Off-Side

Cheetah's winter practice session kicked off after a month long hiatus this weekend. Only 6 players showed up for practice, even though the team manager Ranjith hoped for at least 10.

Wet conditions delayed the start and practice eventually began around 9.45 am. After some serious Ghaji sessions, teams of 3 were formed for 6 overs game. More than the game, players were excited about the new kit, bats and accessories recently brought by Ranjith.

Team 1 comprised of Guruji(Raja), Ram, and Ranjith. As you may recall from the press conference the previous evening, Ram, Team 1 captain had stated, any team playing against him had to go and get their basics right before the game! Team 2 with Ben, Sreedhar, and PC wanted to prove this wrong and displayed a lot of aggression in the field.

Ram's batting was a gritty 32 from 3 games while Guruji's batting performance was as disappointing as Maninder Singh of the 80's. Guruji's nemesis Sreedhar accounted for his downfall on 2 occasions. Guruji was clean bowled by Sreedhar's yorker in the second game and played on during the third to the same bowler. Ranjith's only catch during the game accounted for Guruji's wicket during the first game. Guruji attributed his failures to the unseasoned new bat purchased from India. However, Sreedhar had a different opinion, he said, "Guruji's rock bottom bargaining incurred the wrath of the bat seller !"

Ranjith's agility and athleticism in the field were much improved since his last game, back in December. He attributes his improved skills to renowned fielding coach, Paal-Tea Bose from Kerala!

After a thrilling tie in the first game. Ram's team breezed past Ben's team in the second.

Basher Ben scored 30 of the 32 runs required in the last game to square the series 1-1. Ben's usual strokeplay was curtailed with off-side only field restrictions. However, Ben proved his critics wrong with wonderful display of off-side strokes. In the post match conference, Ben said, "I saw the bowlers pitching in full. So I got my left leg out of the way and pierced the off-side field for singles and twos". Ram questioned umpires decision on Ben's wicket during the last and decisive game. When asked about this, Ben responded, "This happens all the time in a game of cricket. I had to go by the umpires decision. At the end of the day we won and squared the series, and are happy about our performance after a month long break"

All the players showed a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the field. Hope during the next session, the number of players outnumber the bats lying in the kit!