Cricket dreams...

Cricket dreams...

    It was Cricket time at college. An intra-college Competition. Everyone in the college had been assigned with each of the four groups. And as usual, they were named after dumb animals like lion, tiger, panther and cheetah.
    And i am Srikanth. I belonged to the 'Tiger' team. A pre-final year student. And surprisingly i was selected to play for my team. The reason they said was,'A Handy all-rounder'. But actually, I am not an all-rounder. I am an Off-spinner. yup, I am a bowler. And sometimes, when luck is in my favor, i can blow some boundaries as well. That's what i did.
    We had selection matches. I played two matches. In the first, i didn't get a chance to bat, the batsmen did their job well. We had to defend a score of 213 from 20 overs. They cant stand our bowling as well. I picked up 3 wickets bowling my full quota of 4 overs and giving away just 14 runs. 
      In the second, we won the toss and elected to bat first. our batsmen did well. but lost wickets. I got a chance to bat. There were only 13 balls left when i stepped in. Out of which i faced 7 deliveries. Everyone seemed petrified of what i did. I myself cant believe that it was me. I must say that there was a huge amount of luck on my favor. I chased 3 balls out of the ground for 6s and two 4s and two singles. 28 off 7 deliveries faced. And did quite will with the ball too. 2 for 17 in four overs.This was the reason, why the selectors called me 'A Handy All-Rounder'.
    It was then the real thing was about to start. I had to do up to their expectations. Everything was scheduled. Every team has to face the other 3 teams twice. Each will be awarded 4 points for a win. First two teams in the table, enters the finals. We had our first match against the 'lions'.
    I had been practicing hard to do my best in the first match. One doesn't knows whether he is in the playing eleven or not, until the day of the match. I am in or not. I don't care. I should keep practicing. I kept myself busy with improving my spinning abilities. Didn't spend much time with bat. We always were interested in inside information. I asked my captain about the team composition. He didn't utter a word.
    I remember well, I was lying on bed with excitement, i couldn't  sleep. I had been trying to sleep, but i couldn't. then, I started counting numbers so as to sleep.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,.......,49,50 ah am i gonna score it tomorrow? nope you are a bowler and don't be greedy.
51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,58,58,58..... zzzzz.

    Ah great. I am in..I had been selected in the playing eleven for the first match. A very strong team. If one fails the other can score. Now we had to wait for the toss to happen. I  went out to the ground to feel the crowd peering at the players and to warm up as well. An almost houseful stadium. Around 2000 people. All were fellow classmates and college-mates. Then, my eyes gradually started to search HER automatically. Everyone had been seated according to their respective houses. Fortunately, she was in the same team as i am. I started searching at my team's allotted space. After a double check, what i got is all, disappointment.
    Meanwhile, we had won the toss and elected to bat first. Everyone knew that we were the strong team and expected us to win. But, it came as a shock when we lost two wickets in the first over without even getting off the start. Then the captain walked in. He along with other friend of mine, studied the sinking ship. They managed a decent 60 runs in first 10 overs without losing anymore wickets. Then suddenly as if a  curse has been spelled on our team, we lost wickets in quick succession. 2 wickets in the 11th over. one more in the 12th. And one more in the 13th. With six wickets down, it was my turn to walk to crease with bats on. I felt nervous. The one on the other side was a batsman. Just rotate the strike.
He was batting well with the rotation of strike provided by me. I just managed to hit a boundary at the end of 15th over. with just 30 ball on hand and only 88 on the board with the loss of 6 wickets we were sinking. It was then, my partner called me and said that he will rotate the strike and asked me to go for some rust blows. Looked like a good idea.
    He took a single of the very first ball of the 16th over. Then, it was my turn.Go for the big ones. The next ball was a full toss and i had no problem in hit it out of the boundary in the leg side. I knew it has to be a six as soon as i hit it. As i was just admiring my shot, just saw where the ball landed. It went into the crowd. A girl picked it and threw it to the nearby fielder. JYO!!! Yes that HER. She was there. I completely went out of senses for a minute or two. It was then that i felt very much nervous. I have never been such nervous, before that.  The next two balls i started fumbling. My partner called me immediately to tell what i had to do then. He asked me to concentrate on the ball. yeah as if i never know that. The problem is i cant concentrate. My god! Jyo is here- was all what i thought.
    Then i realized that it was the chance to create an impression. I took a single the next ball. And calmed myself at the other end. When I got back my strike again, i was not playing for my team or myself. I was playing for JYO. To impress Jyo. But got lucky with all my rusty blows. I also had few well timed shots. Most important of all was the 19th over. Three 6s and three 4s. We managed a decent 180 at the end of 20 overs. I myself got a first half-century. First in my life.
    They lost everything from the beginning. They lost wickets in regular intervals. I took great efforts not to concede any runs and gave away just 19 runs picking 4 crucial wickets. I was adjudged 'The Man of the Match' award.
    After the match, I went to my team's allotted space to give a 'yatha, we did it' kind of cheer.
    It was then, she came to me and said,"Well, I'm Impressed".
    I just cant understand and then cant believe what she said.
    And the moment was completely spoiled. you know how?
    My captain woke me up and said,"Hey srik, you are not in today's team. wait for the next game, dude."
    All I had been doing was, dreaming.
    In or out. keep practicing. keep trying - spoke to myself and gathered myself up for a good long practice session.