Cricket Fever

It looked like the match would be abandoned due to rain, or rather, drizzle. But the Invincibles and the Vincibles were undaunted in their quest to be the winning team.

The Vincibles went in to bat in the first match. Wickets fell rapidly, Raman’s caught and bowled being a highlight. Prasad was like a maestro, coming in only to bat. Karan’s batting was very much in the all or none style..hitting only fours or taking no runs. That probably had something to do with the fact that Jo was at the other end. Jo stuck to her captain’s advice to NOT do anything…till she felt a little adventurous and lifted the bat, and connected with the ball. Sumen, her dearest friend, caught it and sincerely apologized to her for doing so.

The Invincibles won the first match and lost the second. Vineet and Venkat bowled really well…..hmmm, the ‘V’ factor? Sahana surprised herself and everybody by fielding like a pro. Raghav, who missed a couple of catches, fielded pretty well for the opposition!!

Guru, or should I say Ambareesh, turned into Inzamam-ul-Haq while batting, and Nayan Mongia while keeping wickets. When a slight mist settled on the ground, we had no difficulty spotting Raman, whose orange shirt was like a lighthouse beacon guiding ships to safety in the dark. Liyon was so tired after batting that he settled into the Shavasana posture of yoga, but we couldn’t find a camera phone in time to capture that image for posterity (as Rajiv would put it). Sarma was regaling us with his account of how he fainted while learning how to whistle. A very good reason for getting Sick Leave, one must add.

Rajiv’s knees were knocking together while he batted, he was shivering so much. Whether at the thought of losing money in treating me at Civette (I was next batsman, so I threatened that he’ll have to treat me if he lost his wicket), or in fear of losing his job if he didn’t do well(jus kiddin’), I don’t know!

Tusshar turned into a ferocious Shoaib Akhtar during the match, hairstyle et al, scaring the hell out of some people.. Jo, for instance, when she dropped a catch. Sumen played the role of waterboy; ice-cream boy, more specifically, bringing us some delicious ice cream. There was this person ( debojeet, I think) who used to dive(die?) everytime the ball came his way and had a helluva time getting back on his feet.

Venkat’s antique video cam didn’t provide much help to the third umpire, but was useful to catch the after-match camaraderie on video.

Coming to the part I played, or didn’t play in the match…. I missed atleast two catches, as far as I noticed. The ball zoomed past me like the golden snitch in a game of quidditch (remember Harry Potter?)

Hoping I’ll be allowed to improve upon my performance,(or non-performance) in future matches and that a tie breaker match be held to decide the real "INVINCIBLES",