This story begins right from early 2001 where we had a first shot to a city wide Cricket tournament called the J. K. Samyukhta Rolling Trophy organized by the Rotaract Club of District 3230, under whom we were one of the clubs. We were a part of an institute called Apex that supported the education of Madras University Correspondence students. To be honest, we weren't a very prominent cadre or a desired bunch in the vicinity but it was promising when we became a part of the Rotaract Club District 3230. The word Correspondence and our entity as Correspondence Students was always at a derogatory disposal. We surely werent the smartest or politically savvy of all the clubs, but were surely the most hard working and sincere bunch of guys one would have come across...such was our background going into our first tournament...
I was doing my first year in B.Com and I was a part of the squad with my seniors that went for the tournament with 2 teams - A and B. Well, we did not get off to a good start and that meant we depended on each other team to lose to make way for us which I practically felt was a very desperate wishful thinking we were heading towards. We werent focusing and delivering as planned. We were sighting the girls as we saw our teams go down in defeat. As expected, predicted and planned...we were knocked out of the tournament in 2001...thanks to some one-sided umpiring and ruthless behaviour in a gentleman's game...I personally went back with a bitter taste and promised...no, swore to come back some day soon...with vengeance...
A year passed by and the memory of the ugly past had been buried under my willingness to look ahead and indeed...time was the best healer...no one else dared to talk to me about it. In late 2002 and we had been invited to participate in the tournament again. Memories began to unravel skeletons from the cupboard and we decided to exorcise our demons the only way we knew - by winning. We somehow knew this was our final time for redemption - this was it...this was our last chance. This time we had decided to go in with only one team and that in itself was a bold move where with more teams comes the probability to stay alive in the knockout rounds in the tournament. We practiced like our lives depended on it, we played practice matches under the scorching sun and in the soaring Chennai heat and pouring rains to get ourselves to stop complaining about the weather. In the battlefield, whether it is hot or cold, the enemy will strike at you in any moment with full force...we were readying our minds to see those mind battles through. On the lighter side of all of this, we gathered every penny we had to register for the tournament ourselves in the last minute and made it to the tournament paper as Team Apex.
After all the paper work was done, it was time for some action...but before I get to the action, here is a snapshot of my team that made history:
- Murali, the wily and quick chap with a sharp eyesight and a sense of humour - Opening batsman and a lightning quick fielder...tried his hand at bowling a few off-spinners...got an ugly treatment by an unassuming batsman once upon a time.
- Jayadev, the aggressive, passionate, brutal muscleman in our team...fastest bowler and the most unpredictable batsman. His only drawback was his emotions...taunt him and you could get him out...tough controlling him when the chips are down but pleasure to unleash to the opposition when we have to get things up and rolling.
- Dhilip, the ice cool customer with an ISO smile and one who can speak calmly even in the face of a disaster. Well...getting him serious for a big match was the only challenge but nevertheless, he was an amazingly committed fielder whom you couldnt judge by his physique...could pull a stunner any given moment.
- Vatsa, the pan and tobaccco chewing, cigeratte smokin, abusive throwin, lock, stock and barrell dude with a don type outlook. A giant by no means and the strategist of the team. The issue with him was that the moment you piss him off, the first word he utters will end up in a literal riot that would bring mayhem...he nevertheless was the hero on any given sunday...and it was a sunday when it all happenned.
- Amrith, a beer drinking, chain smoker with dont-give-a-damn attitude who had the looks of a model and was indeed a distraction for opponents...he wouldnt run as the amount of smoking nearly cut out his stamina...the only role we could give and the best he was at - wicket keeping. The most underestimated player who gave his blood and sweat for the team and went the last mile.
- Subbu, our club president and the negotiator for the team in any given crisis. Probably the only guy who gave the umpires the run for their money as he had a constant eye on their decisions and comments. He is like the Hulk...extreme anger and rage can improve his performance on the field...probably what got him in the team!
- Ranga, the religious and the tallest in the gang...the smartest medium pace bowler who added a little thinking into his repetoire. His breakthroughs in the toughest moments was what helped see the light of day in the darkest moments. Nervous chap who can talk fast and still produce some stunning wickets! His spiritual aura truly was reflected in the finals where he got us to hope and pray.
- Aravind, the all rounder who could bowl fast and produce a peach of an innings when needed most. The only player who had played in the District Level tournaments and had a lot of experience in tapping our potential and abilities on the field. He was our captain and had a big role to play in all we scripted in this real life fairy tale...
- and then Me...I was an opening batsman and a medium pace bowler...I was basically the demolition guy with the sole purpose of anihilating the opening attack of the opponents and set us a good rate to set a good score. I could bowl a good pace and chipped in with a few wickets here and there...
My only belief and goal was to win...and this is what I told others too...Lets Win! (...to be concluded)
No comments:
Post a Comment