Weekend Cricket Matches in the college ground attracted many cricket lovers. Nadaikkave and Nithravilai were the fiercest rivals. I played for Nadaikkave.We were led by Chandrasenan,brother of Bahul Harikumar. Srikumar Nair was our best bowler.A few words about him:He had a toe-crushing yorker and he hardly over pitched.Runs against him had to be earned. Hari swung the ball.That was the first time I had seen some one swing the ball away from the batsmen.(Incidentally,he once explained the art of swing to me!) Hari most often forced the batsmen into errors;they invariably edged his deliveries! Haris inconsistency as a bowler should be attributed to the dropped catches. Sri Kumar,Hari and myself formed the nucleus of the side.While Hari and Sri were all rounders and were phenomenally talented,I was a batsman(who would at times bowl at a gentle pace) and the least talented of the three(I must confess!) I knew my limitations and therefore worked hard at my consistency and scored prolifically at every outing.I had always put a price on my wicket and hated getting out. The success of my batting owes a great deal to Srikumar against whom I had played in our home ground.His yorkers had forced me to minimize my back lift and adopt a safety first approach. I always played straight and drove the ball either straight or to the cover.I would cut the wider deliveries to the third man region and point too!A dull an inelegant outlook marked my batting(which had obviously won very few admirers). Sri,on the other hand would demolish any attack on his day.He was an entertainer.Had he focussed more on his batting,he would indeed have been more prolific. Hari was a freak in batting.He would play across the line and had on occasions destroyed many a bowlers figures. We never used pads or gloves(against the leather ball,mind you!)Helmets were quite unheard of in those days! My target was to play 20/25 overs and help the team reach 100(any more runs would be a bonus)With the phenomenally talented Hari and Sri in our ranks,I knew it would be an uphill task to chase down our total. Needless to say,we won on most occasions.The team had achieved enviable success until we all went our seperate ways! The memories of those days continue to haunt me.I wish I had written a memoir!!
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 06:57:37 +0000
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