by Gaurav Tripathi
I think that we all have been through a stage when we try hard to get something and then finally when we are on the verge of achieving it, something goes terribly wrong and we end up and ground zero. HICC A team’s last match against Cougar’s A team could be described as one of those experiences where its not necessary that even though you do every thing near perfect on a cricket field you would be the winner.
I feel really proud to be a part of a team who played near perfect cricket last Sunday, and I say near perfect because we ended up losing the match. The more heartening part was that this team was criticized by many people for its attitude in the cricket field, and that the team had forgotten winning and the players are not taking the game seriously. The way we played yesterday after all the criticism shows how big a heart our players have. If Yogesh kaka would have been there he would have been proud of our efforts.

Batting first on a wicket with wet outfield was always going to be a challenge, but we have a seasoned campaigner in Jitu kaka, whom I have never ever seen under any pressure be it hostile short pitch body line bowling or slow looping teasers from spinners, he is just too good for all of them and he showed his class in last match with a patient 40 before top edging a ball to midwicket. With the platform being set by Jitu kaka, Bhavin and Tejas; our big hitters had a chance to show their class and brutality. In the 32nd over we were placed at a decent score of 124/4.

After that there was a loud roar in the sky, and we could hear thunderstorms Far East. But what we witnessed on the ground was nothing less than a Tornado of runs, after the 32nd over the next 8 overs fetched us 79 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. In the 33rd over the poor bowler was smashed for 21 runs and that set the tone for rest of the match. Kuldeep bhai and Silu bhai scored 49 and 47 n.o respectively to get us to that score.

I had always seen these two Bhai’s hitting the ball long way in the practice session, and always dreamed that how do these guys hit in actual match. They were just brutal, where Kuldeep bhai was severe on the spinners sweeping them for 6s, Silu bhai was at his lethal best. I was really lucky to watch some of that hitting from the best seat in the house (i.e. the non strikers end).  You bowl him short he pulls you for a six, bowl him straight he hits you straight for a six, you bowl him wide of off stump he drives you for a six, I just loved all those shots. Specially the one 6 on the last ball of the innings which was a waist height fulltoss and should have been a NO ball but the shot was so amazing that even our Leg- Umpire missed to call it a NO ball.

Our fielding was equally impressive along with our opening bowling. The bowlers got early wickets and we never allowed the Cougar’s to score freely.  The fast bowlers kept their batmen on a tight leash before Jitu kaka and Girish kaka spun a web around them. They couldn’t cope up with the pressure we created by our fielding. I would like to mention a couple of efforts in the field that in my book are outstanding; firstly Ashish’s full length dive on the boundary line to save 2 runs, and then secondly Tejas’s effort to take a catch at point, diving to his right and doing a somersault sideways, it was really a great effort from a big man. And when Jitu kaka got the 7th wicket on 113 of the Cougar’s it was all over. Not for them but for us as it started raining, and rained heavily for another 40 minutes.

What amazed me about our team was the desire to win at any price which meant that we all were trying to scoop the water out of the field and from the pitch after a heavy rain so that we could play the match because as per the HCL rules for rained games we were 3 runs behind the Cougar’s.

We tried out best to dry the pitch for about 30 minutes, but in the end the Cougar’s team was not happy about the ground conditions and the match had to be called off. We all were unhappy with the decision but we all should take heart that we played without 3 of our key players and still came that close to winning, before Mother Nature made it clear that we have to wait one more match to taste victory.

If yesterday’s match is any indication, all the teams in the HCL beware; we have just smelled success and no one can stop us from tasting It.!!