11:15 AM , March 9th 2010 : Suddenly a thought struck us , “Why not bunk the last two boring File Structure Class and , play a game of cricket ? “ . But, due to strict PESSE rules we were not allowed on the Cricket Field during the class hours. So, we told the “MACHAS” ( The Kannadigas ) that we got a team and we want to play against their team in their “HOME” field . They politely agreed to our challenge and told us they have a place in front of the Infosys and have got all the basic equipments. All of us were delighted and the finally most awaited match since 3 long years between the “BHAIYAS” ( Rest of India) and the “MACHAS” was on !! Rajesh and I , since we have been hostilities throughout our life in PESSE and more closer to the “BHAIYAS” than “MACHAS” decided to play for the former. Not only that , the team unanimously asked me to lead the side . Ya , was a bit awkward but definitely accepted the task with both hands. Rest of the” Management Information System” hour went off in deciding the batting order ,who will field where?, who will bowl when?, etc.
2:00 PM, March 9th 2010: Soon after the lunch we set off to the “Battlefield” . Rajesh, Aakash, Amit , Tula , Vikas and I boarded , the team car ( Vikas’s Car ) , while Noor and Hardik came by the bike. As soon as we reached the ground , we were told its not a bilateral series anymore but a tri-series , as the EC guys joined in. The first match was played between “MACHAS” and “EC” , it was of 6 Overs and the losers of that match were slated to play with our team. Since, there was a lot of time left we decided to have some Sugarcane juice , we went to Cane-Fresh and had Lime-Cane Juice and Mint-Cane Juice .We also ordered Jumbo-Cheese Sandwich and Aloo-Chatpat Sandwich . We got a call that the first innings was over and the 2nd Over of 2nd Innings was on and were asked to hurry back .So, we paked the sandwichs and raced off to the ground. By this time the previous match was over and as hoped we were to play the “MACHAS” and the winners would qualify for the finals.
THE MATCH
3:00 PM , March 9th 2010: It was time for the toss and Vishal tossed the coin and I called heads and Heads it was !! Now I was in a dilemma , we hadn’t decided what we would do if we won the toss ! After a lot of thought and given that this was our Debut match and none of us had any contact with a cricket ball or bat for the last 2-3 years , we decided to chase.
The Team :
(C) Prasad Pai [Karnataka]
Rajesh Neelannavar [Karnataka]
Aakash Bapna [ Madhya Pradesh ]
(W )Amit Kumar [Bihar]
Hardik Kotecha [Gujrat ]
Vikas Jaiswal [Delhi]
Anshul Tula [Jarkhand]
Noor Elahi [ West Bengal ]
As you can see , it was pretty much a team from all parts of India. This is what we call “ Unity in diversity “. The match was 6-Overs a side. All of us were very excited and wanted to win this one at all costs. In the first few Overs our lack of experience did show and we got slaughtered all over the ground. The batsmen were quite awesome playing one great shot after another. After 4 overs we came to our senses and pushed all the fielders to the deep and bowled brilliantly in the death to restrict the “MACHAS” to just 55 in 6 Overs.
3:40 PM , March 9th 2010: During the short 2-Minutes break we decided our batting strategy and we asked Raju to bat the whole 6 Overs and the other side to keep Slogging. The first over went as planned , the openers Noor and Rajesh were watchful , we got about 5 runs. But , as soon as the 2nd over started , Raju decided enough is enough and went after the bowlers, the opposition and we were totally dumbstruck ( in a pleasant way) after two towering sixes over long on. Then it was just “Blitzkrieg” for the next 2-3 Overs by Rajesh. I was reminded of Manish Pandey’s fastest IPL hundred. Boy !! He’s got some talent !! Amit to arrived in the middle order and struck two Dhoni Style boundraries. Unfortunately , we lost wickets and momentum and were left with 8 runs to get of 6 balls. Sandesh was the bowler from the opposition , he maintained a cool-head and kept beating the bat of the batsmen , there was also an unfortunate runout inbetween. At last it was 2 to get of the last ball. Hardik was on strike. Just three words were ringing in his head “AAL IZ WELL “ !! It was a good length delivery , Kotecha wielded his bat like the Ninja’s sword and the ball took some part of the bat and raced to long on , we raced to two in a jiffy ! Just as we started the Celebrations , Kotecha used his Logic once more and called for three just to be on the safer side . Lo and Behold , we beat the “MACHAS” on their home turf and qualified to play the finals with the “EC” guys ………………
