This post is about my love for the game of cricket. While in Grade 3, I bought a pair of wicket keeper gloves from Olympic sports stores in Bangalore. Syed Kirmani, the famous and successful Indian team wicket keeper was my inspiration. He is one of the best wicketkeepers India ever had.
Those days between my 3rd and 6th grade, we went almost every weekend to the greenfield playground watch the league matches. As I watched number of matches, it became clear that the wicket keeper plays a key role and I was more firm on pursuing it seriously.
I will not forget my high school days for the "short" cricket we played before the school started, during the lunch & other break times. The school would start at 11 AM and we would reach the school around 930AM to play cricket. The cheap and bouncy "rubber" ball was the choice since it was easily available, presented no injury risks to any anyone. There were 2 major teams in the class and we always eyed defeating the other!. The team combination remained pretty much same for the entire 3 year period.
When we moved to Koramangala during my 6th grade, it opened up different and vast opportunities to play serious cricket using "cork" and leather balls. We had a fantastic team with fast and spin bowlers, excellent batsman with heavy hitting skills. We practiced every evening in one of the major roads (no traffic then!). During summer vacation, we played almost 4-5 matches a week. Our key opponent team lived in the police quarters that boosted of a collection of large playgrounds for cricket, hockey, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Most of the playgrounds had restricted entry, but our friends(opponent team!) had free access to all the key grounds. As the days went by, my wicket keeping skills improved dramatically. I was known for taking difficult & diving catches and stumping skills. My batting skills (left hand) improved over time. Within 2 years I moved all the way from the tail end batting order to the top. During this time, our team got several opportunities to play some real cricket: leather ball, rolled down mat, all white apparel!. Those were the experiences we would recollect for number of years.
I reached the "zenith" of my wicket keeping experience while working at company V. We had a wonderful talented team and a spirited captain. We participated in one of the local leather ball tournaments and had some thrilling wins in the qualifying round matches. I remember playing a winning role in the semi-finals where I took 2 spectacular diving catches, followed by 2 stumping opportunities and did not concede a single miss or a "bye".
I had a fair share of injuries and some funny moments while wicket keeping. During the initial days at Koramangala, my cousin came to watch one of our cricket games. He was amused to see my slow batting average( 1 run in 25 balls) and I got out making just 5 or 6 runs. Though we made a deal that no one will know, he informed everyone in our extended family and friends. While keeping wickets I have been injured number of times either due to mistakes or misjudgments in catching the ball. Coming back from a cricket match with a swollen thumb or a finger used to be very common. My dad's magical massage skills helped relieve most of these aches. I was once hit by a speeding ball on my chin. The split second delay in my reaction had a punching effect on my jaws. I remember falling to the ground and seeing "stars" like how TinTin does in his comic books :)
Those days between my 3rd and 6th grade, we went almost every weekend to the greenfield playground watch the league matches. As I watched number of matches, it became clear that the wicket keeper plays a key role and I was more firm on pursuing it seriously.
I will not forget my high school days for the "short" cricket we played before the school started, during the lunch & other break times. The school would start at 11 AM and we would reach the school around 930AM to play cricket. The cheap and bouncy "rubber" ball was the choice since it was easily available, presented no injury risks to any anyone. There were 2 major teams in the class and we always eyed defeating the other!. The team combination remained pretty much same for the entire 3 year period.
When we moved to Koramangala during my 6th grade, it opened up different and vast opportunities to play serious cricket using "cork" and leather balls. We had a fantastic team with fast and spin bowlers, excellent batsman with heavy hitting skills. We practiced every evening in one of the major roads (no traffic then!). During summer vacation, we played almost 4-5 matches a week. Our key opponent team lived in the police quarters that boosted of a collection of large playgrounds for cricket, hockey, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Most of the playgrounds had restricted entry, but our friends(opponent team!) had free access to all the key grounds. As the days went by, my wicket keeping skills improved dramatically. I was known for taking difficult & diving catches and stumping skills. My batting skills (left hand) improved over time. Within 2 years I moved all the way from the tail end batting order to the top. During this time, our team got several opportunities to play some real cricket: leather ball, rolled down mat, all white apparel!. Those were the experiences we would recollect for number of years.
I reached the "zenith" of my wicket keeping experience while working at company V. We had a wonderful talented team and a spirited captain. We participated in one of the local leather ball tournaments and had some thrilling wins in the qualifying round matches. I remember playing a winning role in the semi-finals where I took 2 spectacular diving catches, followed by 2 stumping opportunities and did not concede a single miss or a "bye".
I had a fair share of injuries and some funny moments while wicket keeping. During the initial days at Koramangala, my cousin came to watch one of our cricket games. He was amused to see my slow batting average( 1 run in 25 balls) and I got out making just 5 or 6 runs. Though we made a deal that no one will know, he informed everyone in our extended family and friends. While keeping wickets I have been injured number of times either due to mistakes or misjudgments in catching the ball. Coming back from a cricket match with a swollen thumb or a finger used to be very common. My dad's magical massage skills helped relieve most of these aches. I was once hit by a speeding ball on my chin. The split second delay in my reaction had a punching effect on my jaws. I remember falling to the ground and seeing "stars" like how TinTin does in his comic books :)
