Final Day-23rd March 2006

23-3-06

Third Day-Final Match against B.tech Bioinfo+Biotech(combined team)

Yeah...yeah....its the same pic.....somehow thats all that remains of that special day.
Today was going to be different than all other days as the college was given a holiday becoz of this Final.I went early with Krish and we were one of the first to reach the ground.There was a big confusion regarding when our match was going to happen.....Actually the thing was Teachers were going to play the Non Teaching staff today....it was first decided that they would play first then again the plan changed.....we were supposed to start as Dean was going to be late(actually he didnt show)....All Teachers came later...when some overs of the first innings were bowled.

We started off with fielding practice and catching practice.....at the same time some of our batch mates had shown up...it was too early but they were excited too and came to support us.We again decided to do the homework.....again Shantanu,me,Shounak....and some teammates(dont quite remember who all were there) went to the middle of the pitch and chalked out some rough drawings regarding the field placing......i recall well after the initial discussion was over everyone left the ground to get ready sort off but Shantanu just sat there for a while right in the middle of the pitch....it was a great scene for me....he was getting ready for the battle...preparing himself in a way...before everything actually started at that same place.He had many decisions to make,and was getting ready for that.There was a change in our team Shounak was included in place of Sarthak.

We were going to bowl first in this big game under the intense heat.I remember that moment at the start i was positioned at third man.....i always got to field at third man....or long on.....basically in the deep since i had a strong arm as compared to my Teammates.....except for Adnan...this guy can throw the ball directly to the keeper from anywhere on the ground...as flat as you like.k...Start of play and it wasnt a great start for us as Rahul strayed and many wides were conceded....even from the other end by Satyen.They kept the score ticking by taking singles in initial overs.As time rolled on many classmates started showing up and many people from our college also came to catch the action.

Early on it wasnt that bad....but we couldnt take many wickets...2 were gone in the first few overs.....Shantanu came on first change and bowled well....i was brought on 1st change from the other end.....Captain was impressed by my performance the other day i thought when given the ball.....This spell was different...everyone of my friends were watching...as i was running in to bowl i said to myself you cant screw up this time...i had a bad experience when i was in 7th standard.When running in, the rhythm wasn't the same for me....i bowled it there and he played it straight back.....In the first over there were 3 wides by me...but the extra balls didnt go for many runs.The ball was swinging too much and i was straying on the leg side.....i tried to counter this by holding cross seam....this worked just a little but they took some singles by placing in right areas.I remember hitting one of the batsmen right in the chest....as i was holding cross seam...there was variable bounce...as soon as it pitched on the seam it bounced more and surprised him.Another thing i was bowling facing the pavilion so all the friends were like right in front of me....that wasn't easy....i got to bowl 3 overs and one from the other end...don't know how much i conceded but many wides were bowled...so didn't get to finish my 4....but it was ok not that bad...i remember getting hit for a four.....didn't get hit for more than 6 an over thats for sure.

As for the team...it wasn't looking good...One of their batsmen Satish went on to score a 50+ he hit all of our bowlers....Ratnesh being the worst...Adnan was bowling well from one end and he bowled with sheer pace.He ended with 3 wickets...and enjoyed the attention he got from the supporters.Satish hit 3 bowlers for a six...including hooking Adnan s bouncer through square leg.Eventually he skied one and Shounak took a great catch.Their scoring rate was not that high but we bowl many wides.....i remember the last over i was fielding at third man....Adnan was bowling and the batsmen placed it through the vacant slip region....it was coming towards this side and i had to be very fast to cut it out....they took 2 as i fielded and released it in one motion.Thats the last i remember of our innings...they had finished with 135 in their 20 overs.We came back to the pavilion greeted by our batchmates and all the teachers sitting there as spectators.....This was different than previous matches...there wasn't any chairs to sit too.

We went to fetch cold water after having lunch.i remember there were many spectators more than i expected.Most of our class had turned up and quite frankly that made me nervous.But my teammates kind of liked it I feel and reveled in the moment.While returning back I,Krish and Ashish were discussing whether it could be done.Asking rate was around 7.We needed a good start and were confident of getting it....the team was on a high.The inning had already started as we were walking back Rahul,Chinmay opened the innings for us.Start was ok....good in a way as we didn't lose any early wickets.They too were conceding extras which helped our scoring rate.After the look in Chinmay started to take some risks and hit two superb shots through the covers.Eventually he was out and Satyen was next , he played ok but was given LBW.i dont quite remember how much he scored but he stayed there for a while and supported Rahul who put away the bad balls and respected the good deliveries/bowlers.This partnership at that stage was very important for us as the score kept ticking on and we were getting close to the target slowly.

Ashish was sent up the order before Shantanu and he didn't disappoint.He had goofed up a couple of times but now launch pad was provided for him to do the end job.He wasn't in good health and had taken injections on his knee just to play this match.He fielded for some overs at the end...Monish was his substitute for the time being.It was a great cameo from him clobbering their spinner for a six and two fours in one over.He was promoted to hit and did his job really well.Rahul eventually got out at 40 odd and got an standing ovation.It was a great knock from him.The Captain-Shantanu was due in next and he played good sensible cricket giving Ashish as much of the strike.

I remember sitting there just behind the empty sidescreen on one end watching all this transpire.I congratulated Rahul for his great innings and then got padded up(basically put his pads on)By this stage we needed around 46 of 30 balls.It was still possible and the way they were playing in the middle we were very confident.Ashish was in great hitting form and smacked another spinner for a huge six through midwicket.....it was great watching the ball sail by over the boundary line.

It came down to 15 off the last two overs....Both Shantanu and Ashish played well to bring it down to this.All this while i was sitting there padded up,there was some confusion over who was due in next....after a while it was decided it was going to be me....Now i was really nervous thinking about how i would play with so many of my batchmates watching.For a while i thought how would it be like to be at the wicket at that time and hoped that i got a chance....just to experience the pressure.But Shantanu and Ashish had another plans.....Ashish was on strike and hit two great shots over midwicket for four.We were all jumping with joy.Now seven were needed and everyone was standing on the boundary line.The next moment was crucial according to me.Ashish hit one straight right towards us.At first glance it looked like sure boundary but the fielder from long off somehow had the legs to get there....he dived and got an hand to it but couldn't catch it.It was a valiant effort.....to add more insult the ball crossed over the line for four.This was the turning point for me now the game was surely in the bag....had that been caught it would have been a dot ball and i would have to go out there.It was a great effort by the fielder and we applauded it sincerely.Seriously,my heart was in my mouth.....my initial reaction was -i am supposed to go and bat in that situation....u have to be kidding me....i was very glad he missed it.Now it was 3 off the last over....Shantanu played a couple of balls,everyone looking on.All this when the teachers were frustrated at the length ,long time the match had taken...they too had to play.Shantanu hit one over the close infield for four and everyone(including some of our batch mates)rushed in on the pitch.The Captain got the privilege of finishing the match off.I remember telling Rahul when going on the field that we lost the first match but we reached final and won it.We were all very excited.In the middle i went and hugged Ashish and congratulated him.All of us made a huge circle and started hopping around like those old African tribes......hehe.....that was a great memory to have,cant ever forget that.

Then the Champs returned back to the pavilion side and were greeted by the applause of all the students,friends,teachers present......It was a great (hard to describe)feeling and the photo was taken at that moment.I had to use both my hands to manage to be in the photo.Unfortunately we didn't have the trophy presentation since teachers wanted to play their match against non teaching staff and wanted everyone to sit and watch that too.I watched one innings with keen interest....but after that got bored and left to catch train to Vasai.Back home.So that was it,its an account of how i saw things.

Awaiting comments from all my teammates and batchmates......I still think we won becoz we believed in ourselves,after that close encounter there was no looking back."We are destined to win this" i thought when returning home after the first day.That close encounter was my favorite(Nothing like it) Now i know it was a great privelege to be part of the team.