START
Short Story: Out or
Not out?
“It doesn’t get better than this. Nothing come
even remotely close to an India-Pak world cup semi-final in terms of sheer
excitement!”, so goes Ravi Shastri’s cliché into the microphone. The crowd is
packed and brimming to full capacity in the Eden Gardens stadium on a cold
overcast Sunday afternoon. The crowd is
chanting “Rameshhhhh… Ramesh..”, the name of the best batsman in the team. He
is on 96 and India needs 4 runs off the last ball to beat arch-rivals Pakistan
and make it to the finals to play Australia which has already qualified by
beating South Africa in a close match in Semi Finals-I.
The bowler Akram Khan just
started sprinting towards the bowling crease when Ramesh’s thoughts flashes
back 13 years to that special day which changed the course of his life -
Circa 2000:
Indian cricket was in doldrums with
match-fixing scandals and bad performances by the team. BCCI had put forward a
plan to create a National Cricket Academy(NCA). Young players with special
talent from across the country were to be selected and groomed to make them
ready to take their coveted places in the Indian cricket team one day. “Every
cricketer’s dream”, thought Ramesh.
Ramesh was the only son in a
middle-class south Indian nuclear family.
The norm was to focus on academics, complete an MS/MBA from an Ivy League
university and settle down in a good corporate career. Sports sadly, were never
in the radar to be considered as a career option.
His life was at cross roads. It
was the NCA selection match and he had to perform well to get selected. This
was the last hope to prove to his parents how serious he was about his cricket.
Ramesh’s dream from childhood was to play for the country and beat the
supposedly infallible Aussies in a World Cup final and he knew this was his last
shot in that direction.
The criteria for a batsman to get
selected through the NCA selection matches were as follows:
- Spot selection-
if you score a century in the match
- Panel
selection- a panel of selectors choose a pool of players from the NCA
selection matches from across the country and then shortlist based on some
criteria (not revealed)
Ramesh knew that he had the
talent in him to earn the automatic selection. He was aware that the second
option involved a lot of politics and one needed influence to get the selection
and he had no chance at that. He had been practicing diligently for this match
for the past one month and put extra hours in the nets.
His team mates used to call him
Dravid Tendulkar, for possessing Tendulkar-esque precocious talent while having
the work ethic and perseverance of THE WALL. Sachin was his hero and he had got
the MRF bat and signed it “Sachin Tendulkar” himself as he couldn’t afford the
costly branded MRF bats signed by the God of batting himself
It was match day and he had woken
up early, cycled to the local Academy nets and practiced for an hour. He was all
determined and prepared to make it big. His only competition in the side was
opener Vijay. He was a talented batsman but didn’t have the temperament or the
work ethic of Ramesh. Being a relative of the selector from South Zone, he was
sure he could sneak his way into the National squad by the second option.
Ramesh’s aim was to score a century and was focused on it.
Ramesh walked in at No.3, his
favourite batting position and was batting well. He had promised himself to
play his natural game and not be overwhelmed by the situation. He was his fluid
self and was hitting the sweet spot on his bat consistently. He reached the
half-century mark in 60 balls and knew he was in good nick. He played with
controlled aggression after that and was on 99, one run away from getting automatically
selected for NCA squad.
The field was brought in close
with all of them inside the ring. The fast bowler Raman bowled a bouncer.
Ramesh tapped it close-by and started running for that final single that would
take him closer to his dream. The close-in fielder picked the ball and hurled
it towards the stumps. Ramesh knew it was a close call and he dove. All the
fielders went up in the appeal and they were literally crying and begging the umpire.
Ramesh’s heart was pounding hard (could beat around 200 bpm) and he could
almost feel it in his mouth. The umpire was in his typical position to judge a
run-out.
All players had their sight on
his right hand and his head. “Which would move first?”, was the question on
every player’s mind.
The local commentator shouted
into the microphone, ”And the umpire’s decision is:”-
NOT OUT:
Circa 2013: The scene shifts back to India-Pak World Cup
semi-final. Akram Khan bowls a length delivery. “And it’s a six. Ramesh plays a
swashbuckling innings to take India to the finals of the world cup! What a
player!!”, exults Ravi Shastri, the commentator. Ramesh points his bat towards
the dressing room and the crowd and shouts to himself, “Yes this is a dream
come true!”
OUT:
Circa 2013: The scene shifts back to India-Pak World Cup
semi-final. Akram Khan bowls a length delivery. “And it’s a six. Ramesh plays a
swashbuckling innings to take India to the finals of the world cup! What a
player!!”, exults Ravi Shastri, the commentator. “Appa, yeah!!! India won the
match!!, now let me play the finals”, cries Ritesh, Ramesh’s 6 year old kid
grabbing the joystick to continue the game “EACricket 2013” on his XBOX 360!
Ramesh just smiles and tells himself, “My kid will beat the Aussies in the
World cup Final J!”
Epilogue:
The umpire decision on
the run-out chance in the selection match is NOT OUT:
Ramesh gets
automatically selected to the NCA squad. He performs well in the Academy
training and gets an Indian ODI berth in 2 years. He goes on to become the best
batsman in the Indian team
The umpire decision on
the run-out chance in the selection match is OUT:
Vijay gets selected
from his team instead of Ramesh due to nepotism while Ramesh is dropped in
spite of his valiant 99. He goes on to do an MS from Texas Dallas and now works
for a Silicon valley firm in SFO. He has a 6 year old son, Ritesh whose hero is
also Sachin and plays EA Cricket 2013 with him on weekends
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