End of Summer 2006

I was clearly on a high after clearing my prelims. The main (or serious as it is called among Desis in Manhattan) cricket tournament was there just after my prelims week. Main or serious is it called because this is a proper cricket tournament with 11 players in each side. Owing to the small Indian community in Manhattan we had 3 teams participating in the tournament. But that was good enough to make the tournament lively and interesting. To add to the color we had day-night matches scheduled under light. We had a decent enough team, but all the teams were more or less the same when it comes to the batting. We felt we have a slight edge over other teams because of our bowling and fielding abilities. We had almost the same team like last year with a few changes and the determination was even more this time to win because of the trashing (all losses) we got in the previous edition. This time the tournament was in a two day format and we had both our league matches on the first day (24th June Saturday). So, soaking in the great pain of getting up early on a Saturday morning our team made to the ground in time. We won the toss and decided to bat first which was pre-decided. We did not know what would be a good score, so to be on the safer side initially we thought 120 in 15 overs would probably seal the match for us. But our scoring rate was not picking up in that way because of some good consistent bowling from our opposition. And we lost too many wickets towards the end in the pursuit for big shots and were on the verge of getting all out before the stipulated 15 overs. Our 9th wicket fell in the beginning of 15th over and a score of 85 was also looking unlikely at that time. I was the last batsman to walk in and we had like 5 balls left in the match and the batsman at the other end was Sushanth. I discussed with him whether to go for the big shots or make sure of playing out the entire quota of overs and see what is possible. Finally I asked Sushanth to do whatever he feels like and I knew he will go for his shots once I said that. And to my and my teammates' surprise that's what he did and scored around 18 runs in the last over and I did not get a chance to do anything but running. It’s not like he was not capable of that, but the timing of the heroism to give a perfect finish to the innings brought back the smiles on our face and we had a defendable 90+ score at the end. Then the biggest drama, personally for me, was there to unfold. As planned I started our bowling and the batsmen complained about my action. After a couple of balls the umpire started calling it no-ball for my action. There was always a talk going on about my action among my friend circle also. So, I had accepted the fact that probably my action is not 100% clean. But I always believed that it's not chucking either. Anyway it's the umpire's call and I have to take it. But the frustration came from the way the umpires and the organizing committee handled the issue. The bizarre situation of some opposition players running into the field to discuss the issue with the umpire infuriated me. I felt it's the umpire's prerogative to decide about my action and if he thinks it's not proper, I have to accept that in open arms. For me it was as simple as that. The involvement of other people in the decision making really irritated me and at one stage we even considered staging a walk-out. But good sense prevailed and we decided to carry on with the game and beat them which will be more appropriate for the entire episode. So, after bowling some 3-4 balls I was made the wicket-keeper of the team. But we had enough bowlers in our team as back-up. Then we maintained our disciplined line and length bowling as per the game plan and let the opposition take the risk. But after that embarrassment of being called for chucking I was feeling a little low and in that time I believe I dropped a catch. But that did not prove too costly and we got plenty of wickets very soon and that 90+ score was suddenly too big a score for our opposition. And in the end we won the match pretty comfortably.

In the evening of that day we had our second league match against the third team. This time also I won the toss and decided to bat first owing to the factor that we did not want to chase under light. We had decided to play positively from the beginning this time because of the slow start we got in the last match. Although the scoring rate was good we kept on loosing wickets regularly. I promoted myself in the batting order this time and coincidentally again Sushanth and I were out there in the middle. This time it was my turn and chanced my arm against some half volleys offered by the opposition and scored around 15 runs in one over. As I was going for the attack this time Sushanth decided to block one end but got out. We had lost around 7 wickets by then and had about 5 more overs left. So, I also decided to play out the overs, but failed trying to do that. So, we had only 2 wickets left, but Maneesh and Mazhar played out the overs quite nicely and we again ended almost with the same score like last time. Only humor this time was that Sumit, our opening batsman in the last match went as the last batsman. Although I was hesitating to start the bowling again because of the farce that happened in the last match, my teammates asked me to try my hand as it’s a different opposition and a new set of umpires. But cashing on the morning’s drama they also objected to my bowling and I stopped bowling after being called again. But this time the umpire took sometime to call and I managed a wicket in those 3 balls. I was back my keeping role again, but this time I was more confident of my wicket keeping than last time. But soon I dropped a catch of Praveen and they started building a partnership. I was really feeling guilty for that dropped catch. Although we were not giving away too many runs we needed wickets as it was a low-scoring game like the last one. Soon I was running out of resources to get a wicket. That time Sushanth snatched the ball from me and volunteered for bowling. Although he was not our best bet to get a wicket at that time, we decided to give him a chance as the partnership had started looking dangerous. To our bewilderment Praveen lost his cool in the first ball of the over and offered a simple catch at long-off. Sumit held on to that one easily and I was the most relieved one as I had dropped one earlier. Next ball Sham edged and I grabbed. So, with 2 wickets in 2 balls again Sushanth brought us back into the game. After this we were confident of pulling it off. Then Mazhar’s steady line and length bowling earned him 4 wickets and about 3 more catches for me. In the end we won this match also by a big margin and waited for the next morning’s last league match to know who will be our opponent in the final.

The much awaited final of the tournament came on the evening of 25^th June. This time I lost the toss and the opposition opted for batting first. Though we would have liked to bat first, we were okay with anything as we were very confident of our chances after winning both the league matches. We had a very decent crowd and everything was well set for the day-night encounter to end the tournament. Vamsi and Maneesh started the bowling this time and I was the most confident as wicket-keeper. We got wickets regularly and the opposition was on the verge of getting bundled out for less than 70 runs. But our fielding was not upto the mark this time and some missed catches and run out chances helped them make a final score of 78. The funniest thing to remember for us from the first innings was Karhik’s catch diving forward. Although the target of 79 was never threatening, the pressure of final started to show on our players. This time, Sumit and Sanket were back as opening batsmen. The game plan was to stay at the wicket and play out the overs and runs will come by as the target is very achievable. We lost a quick wicket in the form of Sumit, but Sanket who was the most nervous in the beginning started to middle the ball and rotated the strike very well with Vamsi. So, by the time Sanket got out we had a very good start. Although we had a steady progress in the middle overs; a run-a-ball situation arose towards the end. The tension was mounting. But we had a lot of wickets in our hand and our big hitters, Sandeep Rana and Sushanth, were out there in the middle. We were requiring something like 11 out of the last two overs. Sandeep blasted the first ball of the penultimate over for a six over long-off and literally sealed the match for us. And all our teammates erupted in joy in the stands. Most fittingly Sushanth scored the winning boundary for us. I said most fittingly because he was the savior for us in all the matches. It will be a memorable night at least for me. The turn out for the final was enormous and they were chirpy as well which made some of our opposition players loose their cool under the tense proceedings and made it more enjoyable for us.

Finally the badminton doubles championship organized by ISA came up our way and Sushanth and I were teamed up again. Surpassing some unexpected blips on our league games we made it to the semi-final against Praveen and Sethu. We knew they are the guys we need to beat to win the tournament. But we were also aware of the fact that they are the best when it comes to badminton in Manhattan. We never gave us any chance of winning against them and just wanted to enjoy the game against them. We managed to surprise ourselves to take the match to the third set by winning the second set. The euphoria ended fittingly as they won the match comfortably in the third set. But it gave us huge satisfaction and confidence that we are not that far behind them. And probably winning a set against them gave us more pleasure than all our wins in cricket. This is because of the simple fact that we were expected to win the cricket matches and had no chance in badminton against our opposition in the semi-final.

This is how it is the most memorable summer for me. Clearing the prelims gave me the belief that I can somewhat manage to carry myself under tricky situations. Being a sports-loving guy, our exploitation in sports this summer (however small the competition may be) will always be a memory to cherish.