an idea about the potential of the ground and would not know the runs needed for a win. We started off well with only 15 runs coming in the first 4 overs with the fall of 3 wickets. I bowled the 5th and 7th over and gave only 7 runs and took a wicket. Then it started. An innocuous drop catch, a missed stumping chance, a run out throw to the wicket hitting it and shooting off allowing for more runs. A six and a few fours later, the target was 60 of 10 overs. No sweat. Our chaps went in to bat. All of a sudden we realised our folly. You see, this match was set up by one of the players who used to play regularly with us. He had got ppl from his dept. who we did not know. On the other hand, he was expertly setting the field for each and every one of us. On top of that, their bowling was excellent. Good pace, mostly yorkers and widish outside the off stump deliveries with a slip and a second slip at square. We tumbled to 45 all out in about 9 overs.
Lessons learnt:
Do not underestimate the other team.
Do not assume that good bowling on one pitch is enough to bowl on another pitch. I am so used to bowling on concrete that I had to be extra cautions about not slipping on the ground. This robbed me of an few extra yards of speed. Possibly that defended shot could have been a bowled.
Get lots of batting practice. Balls that I whack on the helipad were finding edges and snicks in the 3 overs that I batted. Reason: change in pace/bounce of the ground. Plus, learn to wait for the ball and play on the backfoot. I gave my wicket away to a cross bat shot on the front foot which found the fielder at the boundary behind the bowler. A more balanced shot would have been a sixer.
Fight to the finish. Lost hope is more dangerous than lack of skill. In the over I got out, I was batting with 35 runs to win in 18 balls and the only thought was the smirk and taunts on the face of the challenger who plays with us daily (oh, we are a fun bunch :) ). I should have batted sensibly and waited for a bad ball to whack instead of throwing my wicket to a good ball.
Long post I know, but I just wanted to write all this down while I am still smarting so that I can read this and rectify things before the next match.
|
I play tennis ball cricket in office practically every evening. It's a wonderful thing to compete with guys who know your strengths and weakness. Every single player has his favourite shots and his totally abysmal areas. For example, I am a reasonably good offside batsman and I can pick runs off my toes on the onside too but I am not comfortable with the pull shot or the hook shot. Therefore I am almost always bowled a good length incutter aimed at my stomach. Of course, some days I get lucky and pull that for a six and the formula against me changes for a few days. Likewise, I know which batman I can bowl the yorker to and to who I can get away with a screamer down the offside. To top it all, we play on a circular helipad (concrete base), which covers about 30 yards and the rest is all lush green lawn. Needless to say, NOBODY dives on the helipad but there have been some scintillating catches at the boundary where the fielder comes running in and dives to hold on to the catch.
So much for the preamble. Today we had a match with another group in the company. we had a practice match yesterday with those chaps and beat them hollow. Therefore everyone was in a buoyant mood. After all we do play everyday. What can ppl who play once in a while do against us. As the title mentions, well...quite a bit.
First up, we played on another ground nearby which was an ok pitch (mud) and grass all around. This ground is not preferred by us for our daily games because the boundaries are too short and a good shot is, more often than not, a six. We won the toss and put them to bat. The logic being that they do not have an idea about the potential of the ground and would not know the runs needed for a win. We started off well with only 15 runs coming in the first 4 overs with the fall of 3 wickets. I bowled the 5th and 7th over and gave only 7 runs and took a wicket. Then it started. An innocuous drop catch, a missed stumping chance, a run out throw to the wicket hitting it and shooting off allowing for more runs. A six and a few fours later, the target was 60 of 10 overs. No sweat. Our chaps went in to bat. All of a sudden we realised our folly. You see, this match was set up by one of the players who used to play regularly with us. He had got ppl from his dept. who we did not know. On the other hand, he was expertly setting the field for each and every one of us. On top of that, their bowling was excellent. Good pace, mostly yorkers and widish outside the off stump deliveries with a slip and a second slip at square. We tumbled to 45 all out in about 9 overs.
Lessons learnt:
Do not underestimate the other team.
Do not assume that good bowling on one pitch is enough to bowl on another pitch. I am so used to bowling on concrete that I had to be extra cautions about not slipping on the ground. This robbed me of an few extra yards of speed. Possibly that defended shot could have been a bowled.
Get lots of batting practice. Balls that I whack on the helipad were finding edges and snicks in the 3 overs that I batted. Reason: change in pace/bounce of the ground. Plus, learn to wait for the ball and play on the backfoot. I gave my wicket away to a cross bat shot on the front foot which found the fielder at the boundary behind the bowler. A more balanced shot would have been a sixer.
Fight to the finish. Lost hope is more dangerous than lack of skill. In the over I got out, I was batting with 35 runs to win in 18 balls and the only thought was the smirk and taunts on the face of the challenger who plays with us daily (oh, we are a fun bunch :) ). I should have batted sensibly and waited for a bad ball to whack instead of throwing my wicket to a good ball.
Long post I know, but I just wanted to write all this down while I am still smarting so that I can read this and rectify things before the next match.
Labels: Cricket
Monday, March 29, 2004
Sehwag and the Ashok Chakra
First, now I know who this Sehwag character is :)
At one point in the match yesterday, the commentators focused on the shots played by Sehwag in the innings. They had the visual aid of the computer generated image that showed what one thousand words might have expressed. The interesting part: it looked like the Ashok Chakra in multihue!
I think its high time the "sehwag ki maa" tag is removed and a new one added:
Sehwags' dad: "Bas kar yaar...."
Sehwag: "Ki karen papaji, petrol katham hi nahin hota..."
Dad : "Champion!"
:D
|
At one point in the match yesterday, the commentators focused on the shots played by Sehwag in the innings. They had the visual aid of the computer generated image that showed what one thousand words might have expressed. The interesting part: it looked like the Ashok Chakra in multihue!
I think its high time the "sehwag ki maa" tag is removed and a new one added:
Sehwags' dad: "Bas kar yaar...."
Sehwag: "Ki karen papaji, petrol katham hi nahin hota..."
Dad : "Champion!"
:D
Labels: Cricket
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Jeetega bhai jeetaga...India jeetega!!!
|Monday, March 22, 2004
Complete Exoneration!! Ha! Ha!
I thought I had a confession to make. Whenever I watch India play, India loses. Sad, no?
I have almost never seen Sachin bat. Whenever I feast my eyes on the exploits of India, Team India starts fidgetting on the field, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders and generally behaving like an erstwhile fluffy pomeranian that's just come in from a rather vicious rainstorm (You almost kick it back out because you don't recognize it save for those sad eyes). That's Team India to me 99% of the time.
Of course, I have heard of the exploits of Team India from people around me and from papers too. But u know what they say about things you hear. Worse things are 'said' about things you read. Barring the paradoxes (doxii??) in the above sentences, I had a very sceptical view of our cricket team.
The only person I could safely watch is Dravid. For a long time I thought SayWag was a gregarious reporter tagging along on the tour. Fleeting glimpses of another Tendulkar at the crease used to bother me but by the time I blinked the surprise out of my eyes, the double would have disappeared leaving me with a strong suspicion that some strange(er) game was afoot. Oh, right...another wicket gone!
Thus it came to be that for years and years I have not watched India play without India losing, barring a few occasions. When India met Pakistan in Bangalore in the Quarter Finals of WC 96, I was on a train back to college. The entire compartment cheered together when we came to know the news the next morning. In 1997, I had just walked into the room when Sachin cut to square and was caught(the ball was grounded but the umpire gave him out) by Jonty Rhodes diving full length to his left. The accusatory glances that I got for that was enough to make me rethink staying on long enough in Nagpur to complete college. In the current Indo-Pak tour, I completely missed the first match and India scores a thrilling victory. (Or so they tell me). I watched the second match long enough to get Sehwag, Laxman and Ganguly out before I rushed back to my seat and played Halo to keep my mind off cricket. Next thing I know, Sachin has scored a century. So on the way home, I stop my bike and join a cheering group outside a shop and watch while 3 wickets fall in 1.2 overs (India needed 53 of 36 balls then). Harrased, I turn away and ride home while Powar and Balaji revive India's chances. I had just parked my bike when the watchman and a Pizza Hut delivery guy shout urgently, "come saar, Nehra batting, 9 balls 13 runs to win". I rush to the radio and Nehra gets bowled out. Ouch! Sujith strikes again!
Over the weekend, however, I was thinking of the few times when I had seen Sachin/India grab victory. WC2003 Mar 1st, India-Pak. Hmm...Ok, One. Sachin's amazing last over against SA in Hero Cup finals. Two. Kaif and Yuvraj beating impossible odds to win the Natwest Trophy. Well well well...at last a pattern emerges. I distinctly remember having complete FAITH in the Indian team in all these encounters. In fact, In the Natwest finals, I had reached home when India were at 180/5 and was exasperated to see my roomies switching channels because they had given up. Sufficient anger welled up in me to snatch the remote, put the match on again and sit through the whole drama with a grim determination that India will prevail. 13th June 2003.
To cut a (really) long story short, Sunday found me in front of the TV with all the determination, grim and otherwise, I could muster and cheer India onto yet another sedate yet exhuberant victory.
You can bet I'll be full of this newly discovered superstition when India meets Pak on Wednesday. India WILL WIN. Statement of Fact.
No ifs. No buts. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my respite from the Guilt Trip.
:)
|
I have almost never seen Sachin bat. Whenever I feast my eyes on the exploits of India, Team India starts fidgetting on the field, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders and generally behaving like an erstwhile fluffy pomeranian that's just come in from a rather vicious rainstorm (You almost kick it back out because you don't recognize it save for those sad eyes). That's Team India to me 99% of the time.
Of course, I have heard of the exploits of Team India from people around me and from papers too. But u know what they say about things you hear. Worse things are 'said' about things you read. Barring the paradoxes (doxii??) in the above sentences, I had a very sceptical view of our cricket team.
The only person I could safely watch is Dravid. For a long time I thought SayWag was a gregarious reporter tagging along on the tour. Fleeting glimpses of another Tendulkar at the crease used to bother me but by the time I blinked the surprise out of my eyes, the double would have disappeared leaving me with a strong suspicion that some strange(er) game was afoot. Oh, right...another wicket gone!
Thus it came to be that for years and years I have not watched India play without India losing, barring a few occasions. When India met Pakistan in Bangalore in the Quarter Finals of WC 96, I was on a train back to college. The entire compartment cheered together when we came to know the news the next morning. In 1997, I had just walked into the room when Sachin cut to square and was caught(the ball was grounded but the umpire gave him out) by Jonty Rhodes diving full length to his left. The accusatory glances that I got for that was enough to make me rethink staying on long enough in Nagpur to complete college. In the current Indo-Pak tour, I completely missed the first match and India scores a thrilling victory. (Or so they tell me). I watched the second match long enough to get Sehwag, Laxman and Ganguly out before I rushed back to my seat and played Halo to keep my mind off cricket. Next thing I know, Sachin has scored a century. So on the way home, I stop my bike and join a cheering group outside a shop and watch while 3 wickets fall in 1.2 overs (India needed 53 of 36 balls then). Harrased, I turn away and ride home while Powar and Balaji revive India's chances. I had just parked my bike when the watchman and a Pizza Hut delivery guy shout urgently, "come saar, Nehra batting, 9 balls 13 runs to win". I rush to the radio and Nehra gets bowled out. Ouch! Sujith strikes again!
Over the weekend, however, I was thinking of the few times when I had seen Sachin/India grab victory. WC2003 Mar 1st, India-Pak. Hmm...Ok, One. Sachin's amazing last over against SA in Hero Cup finals. Two. Kaif and Yuvraj beating impossible odds to win the Natwest Trophy. Well well well...at last a pattern emerges. I distinctly remember having complete FAITH in the Indian team in all these encounters. In fact, In the Natwest finals, I had reached home when India were at 180/5 and was exasperated to see my roomies switching channels because they had given up. Sufficient anger welled up in me to snatch the remote, put the match on again and sit through the whole drama with a grim determination that India will prevail. 13th June 2003.
To cut a (really) long story short, Sunday found me in front of the TV with all the determination, grim and otherwise, I could muster and cheer India onto yet another sedate yet exhuberant victory.
You can bet I'll be full of this newly discovered superstition when India meets Pak on Wednesday. India WILL WIN. Statement of Fact.
No ifs. No buts. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my respite from the Guilt Trip.
:)
Labels: Cricket
