With so many folks, on weekends and holidays, around 3.00 Pm or 3.30 PM ( depending on how soon the parents and other elders take their siesta), heads will pop out of homes. Just imagine the Meerkats popping their head out in the show Meerkat manor. For the boys, it was from their homes and that was the only difference. Once we had enough numbers to play (as individuals or as teams), we will saunter towards a grove or to a play ground.

And in all the time spent playing cricket , we  played cricket in different versions/flavors, starting from underarm cricket with rubber ball to proper cricket with cricket ball on matting wickets.

Rubber/Tennis ball cricket: For us this was the simplest version of the game and where we all started. A proper bat was very rare, unless someone was rich enough to buy or lucky to be gifted one. Bat was usually carved out of a plank of wood and invariably played in the streets. Rules varied from being declared out if hit on legs three times or if the ball is hit into some one’s house. Stump was usually a board at the strikers end and at the non striker’s it was usually our slipper of us, the players. We used to pool in money ( 5 paise to 25 paise each) and buy a rubber ball for 2 rupees. Depending on our luck the ball will last one evening or will just a few over.

I remember an incident where one Sunday evening, we all gathered together, pooled in the precious resource and purchased a rubber ball with great fanfare only to see the break in the first over first ball itself. Needless to say, we were heartbroken and put in the best of our efforts to see if we can mobilize more resources to purchase another ball. After much brain storming, we gave up in the fading light and returned home hungry for gaaji  (காஜி). For those of you worrying why we never used a covering ball or tennis ball, it was beyond our means during school days.

There was another time when we desperately needed stumps and in the best of my finite wisdom ( along with my brother and another friend) decided ( being the older one helps) that drumstick tree was the best one for stumps. The stumps didn’t even last one over and we were educated on the use of a drumstick tree even before bhagyaraj gave some lessons.

The morning after when MGR passed away,  i remember observing silence for a minute in the ground before we started the days play.

I won’t forget  bowling mindlessly at the stumps drawn on the wall, for more than two hours  after that last ball six.

Cricket played with corn cob and school exam pad. Corn cobs dropped by people once they are done with the corn, was the ball. This along with the pad used for writing exams aka exam pad made an excellent ball and bat. This was popular during exam times . Again this was more of a limited over match where you had to run for your runs.  This was played in class rooms,  during intervals and lunch breaks and stopped immediately when the bell rang. A variation was playing with one’s hand as the bat.

Under arm cricket with a smaller ball. This was played with bats carved out of a plank of wood. This was played in a closed surrounding and the emphasis was on playing for as long a time as possible. People used to get runs based on the number of over played. Rules varied from getting out to one pitch catches to being declared out if you get hit on the legs three times ( whether you were in front of the wicket or not).  Stumps used to be three lines drawn on a door. Rubber ball used to spin a lot and with underarm played in a short distance (<15 feet) meant that the batsman was always on his feet, literally and other wise. The advantage was that we could play this well into the night as it was purely indoor.

The one played with the normal sized ball wasn’t that much fun as the distance was very short. I have seen awesome underarm cricket played with tennis ball in Chennai streets, but that is a different world altogether.

Cricket with ball badminton ball: we had a long porch (also called thinnai in tamizh) to play cricket. It is something like the cricket nets you see today and it was also that long. We used to play with a rubber ball and broke a few incandescent bulb in the process. After severe rebuke and threats of being banished forever from the place, we switched to ball badminton ball. It was nothing but serendipity that we ended up with a badminton ball at home.  Once we figured out that the ball bounced well and was fast and could even spin, then we switched on to playing with a cricket bat ( again carved out of a plank of wood). Since the ball is made of wool, it doesn’t weight much and is not too big or too small ( max 5.5 cm diameter for those interested), our problem of breaking anything was taken care of.

The rules are very simple. Number of over in any innings was limited. If you hit straight ( without the ball touching the sides of the wall) along the ground, it was a 4 and if it was hit in the air, it was a six. Since the ball was small, if the fielder was agile, one can almost catch anything that was in the air. So batsmen had to be quite careful and play along the ground. This version with the Badminton ball was real fun and gained popularity among our street mates. We played it for a long time and I remember bowling leg spin using the badminton ball and getting wickets. It also helped us to play well in the V. Even today, if you the reader has access to a cement floor , you can still try it. It is lot of fun and chances of breaking any thing is close to zero.

Cricket played with the head of a soft toy: also called 4&6. When we didn’t have money to buy a rubber ball or  badminton ball, one of the more innovative guys, got hold of the head of a rubber toy and there started our  experiments with the toy head. Since it was very small ( the same size of a badminton ball or smaller) and the surface wasn’t even ( heads have eyes and ears and nose too), you couldn’t play like a ball. So we decided that it will be thrown at the batsman and the batsman has to hit it and run. At some point, even that got boring and we switched to throwing underarm. The main difference was that the bowlers come from the batting side and will bowl as per the batsman’s request. The fielders will be from the defending side. Only leg side is allowed and boundary was some 30-40 feet from the pitch ( if you can call it by that name). we had lot of fun playing it this way and again the number of tosses for a batsman was limited. A bat was even customized for this version of the game. When I saw the mongoose bat, I was reminded of  this flavor of the game that we played. To give an analogy that people can relate to, this flavor is similar to baseball and the pitcher throws underarm and helps the batsman  by bowling for runs (only 4 & 6).

Playing tournaments. During my 8^th standard, schools in tamilnadu declared a long holiday due to srilanka tamil agitation. We made use of this opportunity and formed a proper cricket team and started playing matches with cork ball. And this started the days of participating in tournaments and taking cricket seriously. Participating in tournaments meant playing for a prize  (301,401 or 501 INR), travelling to nearby places. Usually there was an entrance fee for the tournament and financially we were all in red,  even if we won the tournament. Local tournaments where we travelled by cycle meant that we ended up with some profit and most of the time, it was spent eating in a hotel and some investment for buying gloves and bats.

I will never forget one such tournament, where our team went to play in Ariyalur. We got to play against one of the cement factories in the location. We batted first and batted poorly and their bowling was very good. We scored 20 odd runs. It was when we started defending the score that the team got the shock of its life as their opening batsmen were wearing helmets. The match was over in less than a handful of overs with our fastest bowler being hit for a few sixes.  Even today, some of the guys will mock that ‘dei, helmet-lam pOtrukAnda’  ( டேய் , ஹெல்மெட்லாம் போட்டிருக்கான்டா!!) when we talk about the good old days.

 The world cup win made me quite nostalgic and recall whatever you read above . This whole post is dedicated to all the wonderful folks  with whom I played cricket.

Dhoni refused to acknowledge that Ashwin is being rested for the IPL.

Sachin’s score should not be read as 85 for 5.

Hawkeye was not programmed with a special clause on checking who the batsman is.

Sachin did not say “You just dropped the world cup, saale” a la Steve Waugh.

Ashish Nehra and Kamran Akmal did not join hands to promote  Orthodontist Smily Singh’s  clinic.

Shahid Afridi did not check with the umpire if during power plays one of the fielders outside the circle can be the wicket keeper.

Piyush Chawla, the only KXP player in the squad, did not get a hug from Preity Zinta.

Manmohan Singh was not sleeping with his eyes open.

Aamir Khan did not get moustache tips from Graham Gooch or Merv Hughes.

International Cricket Council president and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar did not influence the pitch preparation.

Shashi Tharoor and wife Sunanda Pushkar did not create a fund for ticket sales at Mohali

Mukesh Ambani did not request Z level security protection from Harbhajan Singh for his wife Nita .

“Fast bowlers and good hair – two things India will never have” – was not something a disgruntled Gilani told a gruntled Manmohan Singh.

The US (Hillary Aunty) did not receive up to the minute tweets on the match progress from Rahul Gandhi

Shoaib Akhthar was not dropped, he has retired and no, he was not felicitated.

“First racists, then terrorists, now for the Rakshasas” is not a slogan being promoted for the finals.

Figures

Unknown starlet with sunglass on her head

Girl with blue t-shirt

Nita Ambani

Preity Zinta

Mrs. Amir Khan – still being debated

Girl who winked at camera man

Sidharth Malya

Sonia Gandhi

Aunty with shock expression

On a “pulsating day”, where the “atmosphere was electric”, and with “billions of people watching” and “life was at a standstill”, India managed to beat Pakistan to get into the final. The stage is set for potentially the final ODI for the game’s leading run scorer and the most wicket taker.

Waking up at 1 in the morning, with my 7 yr old and 3 yr old in tow, we were up and ready to watch the game at a friend’s place. The news that India was going to bat took away any sleep in our eyes, as I started thinking of the next milestone for Tendulkar to achieve. For the next 8 hours, it was good entertainment, and Indians finished the day winning a match that both the sides didn’t seem to want to win.

Forgetting the spectacle, the game itself was rather low on quality and high moments. Matches like these remind us how difficult it is to perform at the grand stage, make us appreciate the Montanas and Federers. After Umar Gul got carted around the field by Sehwag, Wahab Riaz, who is the latest export from the Pakistani Fast Bowler Company, replaced Razzaq and got Sehwag out in his first over itself. It is a wonder how Pakistan keeps generating these fast bowlers, while India seems to create more and more clones of Mohinder Amarnath. We can take some consolation in that the only thing that happens to our fast bowlers is that they slow down to Venkatesh Prasad’s pace; at least they didn’t end up with Veena Malik or get caught with drugs in Dubai.

From then on, it was one heartattack after the other, as Tendulkar kept giving Pakistani fielders catching practice. The fielders, having had butter croissants just before the match, did their best impressions of Kamran Akmal by dropping everything. At one point, Misbah ran up to Afridi asking him whether he can drop his pants as well. The tension was rising, as was seen clearly on Aamir Khan’s forehead, which was shown a thousand times before the veins inside burst out and caused a delay in the game.

Tendulkar seemed to have a clear game plan. He gave a chance when Gambhir was on the other end, then one more when Kohli was there, and one more when Dhoni was the non-striker. It was as if he was telling the Pakistan team to choose their scenario, as to when they want the middle order collapse to start. Unfortunately, his game plan couldn’t be executed to perfection, since Yuvraj Singh came and went back immediately before Tendulkar could give a catch when he was on. Yuvraj immediately posted on twitter that his first ball duck was for a mysterious loved one, and the twitter world went amok. Was it for the pretty Zinta or for the manly Padukone? Only time will tell.

By this time, Tendulkar was running out of fielders to hit to. He finally decided to take on Afridi, and the young youthful captain held a catch. The country breathed a sigh of relief that God’s 100th century didn’t come in this fashion. Only after God departed did we know how difficult it was to bat on this pitch. Had Dravid been there, we would have known immediately. For the next few hours, no one hit a half century, till Misbah decided to up his average at the end overs.

The indian innings got over, was 260 enough? I had bigger questions to answer – What are indicative rates? Should I buy a house with Hamza? Is she a pure punjabi? How to choose between GujaratiMatrimony and State Farm, when both of them promise to find the love of your life? Anyway, it was time for some samosas, poha and chai.

Pakistani innings started, and the folks watching the game immediately panicked. It was not at the sight of Akmal or Hafeez, it was at the way Vivek Oberoi was shown by the TV cameras time and again. Memories of Kisna came and went as we pondered what to watch if India loses. Manmohan Singh and Ghilani sat glumly, waiting for some one to break the ice and introduce themselves. As time went on, it was clear that Pakistan had a plan to create a rift in the Indian team; make Ashish Nehra look so good that Indians would be scratching their heads about their cricketing wisdom. The commentary team, wearing similar shirts and ties that would distinguish them from the catering service workers, were now furiously searching for adjectives and were trying to will their sides to win. Rameez Raja was close to writing his will, he was so passionate about his country that the only person who was more passionate was Allan Donald in the New Zealand match.

Kamran Akmal got out and came back with Umar Akmal’s T-shirt, and no one could tell the difference. It was almost as believable as Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s attempts to merge in with the aam aadmis. Umar Akmal started taking the attack to the Indians and panic was in the air. Indians were already running out of substitutes who could be in the field. Krish Srikanth was ready to come in for Nehra. Raina was also ready to field as a substitute till he realized that he was already a part of the playing XI. Indians were getting ready to lose, but Misbah Ul-Haq had other ideas.

Future generations that pore over history books and scorecards will say that one man top scored for Pakistan in a gripping semi final clash against India. One man was the lone warrior who scored a 50 and held up Pakistani chase right till the end. Misbah was playing for history; Let the world cup wait. His tactics were curiously reminiscent of Jadeja’s numerous innings in the 90s. He reserved everything for the final power play, when he would score 155 runs in the last 5 overs (figure it out, think last ball singles). Misbah had a point to prove and quickly got rid of Umar Akmal. By this time, it was clear that Allah would not be helping in this match, rather Guru Nanak had taken over.

The game ended on a whimper, with India winning by 29 runs. By this time, Rameez Raja was whinging like he got kicked in the nuts. Nehra remarkably was able to get his finger injured after his spell, wisely preventing the headline “Nehra dropped for Ashwin”. Our breakfast was done, and work had started. Non-Indians were sending out mails asking for status and bug updates, but there was steadfast silence from the Indian work force.

Thus finished yet another India-Pakistan “Greatest game in the history of the world cup”. Wahab Riaz went near the podium to pick up his Man of the Match, only to be told that he would get his turn in 2031 when he would play his sixth world cup.

The stage is set. The cameras are set. Ambani and Mallya will be there. Murali and Sachin will be there. Pro-Tamil organizations will have their panties in knots if Manmohan Singh invites Rajapakshe.

India and Sri Lanka are in the finals. Just as I predicted , twice. Let the best team (India) win.

Congratulations Team India for getting into the Cricket World Cup Finals. Just give #10 a great send-off with a Crown that only he deserves!

Kudos to Team Pakistan for making it this far and playing a great game. Pakistani Cricket has faced many challenges in the past few months and their resilience to rise to this level is amazing. If they were not playing India, I would have no hesitation in rooting for the continued success of Afridi and his boys! It was great to see Mr. Singh and Mr. Gilani enjoying a great game of cricket. I am sure that, except for a few diversionary heads, the combined billion plus population of India and Pakistan would love perpetual peace between the countries and the battles restricted to only sports playing fields.

Wahab Riaz – Take a bow man! You destroyed the Indian creme de la creme batting single-handedly.

Shahid Afridi - Loved that pleasant smile on your face despite having to give the interview as the losing captain.

Hafeez, Umar, and Wahab – Pakistani cricket needs you to stay focused and give your best for the national team, continuously and consistently.

- Ponting has the best record as a captain. His record (164 wins in ODIs, 48 Test wins) will probably stand for a long time, until another world beating XI is produced.

- He leaves with his head held high. A final captain’s innings that will be remembered.

- Much of his success in captaincy will be attributed to the star players in his team: McGrath, Warne, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist and others. He had the best fast bowlers, best spinner, best wicketkeeper-batsman and the best pair of opening batsmen. So, would anyone have done this well given such a stellar team? I tend to agree. What made the difference though, was Ponting’s batting form through his captaincy.

- Ponting’s batting was a big plus; He led by example. He fought lone battles (Ashes centuries) and performed when it mattered (2003 World cup final). I can’t recall many occasions when his captaincy has led to crucial twists in the game; when he has made inspired bowling changes or changed the batting order to fit the bill. In fact, I remember watching Australia and feeling baffled by his field placements and bowling plan. I always felt that Ponting’s tactics were suspect, attributed most of it to Buchanan, who is weird in his own way.

- Punter will be known more for the losses the Australian team went through under his captaincy than the number of wins; mainly because during his tenure, Australia went from invincibles to a rebuilding team. They lost the Ashes, the World Cup, the number one ranking, and haven’t been able to groom players to fill the shoes of the ones that retired. Ponting may very well be known as the captain who lost three Ashes series.

- Clarke as a captain? Sure, he has been groomed to be one right from the start of his career. But from what I’ve seen, I have my doubts. I think Haddin would make a good captain.

- How long with Ponting continue as a player? Throughout the world, it is common for ex-captains to play and do well under the new captains. Think of Tendulkar doing great under Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble and then Dhoni. You also have Jayawardhane under Sangakkara, Gayle under Sammy, even Ganguly under Dravid. The curious thing, though, is that this is not the usual case with Australian players. Their captains, once they are stripped of their captaincy, rarely play and do well with their successors. I have to go back to Kim Hughes playing under Border to remember. So, one season max for Ponting?

- Ponting’s batting may see a partial revival though. He has said that he would like to see a resurgence like Tendulkar. I think his hand-eye coordination is pretty much gone. He may have an odd innings under his belt like the one against India, but I don’t think his technique will improve. He can mentally block bad shots and stay and grind and be a good #4 or #5 in a side that doesn’t depend on him. He is helped by a soft tour next (at Bangladesh) before they go to Sri Lanka and South Africa. Ponting is also helped by the fact that others in the middle order are not doing great as well. Clarke and Hussey have not been in good form (Hussey had a good Ashes series). Usman Khawaja is waiting in the wings, and I hope he gets a permanent place in the playing XI.

- Last word is Zaltzman’s: “A great age in English cricket is over. Ricky Ponting quits as Australian captain.”

For the West Indies, Gayle and Smith are the only stroke makers who can turn the heat on in the batting department.  Chandran Paul or Ramnaresh  Sarwan are slow players, scorers do not have much to do when they bat other than keep track of dot balls or keep count of the catches the Akmals drop.  The moment Omar Gull got rid of the “swashbuckling washduckling” Chris Gayle and Hafeeze got rid of Devon Smith,  it was just matter of time for the rest to surrender.  West Indian cricket is in a very poor state of affairs.  On “Pakistan day” Pakistan moved into the World cup Semi-Finals. A well deserved gift to the troubled nation.

Team Pakistan’s success revolves around their captain Sahid Afridi. His success is vital to the team, because it is contagious, it inspires the young guns in the team including “Edward Oily hands Kamran Akkamal”.  Except may be New Zealand no other team really troubled Afridi’s bowling figures.  Here is my suggestion for team facing Pakistan in the Semi-finals.  Borrowing terminology from foot ball, double or triple team Afridi, and corner him and push him to the edge, make him fail, when he fails the rest of the team will follow.  Having said this, it is not an easy task, winning is a habit and Pakistan team has been winning, and they are on a roll. They have all the potential to win the world cup and may be revive their country towards economic progress for years to come.

Team India is all set to take on the cup holders Australia. Like most Indian fans I am confident but I am also nervous. Tomorrow’s game could be the final world cup game for one of the two outstanding cricketers of my time –”1) Sachin Tendulkar and 2) Ricky Ponting.

Am Tensed…India just needs to bat 50 overs.

There are those that claim that Tendulkar walked because he wanted India to win. If he had stayed and scored a century, there was no way India was going to win that match. It takes a team player to do that.  Some folks wrote that Tendulkar walked because he didn’t want to overtake Sehwag’s net aggregate for this world cup. Keeps Sehwag’s confidence high. It was also hinted that he walked so that he would have more time to practice his fielding skills, so that Dhoni would be able to note it as an improvement in the next post-match conference. He could have walked to give the middle order more time in the middle before the crucial knock-out matches, but that didn’t go anywhere, since the middle order and the tail wanted to walk to the wicket and walk back as well.

Anyway, these are not the real reasons. Tendulkar walked because he knew that Karunanidhi was watching, and this good gesture can help him get the ultimate award given to an Indian civilian, The Bharat Ratna KalaimaamaNi. Sachin kept dreaming of kneeling (to be at Karuna’s eye level), getting the kalaimaamaNi award and sharing the stage with Namitha and Kushboo.

Further, the most well-known walker in cricket history will never be Tendulkar, or Gilchrist; He is this guy.

So, how will India take care of Ponting on Thursday? Just the way it has done in the past (no wonder Ponting hates Indians and has nightmares about Indians).

Pointing clearly edged to the wicket keeper, umpire who is also a human missed it and ruled him not out.  Out of form Ponting decided to capitalize the umpiring error.  Something like the on duty security officer was sleeping and hence the prowler continued with the sin.  Poof! Cameras caught the sinner. Just like the misguided prowler who forgot about the close circuit cameras Punter was caught red handed – the score card should read, Ponting caught by “camera” and not by Kamran Akkmal.

Ponting in the after match press conference outwitted himself and went on to justify his decision. It seems he is been always waiting for the umpire decision throughout the career.  In reality, how many times we have seen Pointing arguing with the umpire when fielding? Ponting hides ethics behind the umpire’s fault when the mistakes are in his favor but throws tantrums at Umpire’s decision when it not in his favor. Mahila Jayawardane was another lucky guy, who stood there and to his luck the call went in his favor. As we you can see the UDRS cannot prevent human errors and it is only the honesty and integrity that would compensate for human errors.

Tendulkar, a victim of bad umpiring decisions (thanks to Steve Buckor and few more) decided to walk in Chennai. He was never tempted to stay even when umpire ruled it in his favor.  With no hot spot technology replays were inclusive and it would have gone mostly in his favor. But Sachin Tendulkar did the right thing what his legendry predecessors used to do – Honesty and integrity;

Pak/WI plays Ind/Aus
SA/NZ plays SL/Eng

Post your predictions here.
Mine:

Pak vs Ind
SA vs SL

Ind vs SL final. India win