Last year or so have been most pleasurable for me having played regular cricket with a bunch of friends with similar passion for the game. There have been many high points about the season gone by: number of matches we ended up playing, level of intensity we played with, kind of new things we kept trying, and how we kept pushing ourselves to do better.
However one thing that stood out for me personally was the diversity in profiles of people who played. It was single most fascinating aspect about this year gone by for me. Given this year has been very precious and enjoyable for me personally I thought I must pen down bit about the team members, much like different characters of Lagaan team J
I am just putting down the names in order of their age. I might have gone a bit wrong in age and background of certain people possibly. Also these thoughts are just impressions of the year gone by in my mind…my apologies if any of the players listed below happens to read and is offended by my impressions J
Dr. Ashwini Bose
Age: 45 Years
Background: Surgeon Umkal Hospital
Role: Fast Leg Spin
Season Summary: He takes the cake for the story of the season. Basis the timing of our match he actually postponed his surgery by few hours J Fortunately that was a planned surgery and few hours here or there would not make much difference…so he says J Unfortunately the sharpness in his bowling during the nets was never visible in matches…he was a completely different player in both the places.
Arjun
Age: 42 Years
Background: XLRI Batch 1990 – Running his own consulting outfit
Role: Top order batsman (occasional leg spin)
Season Summary: Easily one of our best bats. His ability to play late was inspiring through the season. Also bowled leg spinners, very costly though as a bowler, but wicket taker mostly. A true match winner in a team built otherwise on utility players mostly. Interestingly when I first met him I thought he was more of a spinner with some useful batting contribution. As season went along I realized it was just the opposite. Only thing that did not change was his humble approach to the game J
Suresh Ramasubramaniam
Age: 38 Years
Background: XLRI Batch 1992 – HR Head Yum Foods
Role: Fast Bowler
Season Summary: Probably Shaun Pollock of our team. The most talented bowler with perfect line and length. Unfortunately he didn’t have as successful a season as we expected. At times one felt he lost his rhythm, at times it seemed he lost his pace…for me it was just not a lucky season for him. In a different year he might just easily end up taking twice the number of wickets he took.
Sanjay Lakhotia
Age: 38 Years
Background: XLRI Batch 1993 – Busy with a start up venture as an entrepreneur
Role: Slow Medium Pace Bowling
Season Summary: Perfect example of what the team largely comprised of; utility players. Reasonably unfit personJ, with love for the game, always chipping in with useful runs and bowling effectively in middle overs. Ended up as second highest wicket taker for us in the season due to immaculate line and length. However more than anything else he probably lost the enthusiasm due to serious cricket and was probably more happy playing tennis ball cricket.
Amit Sharma
Age: 36 Years
Background: M.Arch – Studio Director at SPA and Running his own architecture outfit
Role: Top order batsman, wicket keeper and occasional off spinner
Season Summary: Our captain, the guy with highest amount of enthusiasm and knowledge about the game. De facto also our coach during practice sessions. In a team of utility players yet another match winner. Probably gave the performance of the season in a match where he made fifty in 23 balls and then took five wickets. In addition a thing that I would always remember is he himself never realized the amount of sledging he indulged in with other teams, or should I say mental disintegration J
Harmeet Kalra
Age: 35 Years
Background: Senior Sales Guy with Progression
Role: Top Order Batsman
Season Summary: Harmeet had probably the most consistent season amongst all of us. He consistently scored a useful 20-30 at the start of the innings, saw the new ball off, and invariably gave an opening partnership of around 50. Also an amazing catcher. Only thing he probably missed is converting those 20s and 30s into 50s due to lack of stamina.
Sharad Vishwanath
Age: 35 Years
Background: FMS 1997 Senior Leader Hewitt Associates
Role: Fast Bowler
Season Summary: There were two things that stood out for Sharad whenever I reflect back. Top most being his style quotient in everything he did. Even if it was a straight forward fielding, Sharad would nicely roll over the ground and make it look quite coolJ. He infact managed to do the unthinkable of getting hit on the forehead on my gentle off spinnersJ. The other thing that stood out was his self belief and line and length. What usually looked like harmless bowling to everyone including opponents, led to their downfall. He finally emerged with superb strike rate amongst all our bowlers.
Sushant Upadhyay
Age: 34 Years
Background: DCE 1995, IIFT Batch 1999 – Senior Leader Hewitt Associates
Role: Top order batsman
Season Summary: One of our key openers, with ability to play new ball, with style in his driving, and most importantly great enthusiasm on the field. Much of the season though he didn’t do justice to his abilities. Fortunately in the last few games he really hit it hard and made up for the season. Complete team player who I would always remember for giving his 100% in every situation, more than anything else.
Rohit Jain