Sunday, June 19, 2022

Funny, memorable incidents

1981, NIE, innings of 70, one shot I hit through mid wicket. Saw the ball, just short of a good length, I think it was a medium pacer. Just put it away 'on the rise' to mid wicket with a last instant turn of the wrists. What a fine shot I enjoyed at that time!

1980. Another pull shot - same ground, Subbi's "Bradman" bat, plastered all over the blade. Flat six to mid wicket.

1986, BUCC, innings of 64.  Sharad Rao - Karnataka fast bowler (10 Ranji Trophy matches, 16 wickets). I hit 5 fours in one over. The slips cordon were shouting 'get him', 'kill him'. Next over he bowled, first ball, I saw it pitch on a length, just short, on the off stump, just hit it back over his head for four, straight bat... the ball rolling into the sight screen near the pavilion. KSCA stadium. One of my most memorable shots.

1985. Coffee Board ground. K.Jeshwanth (68 Ranji Trophy matches, captain, coach, 3,905 runs, 105 wickets) batting-left handed.  I bowled him off stump. He went away cursing traffic on the road that a bus had distracted him - no sight boards. Nobody believed it!

1983. KSCA (M), Left hand batsman, later Karnataka.  Rajesh Kamath. I took his off bail from a ball that he could not get any clue at all.  More satisfying is that he was a very good defensive player difficult to get the ball past him.

1986.  My 'on drive' at Poona Club. Long-on fielder had no chance of stopping even before he could take 5-6 steps. The ball raced past him.  Enjoyed the timing and power that came in that shot!  Bowler was Subhash Ranjane, Maharashtra fast bowler, son of India fast bowler Vasanth Ranjane (29 Ranji Trophy games, 57 wickets).

78 not out, Jai Hind, MCG, Semi final - last wicket partnership of 105 with Vedraj. 16 fours. Wearing helmet for first time in life while batting.  Umashankar, fast bowler with good pace.  A pull to mid wicket to the neem tree, several punches and drives... I do not know where the timing came from!  It was a dream innings.  On some days, we have the 'feel of the bat' much better!

Another 78, Lucknow, CSIR team. Team was in trouble. I said I will go in next. Went there, hammered the bowlers all over, a few sixes and many fours.  Running between wickets with Sridhar from Hyderabad was another element in this partnership. Team got good score, but lost the match. Pitambar Dutt hammered Lawrence for 14 in one over that turned the tables in their favour.

2013, League match. Gangotri Glades, fine wicket.  Do or die. I was #11.  Wily fast bowler Sharath Babu - my former partner for Mys Gymk - bowling the penultimate over to this 55 year old. We were required to just survive to ensure a draw.  I hit Babu for a six over long on that surprised everyone, half volley, reflex shot!  Never planned, it just was a very good feeling.  About 8 balls to survive. Next ball Babu bowls a bouncer. It was coming to my head, no helmet.  I turned and got a glove to it. The ball lobbed up for an easy catch. We lost the match.  When I went back, I was removing my cricket gear. And when it was the turn of the 'abdomen guard', there was a shock. I had forgotten to put it on when a wicket had fallen!

JSS Medical College Ground. I had taken a wicket. The umpire took the ball as is the practice when that happens. The next batsman came in and got ready, our team was clapping, encouraging me to get another wicket. All was ready. I was ready, polishing the ball, before I started my run up. I ran in normally and did my bowling action, sans the ball, the batsman was flabbergasted.  I knew I had no ball and wanted to have some fun.  Umpire Ananth was noting down something as he put the ball in his pocket but forgot to give me back. Everyone was surprised at this 'nothing ball'!  Every one had a good laugh. Ananth "Oh".... then remembered to hand me the ball from his pocket!  I repeated this at Gangotri Glades in 2010 in another game, similar situation.  The umpire was Suresh 'Robin'.
And then a third time as well in another match.
In the late 70s and into the 80s our team suffered the most from umpires getting bad decisions. Once in a Mysore Zone match in 1980, I had been caught off my own boot. I knew I was out and the umpire had raised his finger, rightly.  Yet, I did not look at the umpire in spite of the players celebrating my dismissal. I pretended not knowing it, but after many seconds, I walked off.

In 1994, our team was playing an important match at the Nirvana Cup at National College Ground, Bengaluru.  I was fielding in the shade of the trees on the edge of the boundary close to the roadside fence.  I was deep on the off side to a right handed batsman.  One ball was played by the batsman and it did not come to me. I went back a few steps to take position again to get ready for the next ball. When I was ready, I was in a shock!! The next over's first ball had been bowled from the other end and I was now in an awkward fielding position! The field had changed over and I was nowhere.  I suddenly realized I had slept for a few seconds and then went to the proper place.  No one noticed my silly act. Luckily the ball was not hit in my direction that first ball!

Inter-office tournament is held once in two  years at different places.  In 2002 or so, we were playing at Hyderabad. A reputation among opponents of how good my bowling was and how difficult it was to handle my bowling was all over the sister teams of different labs around the country. One particular opening batsman from a team from Delhi was facing me in the match. A new jute mat was being used and new ones tended to produce more bounce. I bowled a really nippy delivery to him that went through the grill of his helmet and struck below the eye, left 'reetired hurt' bleeding and swollen. I was extremely worried. I saw him return after some while, face in plaster, left eye nearly closed by swelling. We won the match and later as the players were relaxing in the evening, I saw him with his mates and inquired about his pain. I was surprised by his answer "It's nothing bhaiya..... I just wanted to face your bowling". I said "You not only faced my bowling but gave your face to my bowling!" He managed to laugh with his mates and continued the walk.



Club cricket is competetive, but 'official cricket' - meaning representing the employer - is more for fun than for serious rivalry. But it can become serious and hard oftentimes - the players know it why! In my case employer means our Institute [CFTRI] and HQ [CSIR]. I try to list a few musings that have happened, briefly. ~~~~~~
CSIR Cricket team was to take part in the Silver Jubilee tournament at RRL, Jammu in 1983. Our team manager, Sri. R. Narayanan sent us letters well before the journey asking us to practice so that "success we may attain will be a stepping stone for further laurels…". After he closed his letter with 'yours friendly' there was a unique postscript hinting that it was a knock-out tournament: "Your stay in Jammu very much depends on your stay at the wicket." Neither our batsmen stayed long enough on that Azad Stadium wicket, nor our wicket-keeper held on to easy catches (esp. 3 in 3 balls from my bowling - some record in itself!) and our stay in Jammu really depended on that!
A practice match was part of a 10-day coaching camp for our CSIR cricket team at NCL, Pune in 1987. The opponents did not turn up. Team manager Sri Narayanan held a meeting in the pavilion. The players agreed to play a double wicket tournament among ourselves. Teams were drawn and to even out the odd number, Sri Narayanan was made to play with Lawrence of NCL. None of us had seen Narayanan, a contemporary of S.Venkataraghavan, play. When our teams clashed [I was partnering R.Sreedhar of CSIR Complex, Chennai] in the quarter-final or so, I was surprised to see Narayanan bowl a tight line and length of off-spin right away (without practice!), though I managed a sixer off him! But he could boast of remaining 'not out' with the bat. In the end, Sreedhar and I won the final and the prize of Rs.25/- [I duly got my share of Rs.12.50] which Sri Narayanan had sponsored before start.
During the Nayudamma Memorial tournament at Nagpur in 1988, our CSIR team was short of one player. To make up the eleven, Sri Narayanan suggested that we borrowed the player from the opponent team's surplus - they were two. How to choose was the problem. Sri Narayanan decided to go for a 'toss of coin' after allotting 'heads' to one player and 'tails' to the other. Up went the spinning coin, down it came with a clink, rolled and rolled around only to settle nicely on its edge! They had to be given equal chances!
Disbursing TA/DA was a real pain in the neck esp. to the manager of our CSIR Cricket team as it was to be drawn from the host Institute. In the Inter-Agency tournament for the SSBMT at Lucknow in 1993, the Valedictory function had begun, yet, our payments had not been settled. Sri Narayanan had to fight the 'fight of his life' to make it happen! I had to actually run straight from the Cash Section to the dais (being captain of CSIR) to receive the prize as our team name was called. Handing over the trophy to my teammate I ran into the waiting car that took me to the Railway Station. The train left in two minutes after I boarded it. I was 'runner-up' all the way!
CFTRI was playing the SSBMTournament at Roorkee in 1986. Anti-inflammatory sprays had just been made available in first-aid kits and provided at the ground. It was new to us and everybody. My veteran team-mate K.Srinivasa held a difficult catch at slip from my bowling and his immediate reaction was not the usual joy! He was holding his hand up and calling 'spray, spray'. His finger was injured, but found joy getting it 'sprayed' with the new fizzing medication! We had forgotten for a moment how terrifically good that catch was.
During the II Nayudamma Memorial Tournament at New Delhi in 1987, I hit Ravi Khanna's (CSIR) pad with an in-swinging delivery. A lone, loud and excited "Howzzaat?" (for LBW) was heard, as if from distant heaven. It was from deep third-man! International Umpire Ram Babu Gupta, standing at the bowler's end, was taken aback by the appeal - from that far! He called the appealer [Rajendra Prasad]. He walked all the way up to be asked "Can you see anything from there, young man?" The poor fellow hung his head low but shut his mouth for the rest of the innings! ~~~~~
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Friday, March 11, 2022

Thrills of watching a Test Match, first time

Cricket has always topped the list of popular pastimes. In fact, for more than a century. One of my great grandfather's preserved testimonials, handwritten and signed by J.Cook, M.A, Principal, Central College Bangalore in 1888, praising my ancestor as an 'ardent cricketer' is ample proof. Even before 1888, in all probabilities, he would have played the game during his days in Maharaja's College and was talented enough to earn such a praise from the Principal.

Besides their own fun-cricket, Test Matches [not as many as now], provided cricket's joy mostly through newspapers, much later, the radio. But very few had the good fortune to watch a Test Match in person because they were only in the big cities. It took the yeoman efforts of a certain M.Chinnaswamy, the man who dreamt and actually brought such a wonderful privilege and status to Bangalore. Our joy soared skywards when the honey-sweet news broke out. West Indies who were to tour India in 1974-75, were to play the first Test of the series in Bangalore. It also meant that we Mysoreans were close to getting a fine opportunity to be part of it.

Excitement was building up as the day neared. My uncle wrote that he had booked one of the eighty-rupee-season tickets for me as well as for a few relatives. I was on cloud nine. I persuaded my grandfather and bought an eighty-rupee binocular. The dream of watching a Test Match and the players in flesh and blood was nearing fruition.

Collecting cricket pictures was a hobby and I used to buy the sports weekly magazine from the saved pocket-money, merely for the sake of cutting and pasting the pictures in albums. I do not remember having read even a single article! I used to imagine and imitate the styles from those action pictures. The binocular was to help me take a closer-look at the heroes.
Special buses had been arranged from Mysore for the thousands who thronged Bangalore for the historic occasion. We went in one of them, leaving behind my old grandfather, himself a great all-round sportsman, which was rather sadly ironic. But my fit and cricket-ignoramus grandmother was accompanying us in expectation of seeing her nephew, B.S.Chandrasekhar, in action. None of us had seen him play and we had longed for that occasion.

The day had arrived. The 80,000-capacity stadium (then, the MSCA) was a marvel of labour. Except for the players' pavilion, all of the 'stands' were erected entirely of wooden poles, planks and jute ropes with thatched shelters over some parts. The foldable plywood chairs had been serially numbered. The scene was set. That the precarious looking stands stood the 'test' for five days was a feat in itself!

Our 'gang', equipped with food and water for the day, reached the stadium and stood in the long queue. We had missed the toss by the time we entered. Pataudi, back at the helm, had asked Clive Lloyd to bat first. Our seats were somewhere in the 10th row, reasonably close to the boundary. A satisfaction in itself. Never before had I seen such a congregation. The noise created by the crowd was deafening and excitement was running haywire! I was to find that it was a reasonably sporting crowd, though at times a bit pranky, applauding the good cricket from either team.

I was making my debut as a test match spectator, RS Krishnaswamy was making his, behind the microphone alongside stalwarts Anant Setalwad and Tony Cozier. My uncle had his 'biggish' transistor radio to follow the commentary and to know who is who on the field. M.V. Nagendra and Jack Reuben were the umpires. For India, Hemant Kanitkar was making his debut while one Gordon Greenidge and a certain Viv Richards were making theirs for the West Indies. India had no Bedi due to some controversy but the rest of the famed spin-team were in. The oldest man in the match was 42-year old great West Indian off-spinner, Lance Gibbs.

After a few overs from Abid Ali and Solkar, the crowd noticed Chandra warming up and there was a big roar, a roar we had heard 'on the air' but now we were part of it. Greenidge (93) showed his power and southpaw Kallicharran (124), his grace and technique. Rain on the second morning tried to dampen the spirits but that was luckily short-lived. Wickets were not covered those days. Play continued after a brief stoppage and Kallicharran showed batsmanship of the highest class, playing the Indian spinners on a rain-affected wicket with masterly ease with 124. One late-cut off Prasanna stands out in my memory. Abid Ali, Solkar and Venkataraghavan displayed their close-in fielding skills. Chandra's 4-wicket haul gave us a glimpse of why he was feared by the batsmen. Richards had no clue whatsoever. Venkat's accuracy and Pras' guiles were mastered in this match.

India conceded a big lead and only Hemant Kanitkar cut his way to a top-score 65. We saw what Andy Roberts' hot pace was like and the effect of Vanburn Holder's deadly accuracy. The way Gibbs trapped Viswanath soon after he had hoisted a six was top class bowling. [There was no way I could have imagined then, that 14 years later, I was to bowl my best ever ball, a leg-cutter, to have this great man bowled off-stump for a duck in a league match.] Solkar was run out by a direct hit from long leg by Keith Boyce. It was customary that the Indian tail did not wag. Chandra getting bat on ball was duly applauded.

Greenidge again blazed with a hard hit 107. But it was Lloyd's 143-ball 163 that stunned Pataudi's Indians. The clonks were heard in spite of the crowd's noise. It was explosive power. He often swept the Indian spinners out of line. Poor, fat-tummied Kanitkar at deep square-leg was bamboozled by the accurate placement of the shots, which brought laughter to the crowd more than once. Those were days when only the slip fielders dived to make catches or saves. Lloyd's innings ended when Solkar, diving forward, made a skier at long-off look easy. They set India a big target.

Gavaskar and Engineer [of Brylcreem fame] opened again, but soon were back in the room, dismissed through breathtaking catches by Viv Richards at short-leg. Nobody who has seen these catches will ever forget for the sheer alacrity he made them. Both were 'hits' from the meat of the blade! Nearly everyone rose from their seats in utter awe! All the heroes succumbed to the pace of Roberts and Holder and the West Indies had won by 267 runs. The angry crowd broke the chairs and threw them onto the field. Luckily there was no fire. If there was one, it would have been calamitous. There were no presentation ceremonies after the match in those days and so all of us left the stadium making our way in a forest of people. What we had seen was to be the beginning of a most enthralling series that India won. The filmed highlights [no TVs in those days] were shown in theatres later on. Those were still the days when cricket was played mostly for its sake and money had not yet adulterated it.
The report on the match was read by people in the next day's paper while my attention was on the action pictures. That went on for five full days, of absolute thrill. It was exciting fun, being able to watch the heroes through my binocular and sometimes borrowing a fellow-spectator's more powerful ones to look at the faces of them, to compare with those in my cricket album. My hero was Andy Roberts, whose action I memorized and tried to imitate in my tennis-ball-cricket ventures. Venture I did, to good effect!

I returned home, proud and fully satisfied with the enjoyment of witnessing a Test Match. I was richer with the numerous brochures and sun-shades that were offered at the ground. Leave alone those wonderful memories to top them. But we envied our grandmother who was the luckiest among us all - she had the privilege of watching the second day's play from the pavilion using Chandra's pass with his sister and parents. Tall, well built, dark, bespectacled with huge lips - was how she described a West Indian whom she had seen at close range. She was referring Clive Lloyd!

The way Cricket is played, watched and followed these days has changed. Hasn't it?
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