A High Intensity Match With Dhoni-esque Finish

Hi,

The intensity of last Sunday's game was raw, energy level high and participation was full-on. Everybody's game was up by couple of notches. The bowlers couldn't bowl a lose delivery without getting heaved over the rope, the fielders couldn't afford to fumble without getting an earful form the fellow fielders, the batsmen couldn't run the risk of running a cheeky single unless they didn't care for their wicket or team (which wasn't the case). As Chaitanya expressed towards the end of the match, it felt as if we were playing an actual competitive match. The weather was perfect too, cloudy and pleasant. In fact now-a-days you might have noticed that it gets cooler in the mornings and evenings, some of that was spilling over well into later part of early morning and we were not complaining. Some of us arrived a bit late and the game had nearly begun. This time we had a bigger crowd, you could tell by the number of people sitting on the bench. None of us knew what the game had in store for us. This match also has the credit of launching a friendly rivalry between two of our best players ... let's see if you can guess based on the team composition below (hint: they were in opposite teams ... ;))



Team A: Abhijeet, Siddharth, Senthil, Chaitanya, Dharmendra, Manoj, Vikram, Aditya, Rajesh and Sumeet

Team B: Venkat, Pratik, Vamshi, Chandru, Partha, Rohin, Ram, Amit, Sagar and Anand

Team A won the toss and elected to bat. They played fabulously. Literally everybody from the team contributed. If I am not mistaken half way through the first innings (of a 16 over match) they had lost only 1 or 2 batsmen, rest all had declared their innings giving their team-mates a chance to go at the bowlers. Venkat was marshaling his troops very well. He was bringing his bowlers in spells and always had a word or two of advise for them if they appeared slipping or losing focus. Pratik was right there with him and was up to the task. But Team A was not one to be bogged down. They kept the score board ticking. The first spell was bowled by Venkat and Pratik, where they shared (if I am not mistaken) 2 overs each saving themselves for the death. The first 4 overs did not see many runs being scored. Pratik was at the height of his form and was bowling one scorcher after another. As I saw Abhijeet, while keeping wickets, explain to a close-in fielder the deliveries were coming at an angle making it all the more difficult to bat. You had to see the ball, a corss-bat or a blind heave would have definitely spelled trouble. Team A finally found its groove in the later overs and they made the most of it when they could by scoring 10-12 runs in some overs. Siddharth and Senthil did some good hitting during that period. Chaitanya also showed us why we reckon him as a strong off-side player. He was just about coming into his own when his flight was cut short by a brilliant direct throw from (deep) long on by Pratik. Chaitanya had lofted one in the air and Pratik was getting underneath it. Unfortunately he missed, but that didn't mean he had lost his presence of mind. He quickly pulled himself together picked up the ball and took an aim and threw it at the non-striker's end in one swift motion. I wouldn't say Chaitanya was casual in his running, but he for sure wasn't expecting the ball to hit the stumps. He was sadly mistaken. The throw took both the stumps down and Pratik had lost no time in redeeming himself. All the fielders erupted with joy and ran towards Pratik to pat his back. None of us had seen anything like this in a long time. Some jokes followed as to how Pratik was done with his quota for the week and how Chaitanya had paid dearly by moving the stumps (just in the previous over he had moved the stumps to have 2 of them together rather leave a gap in the middle). Team A was scoring rather briskly even though the fielding was top notch. Team B's attack was lead by Rohin who was diving all over the place. Sumeet was at the receiving end of couple of such dives and was finding it difficult to sneak one past him. He summed it up quite well when he expressed, 'yeh kuch bhi chodta nahin hain'. He was just awesome. He was ably supported by Partha, Pratik, Sagar and others. Even though Team A was doing well, Team B had been partially successful in keeping the run rate low, but that wasn't going to last long. Manoj burst onto the scene creating a lot of buzz. He kind of turned the match on its head, especially in the last over. As I said earlier Pratik and Venkat had saved themselves for the last. Pratik bowled the penultimate over and then it was upto Venkat to finish off the innings. With Venkat's quick deliveries nobody was expecting any fireworks and this is where Manoj proved everybody wrong. I was standing at long off and was left totally dumbstruck at the power play on display. Only one name kept cropping in my head .... you are right ... Mahendra Singh Dhoni ... I am serious, not kidding at all ... you should have seen him to believe me. It was as if he was hitting to prove a point and drive home a message that he still rules. I can still see him going on his backfoot and using his arm and wrist to power his shots. Hitting while front foot is one thing but going back and hitting over the bowler's head is something else. It was brute force at its best. I was thinking here I was 2 weeks ago not able to see Venkat's deliveries whizzing past me and here is Manoj sending similar deliveries over the rope ... repeatedly. He scored 16 runs in the last over ... 1 four, 1 six, 1 four and a double. He had completely changed the course of the game in the last over. Team A ended its campaign with a bang putting up 106 on the score board.

If anybody could do it, then Team B could. Why you ask, well look at their line-up .Can you expect anything less from a team that boasts a line-up of players like Venkat, Vamshi, Ram, Rohin and Pratik amongst others. Last week we had seen Rohin get under the skin and bat with great comfort. Pratik had hit a six to tie the game and Ram, we all know, can send the ball over the rope very easily. Manoj didn't open the bowling which meant only one thing, he was waiting for somebody (no prizes for guessing it right). Partha and Rohin opened the innings. They both were doing good and playing sensibly. Both were able able to find the gaps and hit few over the heads of the close-in fielders. But then suddenly the course of the game changed and Team B found itself on the back-foot. Team B lost both the openers on consecutive deliveries. Abhijeet, we all know can be very difficult to play. He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, the most lethal being the flighted delivery and the quick flat ones that he sends your way every once in a while. You might not know, but he is also a great observer. He is well aware of everybody's strengths and weaknesses and bowls accordingly. I was standing at deep square-leg. He asked me to come forward knowing perfectly what he was doing. On the second-last ball of his first over (I think it was his first over) Rohin while trying to hit over everybody's head got a top edge which ballooned in the air and the fielder did the rest. The fielder whom he had placed at that position to do just that ... that's impressive. On the very next delivery he got Partha to edge one to Vamshi who took very well judged catch behind he wickets while standing up very close to the wickets. Team B suddenly went from a comfortable position to fire-fighting mode. Unfortunately Vamshhi and Pratik too fell prey quickly. It was then upto Venkat to see his team through. As soon as he came to bat Manoj took the ball and came over to bowl. Folks were waiting for this battle for a very long time, nearly 8-9 overs. It was going to be interesting to see what Manoj had in mind for Venkat. Would he bowl a slower one or send one of his quickies aiming for Venkat's throat. He did what Malinga would do, bowl fuller at faster. But Venkat was fully upto the task. He played couple of his trademark shots in the off lifting one which hit the fence directly affording him and his team precious 4 runs. He continued to bat with great ease though only he knew what was going through his head at that time. Special mention to Chandru who came in to bat during this period. Continuing form where he left off last Sunday, he was the only one who impressed me with his running between the wickets. The fielding was so awesome that nobody was willing to take much risk, but Chandru was game for anything and was putting that extra pressure on the fielders. He was converting non-existent runs into singles and singles into doubles. It was great to see him play that way. Unfortunately wickets kept falling and finally Venkat too departed. Ram tried to get the team out of the hole, I remember Chandru telling him ' we can still make it, just need 20 odd runs needed', but he got out while trying to hit Abhijeet over square leg area, where Venkat took a well-judged catch. Team A won the match comfortably.

As I said earlier, it was a high octane duel which was taken to the next level by some awesome fielding (lead by Rohin and Partha), newly discovered one-upmanship between Venkat and Manoj and some great all-round play. Today Manoj nearly eclipsed everybody with his awesome hitting in the final over and some brilliant bowling, but still Abhijeet managed to shine with his wily bowling and ended up taking 4 wickets in the process (taking the first 2 and the last wicket ... so basically he was responsible for Team B's downward slide and was also there in the end to send them packing).

Few of us left but the rest continued to play one more match.

Please wish Rohin 'Many Happy Returns of the Day'. He celebrated his birthday last week and was kind enough to include us in the celebrations by getting some mini-donuts. I am not sure who got water, but a big 'Thank You' to that person too! A shout out to Dharmendra ... Get better soon, buddy, we need you on the field next Sunday'. He pulled his hamstring and so had to stay out mid-way through his batting. He was batting very well but had to give up because of the injury.

It was a great game. I have not been able to get over it and keep playing snippets of the same and contemplating 'what-if' scenarios. If we continue to play like this then very soon we can go out there and take on any team. Hopefully all you guys will be there next Sunday so that we can recreate the magic.

You guys have a nice rest of the week.

Bye.

Anand