I had started off thinking id write a eulogy on how the team had smashed everyone else in the league and all that.. but then when i came to this page, thot a little more.. and decided to write this.. (im writing this intro after having written the main piece)
Well, we finally did it - we won the Singapore cricket knockout league.. something we've dreamt about for the last three years.. it was always the unattainable thing that we played for but never realistically thot we'd get to.. u know.. the closest thing i can think of is when u get a recognition in office.. u dont really work towards it, but it almost comes to u as a by-product of something else..
anyway.. so the match itself.. rain curtailed, fairly depressing to start with.. most of us wouldnt voice it but we were bloody jealous of raff who decided to bunk in due to the rain.. i was particularly impressed with Aditya, Santosh and Sudoku who despite knowing that they wouldnt play braved the rains to get to the ground.. takes a big heart to do so.. i know i prolly wouldnt have come.. particularly after ur regular at nets and still dont get a chance to play.. but i guess there are ppl who will choose talent above commitment - just dont agree with that personally i guess...
we finally started at 10:30 - and within 30 mins, it was evident that they didnt stand a chance against our disciplined and in patches brilliant bowling.. of course their demographical background stood in the way of them thinking and approaching the game differently (most of them were nepali shaabjis).. bakir/goel kept it tight and then venky came up with his clinical spell that killed any hope of a fightback.. and paddu/swaps just helped mop up the tail..
anyways, 77 in 15 ovrs was never a tough target to chase, and despite us losing fairly regular wickets we never really looked in danger after srirams initial onslaught.. a beautiful flick of the hips sailed over what is the longest boundary we have ever played on.. my shot of the season if you ask me.. It also turned out to be 2 good games in a row for me.. following up my 47 with a very unconvincing 35 - i just have to know how to keep my head down while driving, and to curb the instinct to hit the ball with all i have..
but the best part for me in the day was actually before and after the match..
a) Playing on the field while the ground dried up - what fun, played bombard, baseball and even some indoor cricket where bakir got super senti!
b) The brewerkz lunch post that.. wat a feel to be sitting with your team to eat and chat.. i honestly think we should do that after every game..
Nett, its the team and the ppl that spur me on to play every weekend.. and not really the competitive spirit of wanting to win despite everything.. wonder how long that is sustainable..
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Messag efrom raf :)
Shiv, thanks for the blog. Believe me i already feel guilty, if i had of thought it was going to be game on, i would have come. Sorry
Anywayzzzz. I am happy to be the first to comment on this blog because its full of areas i am confused with and would like clarification about =).
Do you want to win or are u happy to play cricket and lose from time to time, not winning a tournament???
I am perplexed on your comments about never thinking you (the team) could win and waiting 3 yrs to finally win??? Its 4th division and pretty sad to think like that given the team. I think this team can rub shoulders with div 2, given the players like Bak, Pads, Nitin, Matt, Swap AND the whole team.
I am also confused as to why you would choose committment over performance (lets call it performance over talent) given the whole team wants to win?? It also leads me to believe you have never played competitive sport seriously or tried out for a rep team=) Its routhless, you play competitively, you get ranked and you dont play if your ranked 12th in cricket. Unfortunately thats the case in competitive sports when u wanna win.
The game is taken so seriously by everyone (You have witnessed the dummy fits on the grounds), why would you not field the strongest team. If you want to field a team based on committment, you may need to prepare for a loss in a grand final or not even be in a final. Then you would be a captain of a team that is playing for fun and you would be waiting for over 3yrs to win!!
If you were captain, would you still choose committment over talent/performance and watch your team potentially lose, knowing that everyone on the team wants to win??
Secondely, cricket is a game of performance and skill, Soccer/football - you can make a team on commitment and raw guts, but cricket is a game of skill, performance and stats - similar to baseball i guess. I dont know of any cricket player in the world who is in a winning cricket team because cos of committment.
Pls let me know if you find a player who is in a winning cricket team coz of committment over performance. Admittedly tendulkar was in the indian team because of raw talent during his slump, but then again indian was not winning anyway. So he does not count =) You could argue matt hayden during his slump??not sure, - this would go back to a question of talent or performance or commitment - he had talent and commitment but lacked performanc for a while.....
Anyway - no one responded so i thought i would let one fly - let me know your thoughts mate!!
Raff:
I know man, i was just taking a dig at you, missed you at the finals.. i guess u didnt play and so i got a chance to play at no. 3.. principle of conservation of luck i call it..
Hopefully the following statements will answer your questions:
a)These are my comments, im not imposing these on my team - IF i were captain, and if the team played by principles that I believe, id choose commitment over skill. If my team believed that it wanted to win, id do what they wanted and play talent over committment, as simple as that.
b) The reason why we never thought we'd win was because all the players uve mentioned were not there on the team :)
c) I have played fairly competitive cricket back home, but that was when cricket was a focal point of life, id train for it, id practice every day for it.. nett, the objective of playing cricket was not having fun, it was to play your competitive best (and fun was a side effect). I would be all for the most ruthless decisions to win.
d) Today I play for fun and out of interest in the game and winning is a by-product of this. To answer your question, i dont think id be happy to lose all my games in the bid to have fun, neither do i want to win all games and lose the fun element, i think a little bit of both is neccessary.. and as of today i lean on the 'fun' side of the continuum.
e) I dont think the last part of the comment (committment vs talent) is relevant as I agre with you that picking the team based on commitment will not give u a better chances of winning vs. taking ur most able players. additionally (and a bit unrelated), I think cricket is as much about grit and commitment as talent. Steve Waugh would be a prime candidate for that. Shivnaraine Chanderpaul is another. Of course to succeed at the highest level you need both - which is why ul not see too many ppl who have made it based purely on grit or purely on talent.
Shiv, Back to cricket after a long time:).
Commitment vs Skill: There's no point someone having skill but you do not practice and do not put effort on the field to win the match. Skill just becomes useless.
Vikranth
And Yeah..Congratulations on winning the Knockout. What's happening on the league front?
Always believed that a winning team has the most fun :) Havnt met a bloke who thinks winning isint fun !!
You played a match winning knock - memories of that are fun man !
Dont give away the fire in the belly that every talented sportsman like you is born with.
Post a Comment