Season's Greetings
Hello Everyone,
Kapil here from Mishmi Takin. Today morning, as my wife and daughter slept, I got up early in the morning and went for a pickup game of cricket in our neighborhood. It was a ragtag bunch of mostly out of shape 40+ year olds wanting to relive the glory days of their childhood spent playing cricket on the streets of India, gali cricket as it is called.
It was a chilly, foggy morning today. A friend brought some ginger tea. We joked around and warmed ourselves with the tea while waiting for the cricket kit to arrive. The ground we play on is an unused baseball ground of an elementary school. The ground is pretty uneven, is poorly maintained and there is no cricket pitch. However, like true lovers of the game, we don't worry about what is not there and instead find a way to work with what we have.
The players were divided into 2 teams and the game started. I got to open the bowling (the equivalent of pitching in baseball) and in the very first over, I uprooted the middle stump of the opposing batsman and sent him packing back to the dugout. The other team fought back and hit back with a couple of sixes (homeruns). However, our fielding was top notch today. I took 2 catches in the outfield. In the final over, I induced a mishit from the opposing team's best batter and caught him off my own bowling.
The target was set and it was our turn to bat. We started slowly. The opposing team's best bowler is very fast. It was hard for us to make runs of off him. He got a couple of us out quickly. However, we kept taking singles and doubles and stayed in the hunt. In the second last over, I was at the non-striker's end batting alongside the other batsman on strike. He tapped the ball and took off for a run. However, the run was not there. The ball was going straight to a fielder. As I ran, I was convinced that I was going to be out. There was no way I could make it. As luck would have it, even though the fielder was right there in front of the stumps, he missed it and I was home.
Last over, 7 runs needed to win in 6 balls. We took a couple of singles. I missed a ball and we were down to needing 3 runs in 2 balls. It was the second last ball. The pressure was mounting. As the bowler got ready, I thought that I probably have to hit a 4 in either of the remaining 2 balls. The bowler pitched the ball. He aimed it for my legs but missed his length. The ball was slightly over-pitched. As the ball pitched close to my legs, I pivoted and swung. The ball went flying over the square leg boundary line (left side boundary) for a six (cricket's equivalent of a home run). We won, Yaay! I lived upto my name, yaay!
1 clean-bowled, 3 catches, hitting the winning six, and a morning spent playing pickup game with a bunch of friends. What else can you ask Santa for? I am having a swell of a Christmas morning. Thank you god for all your gifts, tangible and intangible, this chilly morning.
Regards,
Kapil
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