Kaif ran for his life

And that’s OUT….Kiran (in Jo’s XXL T-shirt) has lost his wicket with superb catch by wicket keeper. The poor fellow (next batsman, Mohammad Kaif) who was waiting for his batting chance through out the tournament (Kingfisher cricket ball corporate tournament) finally got it in semifinal match, for last ball, with butterflies rather all

kinds of insects rushing throughout his body. He started praying, NO, Started abusing all 4 batsmen who lost there wicket in 5 balls, and fail to score 4 runs in 6 balls. Scored only 2 runs in 5 balls. So the target for him was to score 2 runs in 1 ball , to reach Final and face Dell India for the first time.

Captains word to him “Bowler will ball on outside the off stump, so come into the line, connect it, and run for life. Your target is not scoring 2 runs, safety first, score single, if you can run for second (if luck favours) run for two. If we win this, we will definitely win against DELL, and then we can play with RCB.” RCB……That means Robin

Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble etc… playing against these guys is like dream comes true, naaaahhh I don't have any words for this feeling.

Vice Captain was a closest eye witness of this downfall. He was standing on non striker end without facing a single ball. He gave some suggestion to Md. Kaif  “This is a chance to become Hero. I know you are, but show it to world”. Oh my god, what a chance, what an encouraging speech.

So many things in his mind,

 - Bloody batsmen, could not score 4 runs

 - Lots of insects rushing.

 - Captains talk.

 - Bloody batsmen, could not score 4 runs.

 - RCB ……

 - Will he bowl on offside, or I will get away with leg side wide.

 - Bloody batsmen, could not score 4 runs.

 - If I do the needful, how to celebrate.

 - Hero …

 - Bloody batsmen, could not score 4 runs.

 - Pahen ne ko kapada nahi hoga,… etc (this one is scene from Lagan)

 - Bloody batsmen, could not score 4 runs.

These are enough things in mind to hang even Dual Core Processor, he hardly had Pentium1.

Took guard of middle stump, just because captain said bowler will ball on off stump and his own thinking of, if ball goes little bit on leg side can get a wide run. Field was set to stop single. Bowler started his run up, it was short but looked like Shoaib Akhtar or Malcolm Marshall running from 45 yards. As captain said, he bowled on offside,

batsman was ready for offside ball, got the connection, but straight to bowlers throat. As instruction given to Md. Kaif “run for life”, in spite of knowing bowler has taken the clean catch, he started running. It was not his day, he was also well short of crease when he got run out.

All this things happened in about 1 minute in real time. I am sure, Md. Kaif felt like, he played a full session of test match without losing his wicket. He was so tired, could not walk back to dressing room (pavilion).

That’s it, Hero……. Celebration ……RCB...... all things went away, only two things left

 - “BLOODY BATSMEN, COULD NOT SCORE 4 RUNS”

 - “MOHAMMAD KAIF RAN FOR HIS LIFE”

Author: Rahul (Md. Kaif)

DELLdrums

It was yet another final with our arch enemy - DELL.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, our spirits were up. The plan was to post a big score (200+) in the allotted 20 overs and then put pressure on their famous batting attack.

But not all went according to plan. 2 wickets in 2 balls in the very first over - both opening batsmen back in the hut! .....Soon the score read, 17/3 and a few minutes later - 25/4.....we were in trouble. Puneet and Ajay B tried to steady the score, but the wickets kept falling. By the 18th over, we were reeling at 87/8!!

Rahul and Sujit were at the crease. I, the last batsman, was padded up and keenly awaiting my turn. A left arm spinner was bowling to Sujit. The first few balls were quiet. The third ball was pitched up. Sujit put his foot out and drove the ball down the ground. Mid On was standing inside the circle and the ball raced past him to the boundary. 4 runs!!

Claps all around. Then Sujit played a rash shot to the next ball and held out to the same fielder. 9 wickets down and that meant I had to go bat.

As I reached the middle, Rahul came up to me and said ' Play out the 2 overs. They have crossed their allotted time for bowling and we will get 20 extra runs for doing nothing!!'

I did some mental calculation in my mind. 91 + 20 = 111 runs already!!!......wait...I had to survive 2 overs. I got going about my task.

2 balls to go in this over.....I completely missed the first one. I had no idea whether it had spun away or spun in.....I was simply glad that it missed the stumps too!!

Last ball - The ball was pitched up. I somehow managed to get to the pitch of the ball and tap it. The feeling of the ball hitting the middle of my bat was soothing. I had survived!!

Rahul played the first few balls of the 19th over and took a single of the third ball. I had to survive 3 balls, but it was a spinner again. Watching 3 balls from the other end, I had realized that he was a leg spinner. The ball would go away from me. I had to remember that.

4th ball - The bowler bowled. I could see the ball was pitched up. It was coming towards me just above the line of sight of my eyes. Damn...I realized it was a full toss!!. I simply closed my eyes and swung away. Thwack.....I knew that I had made contact. I opened my eyes. The ball was soaring up in the air. It was the shortest boundary of the V.E.T ground - I had hit a six!!.....Woooo....That felt great.
The whole team was cheering for obvious reasons. I had to concentrate again.

5th ball - This time my confidence was high. I was able to read the bowling. He had dropped it short. I simply rocked back and smacked it through Covers. Well.....the ball actually went past the diving left hand of the point fielder, but Third Man was too fine and I had hit a boundary again.

10 runs in two balls. I made a mental calculation in my mind - 122 runs. I could picture myself , standing next to the organizer, holding the 'Man of the Match' award. We simply had to survive another over.

6th ball - The ball was again pitched up. I drove it to Long Off and ran through for a single. I was happy that Rahul was letting me take strike for the last over.

However, when I reached the other end, something strange happened. The bowler, who was obviously pissed off started tapping me at the back of my helmet - Knock Knock!!

It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. ' What the hell...' I thought to myself, 'Is this some new form of sledging.' I looked around to the Umpire. He was cautioning the bowler.

I was in some sort of a shock, but decided to carry on. DELL was known to adopt such tactics. I decided to concentrate. But by this time, their Wicketkeeper had come across and now he started to tap me on my helmet too. Knock Knock......

I looked around again. The Leg Umpire simply raised his hands and said, ' There is no rule against this type of sledging. There is nothing I can do.'

What!!......this can't be true. I looked at my captain. They were simply sitting there eating chips and drinking Pepsi. I looked at Rahul. He too was standing there doing nothing.

Their Wicketkeeper continued to knock - Knock Knock!!
'Too much........This can't be right', I thought to myself.

I simply closed my eyes.......and when I opened them again......I was lying on my bed starring at the ceiling fan.

My maid was at furiously knocking at the door - ' Bhaiya.....Kholo Bhaiya!!'

Author: Prasan

The Law of Averages

A few days back when Pinkesh sent out a spreadsheet consisting of our scores and results, till date, our captain Ajay responded with a little statistic of his own:

I was keeping track of my batting statistics for year 2010.

• Played 37 matches J
• Scored 1221 runs (5 times not out)
• Average = 38.15
• 100’s = 3 (Lost once after scoring 100 against Unisys)
• 50’s = 8 (Lost once after scoring 50 against Samsung)
• 8 times got out on 40’s
• As Captain: 26 matches! Won 19. Lost 7 

Before any of us realized the mistake in the calculations, he re-sent the email with the correct figures:

Recalculating…….average and runs…some error…

It feels better now J

Played 37 matches J

Scored 1581 runs (5 times not out)

Average = 49.40

A truly amazing average....and couple that with a team win to loss ratio of 66.67%, this year, it is quite obvious that in the game of cricket the Openers have a big role to play.

A good opening stand is worth its weight in Gold, but even if one of the Opening batsmen sticks on till the middle overs, it not only provides a great boost to the rest of the team, but also works to demoralize the bowling attack.

Ajay has done a great job in leading us, from the front, for a long long time now and despite his first ball duck in the recent finals, we all felt he richly deserved the following prize:

While others were too busy trying to find their names in the frame, I wasn't to be left behind. 

Yep....it's true. You see that little reflection at the bottom left of the plaque. That's me!!

I swear it guys. I was standing behind Pinki when he took this photograph. 

So, to summarize. A big 'Thank You' to Ajay for everything and a big 'Thumbs Up' to Pinkesh for that wonderful frame.

Till next time - Cheers!!

Author: Prasan 

Just an Intro...

Here is another blog on Cricket....or is it??
This is nothing but a few memories that we wish to share along our way, on what we would like to call 'A Journey'

In a country that is obsessed with the sport and where Cricket has become a religion, it is only fair that a group of guys (whose professions range from Engineers, MBA's and Program managers), get together and set out on a quest to do a little beyond just 'playing the game'. This is a site where we stop along, every now and then, and register a few special moments, which will not only narrate our story, but also help us treasure our experiences, in the years to follow.

Almost all of us, had our humble beginnings. As kids we started out playing with plastic bats and balls. With age, this cultivated into wooden bats with tennis and rubber balls. Soon, the typical Indian mentality of studies and work life set in, but the passion for the game never seemed to dwindle. Now, the playing fields have matured from tiny, narrow by-lanes to large pieces of barren land (with a mat and stumps in the middle) and the games have moved from small inter-colony skirmishes to corporate and club level cricket. 

At first, we went through a few seasons, which can best be described as disastrous and forgettable. But, under the valuable leadership of an inspirational captain, we had a fruitful season last year, where we consistently made it past the first round. This year, however, has been the best one so far. We won our first corporate cup, owing to a clever strategy we adopted, and then successfully made it through to the quarter and semi finals, where we were eliminated, almost every time, by a common enemy - DELL.

This weekend, another final beckons. The tournament is different, the ground is different, but the enemy is still the same. Will we be third time lucky? 
Only time will tell if we succeed, but atleast we would have the pleasure of saying - 'We tried'