A dream come true

I took my bhanjha-bhanjee to a South Mumbai roundup last Sunday. On my way towards Nariman Point, I noticed the lush green ground of Police Gymkhana where a group was playing cricket and wondered....aaah!! if ever I get a chance to play here in full cricket gear.

Little did I realize it would take less than a week for this wish to fulfill. Wednesday evening, 630 PM, I was standing on that ground, as part of the ITC managers playing 11, trying my leg breaks in the nets. 10 minutes later, I was fielding at point, cheering our bosses and other managers whom I was seeing for the very 1st time.

And what an evening it was, dives and stops in the lush green outfield, the lights which gave the game a celluloid effect. Have never played such a profesional game. The umpires were stern, one of them shouted at me for overappealing, the drinks break came in exactly after 10 overs. Sidescreen...and the change of ends after each over, and of course the running commentary.

And then, I got the ball in my hands. Atul Pujar Leg Spin, Right Arm over I remember that day, IM 13 vs IE 36 semi final at NITIE Grounds, 2007. I had recently shifted to leg spin after a reasonably successful basketball court cricket outing. However, my performance in that tournament was hardly cheerful. 3-0-30-1 and 3-0-28-0 in the 2 games we played there. Ridiculed and dissapointed! However, today was a different day altogether. Everything went out right, and I bowled my quota of 4 overs as well. Final Figures: 4-0-21-3

Not a bad effort with the season ball...for someone who is playing serious cricket after 10 years! We won the match by 9 wkts, so cudnt get to bat, but as I walked past the pitch, looking at the Arabian Sea staring at us in the background, I wished...this was 10 years back... Maybe, I could hve steered my career somewhere else.... Maybe just...