Our Ground
The Team
Arvind Venkataraman
He is our opening batsman. He is our Sehwag; in every way. 'On his day' he can tear any bowler apart... But his day comes once or twice every ten games... Splendid striker of the ball... If he hits, the ball stays hit. His cricket dictionary doesn't have a word called 'defence'. Whatever the situation, 10 off 40 balls or 40 off 10 balls, he goes for his shots. Playing tennis has given him wonderful hand eye coordination and great power.
As a bowler, he is a batsman's and at times, captain's nightmare! Jus' kiddin!! He is the inventor of the 'pullli delivery'.. ET knows about it all too well than us! Full speed delivery aimed at the batsman's head!!!
Bharath Kumar Jain
Our occasional opener. Guy with great cricketing brains. But seldom gets opportunity to show it. He either gets run out opening the innings or comes lower down the order when the target becomes impossible to chase. A great runner. Both between the wickets and in the field. His size bears no resemblance to the power he generates behind his drives. He thrives by placing the ball in the gaps and frustrating the bowler into bowling a false delivery... But......... That false delivery might be the one to get him... And the bowling team wil call it, 'tactical bowling maamu!'...
He is our opening bowler. He bowls both medium pace and leg spin. Bowls very well at the beginning and tends to tire after the first spell, resulting in few hits in the second spell. His 'wrong-ones' and slower balls are the ones people are still trying to figure out.. And batsmen beware. This guy has got a great throwing arm! He can hurl the ball from the boundary at such speed, you will mostly be caught napping.
KP Arun
He is our Dravid! MR. Solid, Mr. Wall etc etc. If you want to stem the fall of wickets, call KP (at times stems the flow of runs too ;-) jus kiddin). He has a wonderful technique and it will reflect in the way he times his shots. Pretty lethargic when it comes to running between the wickets. A close in fielder, mostly at short cover. His role is very important when chasing huge scores. He'll hold one end up, allowing batsman at the other end to play confidently.
Jeevaraj
He is our all rounder! Express pace while bowling; slogging yet steady while batting. He opens the bowling with Bharath and is THE most economical and wicket taking bowler in our team. With the pace he generates, the tennis ball skids off the surface at such speed, the batsman should have the reflexes of a snake if he has to hit this guy!
While batting, he can hit the ball in all directions with the same power. He is the only one, whom I have seen playing the inside out shot over the cover. Great team player; every team's dream player.
Hayawardh
The only 'leftie' in our regular team. An elegant player. Compare him to David Lloyd or Laxman. He does not believe in hard hitting. And with regards to timing the ball, he is at par with KP. Off side is his strength (maybe because he is an ardent Dada fan). His flicks 'off-the-hip' are so graceful, you will admire it even if you are the opponent. Not a great mover on the field, hence fields close to the stumps. Keeps rotating the strike with such ease, you won't know that the score is constantly increasing.
Balamurugan
Let me start off with an advice: Never test his temper. He loves perfection. He wants to do it right every time. Be it bowling or batting or fielding. And fielders, be extra careful not to mis-field or drop a catch off his bowling!!! He will burn you with his eyes! He can throw the ball from one end of the ground to the other. Makes me wonder if he has got some kind of motor inside his shoulder.
Bowls in the middle overs. He is the only one who makes full use of the slower ball. While setting a target, he loses his mind when batting... Cracks every ball! And with his power, it WILL fly out of the park. He does not pull the ball! He straight drives it on the leg side!! While chasing, sanity prevails. He bats according to the situation. As a captain, let him do what he wants. Don't try to restrict him. If you do, you'll get his sting...
Annush
Just one word to describe him. Talent! He is like Yuvraj. Simply superb... He can hit hard. At the same time, time his shots too. Match is never over till you get this guy out. Keeps the players active with his natural comedy. He seldom talks. But when he does, it will surely make you laugh whatever the situation of the match. As far as I've noticed, playing with Jeeva at the other end tends to bring the best out of him. These two together have authored many partnerships than most of us..
Raghu
Our team's new found wicket keeper. Better than Moin Khan at irritating the batsman! Causes so many disruptions to play by challenging umpire's decisions, it will make the batsman concede to his call (imagine waiting for three to four mins in the scorching sun to play one ball!!)... He opens the innings at times, and does the job of not letting the score stagnate. Tends to overly stress his views at times.
Sridhar
Supposedly the off-spinner in our team. But I've never seen the ball spinning when he bowls. LOL!! He bowls fast off spin, just like how Chris Harris used to bowl fast leg spin. A great mover on the field. Batting... Well... Errr... No comments... But just one advice.. Don't bowl short... ;-)
Dhana
A keen observer of the game. Too modest. Never demands either batting or bowling. A very good fielder. (Esp. at point!! Can we forget the catch he took!!!) Has the ability to bat. Since he always bats last, never gets an opportunity to bat for long.
Eashwar
An occasional inclusion in our team. Not that we don't include him! He is tooooooooo lazy to move himself to the ground from his house! Bowls medium pace and always wants to bat at last!! But he does both well! A terrific close in fielder. I don't know if the ball sticks to his hand, or he really catches it, he fields well.. :-) Has all ingredients to be a good player, but his laziness hampers it.
Lavan
Misses most of the matches because of logistical problems! :D Keeps wickets and does that well. Avan periya player nu sollipaan... Aana innum engaluku adha kaatala!!! Dude... We are waiting for one such match from you da...
Me
Well..... Actually.... If I am talking so much about everyone, you should know who I am.. WINK WINK..
This is how we play.....................................
The Team
Arvind Venkataraman
He is our opening batsman. He is our Sehwag; in every way. 'On his day' he can tear any bowler apart... But his day comes once or twice every ten games... Splendid striker of the ball... If he hits, the ball stays hit. His cricket dictionary doesn't have a word called 'defence'. Whatever the situation, 10 off 40 balls or 40 off 10 balls, he goes for his shots. Playing tennis has given him wonderful hand eye coordination and great power.
As a bowler, he is a batsman's and at times, captain's nightmare! Jus' kiddin!! He is the inventor of the 'pullli delivery'.. ET knows about it all too well than us! Full speed delivery aimed at the batsman's head!!!
Bharath Kumar Jain
Our occasional opener. Guy with great cricketing brains. But seldom gets opportunity to show it. He either gets run out opening the innings or comes lower down the order when the target becomes impossible to chase. A great runner. Both between the wickets and in the field. His size bears no resemblance to the power he generates behind his drives. He thrives by placing the ball in the gaps and frustrating the bowler into bowling a false delivery... But......... That false delivery might be the one to get him... And the bowling team wil call it, 'tactical bowling maamu!'...
He is our opening bowler. He bowls both medium pace and leg spin. Bowls very well at the beginning and tends to tire after the first spell, resulting in few hits in the second spell. His 'wrong-ones' and slower balls are the ones people are still trying to figure out.. And batsmen beware. This guy has got a great throwing arm! He can hurl the ball from the boundary at such speed, you will mostly be caught napping.
KP Arun
He is our Dravid! MR. Solid, Mr. Wall etc etc. If you want to stem the fall of wickets, call KP (at times stems the flow of runs too ;-) jus kiddin). He has a wonderful technique and it will reflect in the way he times his shots. Pretty lethargic when it comes to running between the wickets. A close in fielder, mostly at short cover. His role is very important when chasing huge scores. He'll hold one end up, allowing batsman at the other end to play confidently.
Jeevaraj
He is our all rounder! Express pace while bowling; slogging yet steady while batting. He opens the bowling with Bharath and is THE most economical and wicket taking bowler in our team. With the pace he generates, the tennis ball skids off the surface at such speed, the batsman should have the reflexes of a snake if he has to hit this guy!
While batting, he can hit the ball in all directions with the same power. He is the only one, whom I have seen playing the inside out shot over the cover. Great team player; every team's dream player.
Hayawardh
The only 'leftie' in our regular team. An elegant player. Compare him to David Lloyd or Laxman. He does not believe in hard hitting. And with regards to timing the ball, he is at par with KP. Off side is his strength (maybe because he is an ardent Dada fan). His flicks 'off-the-hip' are so graceful, you will admire it even if you are the opponent. Not a great mover on the field, hence fields close to the stumps. Keeps rotating the strike with such ease, you won't know that the score is constantly increasing.
Balamurugan
Let me start off with an advice: Never test his temper. He loves perfection. He wants to do it right every time. Be it bowling or batting or fielding. And fielders, be extra careful not to mis-field or drop a catch off his bowling!!! He will burn you with his eyes! He can throw the ball from one end of the ground to the other. Makes me wonder if he has got some kind of motor inside his shoulder.
Bowls in the middle overs. He is the only one who makes full use of the slower ball. While setting a target, he loses his mind when batting... Cracks every ball! And with his power, it WILL fly out of the park. He does not pull the ball! He straight drives it on the leg side!! While chasing, sanity prevails. He bats according to the situation. As a captain, let him do what he wants. Don't try to restrict him. If you do, you'll get his sting...
Annush
Just one word to describe him. Talent! He is like Yuvraj. Simply superb... He can hit hard. At the same time, time his shots too. Match is never over till you get this guy out. Keeps the players active with his natural comedy. He seldom talks. But when he does, it will surely make you laugh whatever the situation of the match. As far as I've noticed, playing with Jeeva at the other end tends to bring the best out of him. These two together have authored many partnerships than most of us..
Raghu
Our team's new found wicket keeper. Better than Moin Khan at irritating the batsman! Causes so many disruptions to play by challenging umpire's decisions, it will make the batsman concede to his call (imagine waiting for three to four mins in the scorching sun to play one ball!!)... He opens the innings at times, and does the job of not letting the score stagnate. Tends to overly stress his views at times.
Sridhar
Supposedly the off-spinner in our team. But I've never seen the ball spinning when he bowls. LOL!! He bowls fast off spin, just like how Chris Harris used to bowl fast leg spin. A great mover on the field. Batting... Well... Errr... No comments... But just one advice.. Don't bowl short... ;-)
Dhana
A keen observer of the game. Too modest. Never demands either batting or bowling. A very good fielder. (Esp. at point!! Can we forget the catch he took!!!) Has the ability to bat. Since he always bats last, never gets an opportunity to bat for long.
Eashwar
An occasional inclusion in our team. Not that we don't include him! He is tooooooooo lazy to move himself to the ground from his house! Bowls medium pace and always wants to bat at last!! But he does both well! A terrific close in fielder. I don't know if the ball sticks to his hand, or he really catches it, he fields well.. :-) Has all ingredients to be a good player, but his laziness hampers it.
Lavan
Misses most of the matches because of logistical problems! :D Keeps wickets and does that well. Avan periya player nu sollipaan... Aana innum engaluku adha kaatala!!! Dude... We are waiting for one such match from you da...
Me
Well..... Actually.... If I am talking so much about everyone, you should know who I am.. WINK WINK..
This is how we play.....................................
8 comments:
sooooper appu...the last pic was the ultimate one....
kadavulu dharisa nathu ku epidi wait pannanumoo lavan kum apidithan. one small change not logistics problem but 'date' problems. c'mon i can satisfy both babes and cricket at the same time.
Excellent post!
I wish we play one more match before we get on with our lives.
@lavan's comment
Indian army jargon la 'babes' nu edhana word irukka?? Guess no.
too good a post!keep them coming!
=)) @ last pic
one reminder : lavan and babes cant be separated
wat was the comment u removed?
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