Craziness: Present... Half the People: Absent...

The House was filled with loudness and cheer,
We so miss the ones who are not near....

T'w'oo Close...

Last Sunday, I was back to playing a cricket match at Azad maidan after a long – longgggg time. When it comes to Azad Maidan, the grass is not green on any of the freakin sides.The ground is full of  dust,stones, ditches, lither, disposed condoms..opps shouldn’t hve mentioned that! Cmon why not, afterall its a ‘playground’! ;-)....

Playing at Azad Maidan always reminds me of those good old school cricket matches and various inter-collegiate tournaments. Infact, playing cricket itself brings back beautiful memories of wearing those white flannels everyday for practice, getting cheered by your team-mates, cracking jokes with the coach and hogging stall-wala chinese food outside the club right after the practice session ends.

The Sunday match was a delightful reunion with college cricket friends as we all had made a come back to cricket and carried our kit bags instead of the regular office laptop bags which we now carry everyday to work on weekdays. We all were pumped up to hit the field after a long break and resume our sporting personalities.

We won the toss and chose to bat first. Having being practicing on Saturdays, I was looking forward to play the match and get some runs under my belt. We had a steady start to the innings with little hiccups in the middle. I was holding the innings from one end and the come back was ideal as runs started flowing for me.

And then just when I was in the flurry of runs and heading to a milestone, the Game which has meant more than just a sport to me beckoned ‘There’s always a slip between the cup and the lip.’

I was out; stumped, falling two runs short of a century. I was however unware that I was so close but now so far. It was only when I returned to the dressing room and heard my teammates growling at me saying “Saale!! 98 pe bhi koi out hota hai kya!” I was astounded and with a ‘Oops’ expression on my face realised that a few moments earlier if I could have just given one glance at the dressing room, I would have known I was nearing a ton. Disappointed ,a bit, on missing out on a century, but then such situations instantly make you smile at yourself for a moment with a sigh.

However the interesting part was in the latter part of the match where we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. We were defending a score of 196, which we thought would be good enough to take us home. But then, Cricket is a funny game after all. You should always expect the unexpected. With loose bowling and casual fielding we had the match slip away from our hands when the opposition with their 5 wickets intact needed 60 runs from 90 balls. The way they were comfortably cruising it seemed that we would definitely be taken to the cleaners.

But then, as I said earlier, it’s Cricket’s tendency to write its own script. The course of the game changed and the tables turned around. The match was evenly poised and was heading to a nail biting finish. With 20 runs required from 24 balls along with 4 wickets in hand, victory was playing hide and seek for both the teams.

It was a crucial stage of the match. Our captain had run out of options for bowlers as our mainline bowlers had finished their quota of overs.

The captain turned to me. Well!!! I am known for my offies(off spinners) and chipping in with a few overs in the middle, but then to bowl at this stage, which possibly could decide the result of the match, was a big challenge.

I had to really Change the Game! Now this phrase reminds me of what I was blabbering and flaunting to my cricket buddies all morning when we were travelling to the ground. ‘Change the Game’ is the tagline of the Pepsi campaign for the Cricket World Cup this year. I was acting cool , with my eyebrows raised talking about this campaign as it is done by the agency where I work in. Infact like a Enthu-Cutlet( bambaiya word for a person with too much enthusiasm), I titled myself as a ‘Game Changer’.

And what luck I was amidst a situation where the team needed a game changer. With 10 runs required from 12 balls, the contest was not just about scoring and saving runs but precisely holding on to one’s nerves.

The ball was tossed in my hand. It was make or break situation for me. Sahil, my leg spinner buddy spontaneously took the opportunity to throw in a comment, challenging me to prove the title which I had endowed upon myself all morning- 'The Game Changer'. As Sahil said it, “Dikha abhi game change karke’!!

The situation was tense for everyone on the field as well as off field in the dressing room. All I had to do was bowl on the stumps and do nothing extra ordinary. Funny how it is, when it comes to big situations, it is the basics that matter the most, not anything super human or unusual.

I started the over with a dot ball. The next ball the batsman tried to sneak in a single, but due to some fantastic piece of fielding by our captain, there was a mix up between the batsmen and we got a run out. The run out got our spirits high and we were ready to unfold the thriller.

The plan was simple.(Simple – here is very under-rated considering the situation I was in!). The plan was to bowl straight and disciplined. After another dot ball, I swayed away as I slipped in two consecutive wide balls. Damn! Two wide balls, two precious runs given to the opposition. The margin for error was too small.

I said to myself, how can I let the match slip away like that. I don’t want to let my team down. I regained courage and started bowling again with focus. The next ball I bowled fetched me a wicket-Stumped! I virtually punched my fist in the air though I literally didn’t do it because the golden rule of sport and even life (Oh damn! Philosophy creeping in!) is “It’s not over till it’s over.”

Having given only 3 runs from my over, the opposition now required 7 runs  of the last 6 balls. We were now staring at victory with determination which a few moments ago was a blurred vision.

The last over couldn’t have been more perfect with a good catch taken under pressure and having conceded only 2 runs from the last 6 balls. We won the match by 5 runs, courtesy brilliant last over bowled along with valiant team effort which finally resulted in a ripper of a match.

So that was end to an action packed super sunday. Truly, the only feeling that makes me follow my passion of playing this sport is “If it’s in the Game,it’s in the Game.”