From ‘coaching’ to ‘tendulkar’

(This is my 100th post on this blog. So a pat on my back!)

Well, these days I am finding nothing to write on my blog. So I decided to dig into my own life and see if I have had something interesting somewhere to write about. And yeah, I found one. So this is a ‘this happened to me’ kind of a post.

Right, this happened when I was in 8th grade. And that means I was around 13 at the time. And I was in Madikeri to visit my grandmom. It was just a one-day visit and I had to leave for Bangalore that night. And there was this cousin of mine, who said ‘Do you play cricket? Lets go to the ground after breakfast.’ Me being a cricket fanatic, agreed.

So after breakfast, the two of us went. I think we walked some 2 kms before we finally reached the place. And it was a beautiful ground, grass-covered and all, next to a small hillock. Not like the muddy Palike ones we have in Bangalore. And there were already a group of kids, around 20, and they were all waiting for my cousin. And just before we stepped into the ground, my cousin whispered into my ears- ‘Thejas, I am going to introduce you to my friends and tell them that you attend Anil Kumble’s coaching camp in Bangalore. Or else they might not allow you to play with us.’ I raised my eyebrow and said, ‘Ok, I have no issues. But Anil Kumble doesnt conduct any coaching camp.’ Well, before I had finished, my cousin had already run off to his friends to announce the arrival of a ‘cricket star from bangalore, a boy prodigy, Karnataka’s next big thing.’

And so in seconds, they were all there surrounding me (I was taller than almost everybody!) and asking me how Anil Kumble looks and if I have ever played Anil Kumble’ s bowling etc etc. The only thing they didnt do is ask for autographs. And then began the melee. Both teams wanted to have this ‘cricket star’ in their team. And now, let me tell you, that before that day I had not even played cricket for my class team let alone my school team. And here in a beautiful ground in a beautiful town, a guy almost 6 inches shorter than me comes and asks, ‘When are you playing for karnataka?’. It had to be a beautiful day!

They had a special toss for me and some team ‘won me’. And then our team decided to field. I was sent to field in the mid-wicket boundary. There were 8 in a team and we were playing 8 overs a side. And the ground was so huge. From where I was fielding, I couldn’t even properly see what was happening in the middle. And so we began the match. After the first few overs I began getting bored. Not even a single ball had come near me. So I began looking up at the sky, the hills on the western ghats, the cloud pattern etc etc. And suddenly something moved next to me. It was the ball. And it had crossed the boundary just inches away from me, while I was busy admiring nature. The kids were shouting- ‘hey ‘coaching’, what are you doing?’ and ‘Kumble doesnt teach you fielding, is it?’ Well, All I did was turn around and say sorry.

And from then on I decided to concentrate on the game. An over later, the bowler bowled a slow full toss and the batsman hit it up in the air, and before I could realize, it was coming towards me. It was still up in the air and I was adjusting my position on the ground to get underneath the ball. My full concentration was on the ball and how badly I wanted this catch! It was pin-point precision- I was directly under the ball. It came, came and came. And hit my opened palms. Well, seconds later I was on the ground clutching my right palm and screaming in pain. The ball was on the ground. The catch was gone. And I was writhing in pain. Thats when I noticed the ball and picked it up. It was a super-hard rubber ball and thats why it had hurt me that way it did. My palm had gone entirely red, with a small bruising near the thumb.

After the innings got over, I ran to the middle. The team had scored 64 in 8 overs. Thats when I could sense the hostility my team-mates had against me. One of them said, ‘If we lose the match, its because of you.’ Then my cousin came up to me and said, ‘Thejas, I told them the truth after you dropped that catch.’ And yeah, I could see that. Almost every kid was making faces at me, or sniggering. They had begun calling me ‘coaching’!

And so, while everybody took their mid-innings break, I and my cousin sat silently aside. I wanted to run back home. But I also wanted to bat. So I stayed on. An over later, one guy got ‘caught and bowled’. While everybody here in my team began fighting over who should go in next, (I made no noise, and was only watching them) our captain announced, ‘Let ‘coaching’ go in and play. We need experience down the order. We ll all go in next.’ So I was given the bat and I went in.

The first ball- the bowler came up running from almost a mile. All I was thinking about was saving my body from that hard ‘missile’ of a cricket ball. He came in and delivered. The ball came in so slowly that i wasn’t prepared for it. I went into the short early and got beaten. ‘Well man, these guys bowl those deceiving slower ones too!’ The batsman at the other end shouted, ‘hey ‘coaching’, try to touch the ball and take a single.’ The bowler came in again, and it was a slower one again. This time I touched and went for a single. As I observed from the other end, I realized the fact. This guy knew only one pace. Though he ran in like Shoaib Akthar, he was damn slow and the guy was chucking too. So the next time I got the strike, I was ready. It was a slow short-pitched delivery and I slogged. Four!

Well, that was the story of every bowler there. Though they came in running as if they were expressed paced, they were slow as a snail. And here was I, the guy who’s played decent pace bowlers in my gully with ease. So, every ball I stood there waiting, with only one intention. Smash. I wasn’t playing cricket anymore. It was baseball stuff. I kept smashing, slogging. The balls kept going into the boundary. Every kid in the ground stood there stunned at what I was doing. And the match was over in 6 overs. Its was no more than child’s play!

And then, they all came running, lifted me off the ground and carried me around the ground. They were all shouting ‘Coaching, coaching’. Even the kids from the bowling team had joined. And then someone shouted, ‘Stop calling him ‘coaching’. lets call him ‘Tendulkar.’ Thats how he played today.’ So, the chanting continued. ‘Tendulkar, Tendulkar.’

As I said good bye to everybody that afternoon, I was sad. I wanted to be here in Madikeri and play cricket with these guys everyday. And be a ‘hero’ everyday. Back in Bangalore, I was just an ordinary cricketer who no team was dying to have. But here I get special status, a special toss to decide which team I should join. And I would be famous here as ‘tendulkar’.

But I had to return back home. And an year later, when my cousin came to Bangalore to visit us, he told me how his friends keep asking for the ‘Bangalore Tendulkar’ every time he goes to play with them. And I could only smile.