I feel proud

• when I take that extra round of the ground knowing that the sun is still burning bright
• when I have a fitness regime much more different and difficult than my fellow mates because I am special to the game.
• when i get up everyday in the morning knowing that I can have the red cherry in my hand, feel the seam and can smell the leather.
• when I have my toe nail changing colours as if I have painted them on purpose and then they go missing one fine day!!!
• when I cut a small portion of my bowling boots to facilitate my toe nail sliding through.( a rather difficult thing to do)
• when I carry an extra pair of bowling boots in my kit bag not really worrying about how much my kit bag weighs..
• when I see spikes of my shoes going bad even before the pain to my lower back has bid good bye to my body!!!
• when I spend hours studying the new bowling boots available in online stores(a little jobless I am sometimes)
• when I measure my preferred run up in strides and mark the distance from the wicket, as if sending the message across to the person with the stick..'you will have me coming in at you precisely from this distance, hope you have your plans in order'!
• when i take that long run up towards the wicket due to the need to generate the momentum and rhythm required to do something that only a few are able to..bowl fast!!
• when my knee joint, ankle and lower body experience a force ten times my body weight and still are just fine for me to come back over after over and do what I like the most in the world.
• when The batters are set and wickets are hard to come by, I see my captain tossing the ball in my direction. I, then, am back on my mission to prove- Pace is never Dead!!!
• when i exploit the Corridor of uncertainty' with a smirk on my face as I complete my follow through and see the person with the stick straight in their eyes!!!
• when I bowl one which greets the batter puzzled unplayable, croqueting around their head..
• when I rip one through middle stump or just bowl a perfect ball even if it means not getting the batter out..
• when I see the bails flying high in the sky, and the stick person taking a long walk back to the camp as if saying I give up, you rule here but I shall send my mate to see if a descent fight can be staged!!!
• when i work tirelessly and flawlessly like a scientist, working in three dimensions, the line, the length and swing/seam..
• because I haven't been taught to bowl fast but I have had this desire and the want to bowl fast!!!
• because I carry in me something that is rare, that is special, something that when found has to be treasured,valued,appreciated and celebrated!!
• because I am special...I am a fast bowler at heart!!! 

As Brett Lee says- ' fast bowlers are special beings..well who's the brightest..the guy who bowls 150 kmph or the guy who tries to face him'!!!

Cricket Maniac!!!

When do you know you are cricket Maniac?*honestly i feel 'cricket maniac' --the term doesn't really describe the madness all that well*

1. When the first thing you do when you get up in the morning is to rush outside to check if its raining!!!

2. When you don't wake up on hearing your mother sing/shout your name in seven different tones, the pitch half a note up higher every time but the morning sports news bulletin succeeds!!

3. When you hold every single thing that is spherical as if you are holding it across the seam*like a swing bowler*..these things range from an apple that you pick up to eat at a friend's place to a paper weight that is placed on your senior's desk.

4. When you, whilst speaking to one of your friend, unknowingly speak with an Australian/English accent *thanks to watching the post match interviews/channel videos on you tube..like a 50 times*

5. When you can't help but set up meetings with friends at cricket ground *yeah..I've done that*..and you ask --Hey!! how have you been? whilst watching the bowler deliver a ball *if you are watching a match *or on your follow through after bowling a first ball bouncer to your friend *if you are practicing*!!

6. When you go shameless and ask a friend to come for a session when you know she's celebrating a festival that is meant to be grand.

7. When you convince your friends to skip the movie plan and come for a session *stating that you have mastered a variation over night that you would want them to see*

8. When you *as a kid* play with guys twice your age, and physique just because playing/*more often than not being a chotu fielder some where on the ground*gives you more happiness than any one you are playing with could ever imagine.

9. When you convince your other friend to walk like 5 kilometers to go fetch the monthly magazine on cricket from the city *5 kms is quite a distance when you are just 8*

10. When you go shopping with your friends to this specific shopping mall not because you get really good stuff there to buy*wardrobe wise* or it has good eating outlets but because it houses a big bookstore where you can read or pick up good books *auto-biographies making up the chunk of such purchases*

11. When as an eight year old you can't get enough contributions to go buy a rubber ball *not to forget that you lost a 'brand' new one just after a day's play * and you manage to persuade your mother to get you one by promising all 'A+' in the next tests. 

12. When you can't help but imagine how good a play ground would a runway, a less crowded railway platform or a rather spacious hotel room make!!*I haven't really mentioned a lot of other places here--*India gate for example*
13. When you can't help but check out all the cricketing gear available online!! *I know heights of joblessness still...if signing up for newsletters is better option then...I have done that too* Also lot many things get added to the wish list/ cart every time you visit these sites!!
14. Watching a game would take you into a world that would be unreal but far better than fantasy!! For that hour or so you forget about things that you need to do!!* studying for next day's examination is one that tops the list*
15. When you can spend hours reading articles online about the game, players, anything and everything related to the game!!
16. Every second Hollywood/ Bollywood actor reminds you of some eminent cricketer!! *I still send feedbacks to cricinfo for the section-- dopplegangers..haha..right now I some how find James Anderson pretty similar to Rock of Ages actor- Russell Brand!!*
17. When you as kid , would enjoy the evening strolls with your father discussing cricket!! And on match days when the power supply wouldn't be there, the transistor would accompany you!!
18. When you check this new bowling boot online and you are love struck. You keep getting back to the site until you finally manage to buy it and have it delivered to you *all the way from England, thanks to a friend of yours*

p.s. the blog is not to be considered complete..as in ...it'll have points added on frequently  

And only then did i realise....

I have been wanting to write on this topic for a long time now..but..its just that i have been way too....lazy( i am honest, am i not?;D)

My father always said/says that while on the ground your Coach is your father, your mother, your everything. Anything that you are not happy about or uncomfortable with has to be brought to his notice so that you dont carry any extra baggage home( something that i have never been able to do;D). Also 'Respecting the Coach' is a point that makes up like 70% of the good bye SPEECH that he delivers in my mother's presence everytime i am leaving for a tournament(local/state/national)."Whatever you do, win/lose, all of it is immaterial. If you are able to make your Coach and team mates feel proud to have you in the team that will be the greatest achievement ever"- those are his favorite lines..(i am a self- confessed daddy's girl;D)...I have tried doing that all my life!!(my professional cricketing life is just four years old..and i intend to grow older:))

I always saw/ followed cricket- 'THE' game only from tw0 angles- one as a player/learner of the game and second as a follower/spectator of the game!And i thought that was it, i never realised there is a third dimension to it- a Coach's! I guess i was way too ignorant!And boy was i amazed when i discovered it:)...It is similar to say..-A car that was moving on a two dimensional plane whose co-ordinates were described by X and Y ..then all of a sudden wings got added to the car, it became an aeroplane which was now flying in the three- dimensional space thanks to the third dimension- Z!!(*sorry but i have just finished reading a book on Einstein's Theory Of Relativity..so ...you know..:D*)

I have been blessed to have some some real nice coaches from the time i started playing cricket. I learnt a lot just by following the game on television but whatever knowledge that i have about the technical side of the game is all thanks to my coaches!(i sometimes wonder where would i have been if it was not for them)

I had always wondered what would if fell to be a coach and come this summer i got to experience the feeling..big time!This summer has been a real great one in terms of understanding and learning the game. To have Puri di come over and be the head coach for three weeks was a dream come true!!Have never enjoyed my training sessions more..Also to work as a Mentor(yes you read it right:P)..was a life time experience. There is one Ms Anuja Gaunekar, member Goa Cricket Association ,who came up with an idea to hold summer camps for girls at as many centers possible with senior women's team players acting as mentors!!Directed to hunt talented young girls this program succeeded big time!!We were supposed to select girls, who we thought were talented, at the end of the three week camp and send to the main academy for further selections by seniors coaches!!sounds fun right..believe me ..it was!!*i have never considered myself a senior in the team..actually in our team sometimes a more experienced one ends up getting bullied by a new comer..:D..we consider our team mates just as friends, with whom we try enjoying the process of playing cricket and giving in our 100% to win evry time we step in to the ground*

I was supposed to assist one Ms Salma Divkar at Panjim center. We have played a lot of our cricket and have attended a lot many camps together so this assignment sure sounded fun and we were both looking forward to it! So now we were officailly the mentors at panjim center..so we were not coaches but were supposed to work like coaches:).First day was a lot of fun.We made sure we were on time for the sessions(setting examples you see:)). We tried our best to pass on to them whatever we had learnt from our coaches and our experiences on the field!!Basics were something that we stressed a lot on..Everyday the thirty two of us ( yeah thirty plus the two of us) had fun..we played recreational games, competitions after the drill sesssions and the losing team sure did enjoy the punishments, :D..We tried treating them all equally (and so did they:))..I in particular learnt to have patience, and controlled temper is a bliss*there was this session when we taught them(i mean tried teaching them) under arm fielding technique..so after the drills got over we made two teams and with the help of the pugg played a game wherein which ever team got the most number of hits after three rounds would be the winner..we tried to tell them to concentrate on the technique more than anything....after a while we too joined them..guess what happened??i missed all the three times and the stare that i was met with was like one of those hollywood movie dialogues-'people who can- they do..People who cant- just advice''ha ha*

It was after this camp that i realised how difficult a job coach does..he has to understand thirty different minds and then try helping them by adopting a method he thinks that the individual will be comfortable with!!

At this point of time i cant help but mention about a coach who was there with us in the zonal cricket academy camp(south zone). And then after i made it to the National cricket academy camp(*i suppose i just got a little lucky and did well) i saw her again. I was simply amazed when she came and congratulated me. But the thing that amazed me the most was she knew my scores and the number of wickets i managed to get..she knew the way i got out batting and the modes of dismissals of my bowling..Can you imagine..she had followed all our matches and had done her homw work well!!she actually by now, knew what areas i would want to work at..simply superb!!

As a famous saying goes- "A good coach will make his students see what they can be, rather than what they are"..my coaches have taught me that and that is why i dream higher everytime i fall!!

Down the memory lane..

a few things that i'll never forget...
*playing gully cricket with big guys.. on roads..getting to bowl only when all of them would be tired and in that process picking up a wicket or two..
*when playing with kids of my age..hogging all the limelight for being the only girl in the group...
*learning the round arm throw from 'Rinchu chacha' and taking pride in being able to throw that way with great precision..
*fighting every single day with my friends on the ground..and still be the first one on the ground the next day!!
*playing cricket with chappels(slippers) on..(never thought wearing shoes was necessary)..and in that process twisting my ankle every second day..and ending up being the keeper(or else the goal keeper if we would decide on playing footie the next day)..
*not being able to play spin bowling from big guys who would be like 6 feet tall and eventually learning to play scoop(ok...i was the one who played it first...even before dilshan did..:D..the only difference is i, was mere 4 feet tall ,could easily get under the ball and played it against the spinners who weren't world class:D)
*playing till 7 o'clock even on exam eve and still managing to get an A+(partly because there wasn't much to study:D )
*getting scolded for 'mastering the art of losing cricket balls every second day and then randomly promising my father a series of A+ in tests to follow!!
*contributing so that we could go buy a new ball and then making sure that i got to keep it after the days play!!
*making 'a hanging ball' with paper and then practicing hard with it..(not counting the number of times i would have broken the string)
*watching the post match presentation ceremony and getting inspired!!coming back home..catching hold of a bottle of water and trying my level best to imitate the international players..wondering how good a speech would i give after i win my first man(/woman) of the match award!!
*fielding always near the boundary line..confused about the sudden change in rules ..still enjoying it all..taking a catch there and blushing after being praised...
*getting up really very early to watch india play test series against australia in australia (1999)!!
*enjoying watching test matches..the way bowlers would set up the batsmen, the patience shown, the field placements..
*having long and lengthy discusssions about the players currrent form and team selections with my father (especially when the power would just go off and i would pick up the transistor ,drag him for a walk and listen to the commentary..)

i can't imagine how i would have grown up without playing the game of cricket!!!Cricket is probably the best thing that could have happened to me..

THE game

'THE' game

Cricket- its all about history, tradition and passion...

butterflies in my stomach

proud to wear the country colours

a feeling of honour as you run past the national flag

listening to the fans sing

the ball in my hand, the smell of the leather and the feel of the seam

walking to the middle i no longer hear the crowd

my only thoughts are what i need to do

running to the crease my heart starts to beat faster

the crunch of the ball on the middle of my bat

a force nine times my body weight goes through my front leg

i hold my breath as the ball flies past the fielder

a perfect view as it rattles the stumps

and races to the boundary

flags fly with passion

but i hear nothing

sweat rolls down my forehead

standing in the field and feeling the heat of the sun

furiously shinning the leather

trying to get every last bit out of the ball

another bouncer screams past the batsman's grill

he's survived another ball

i take guard and scratch centre

the pitch crumbles under my shoes

i look around the field to where i can get my next run

taking a break down at the fine leg,copping cheers or jeers from the crowd

just a few more runs

just a few more wickets

running on adrenaline

taking that final catch

hitting the winning boundary

the noice of the crowd erupting

VICTORY IS THE GREATEST EMOTION!!

- courtesy CATV

RANDOM 8 LINER:)

sometimes hundred 'wrongs'.

will average 'right'.

but it would'nt be long,

before the 'actual right' shows its might!!

hope is boundless,

there isnt any doubt.

sooner 'wrongs' would be groundless,

just averaging OUT!!!

                                   -Unknown

Physical Fitness or Gaming Skills??what matters more in a sport like cricket..

a rather unusual question..right??hmm..had this question in my mind for quite sometime..so here i am..trying to figure out the answer to it...

let me take u guys back to 99 world cup(cricket world cup ofcourse..i hardly know anything about the other games..:D..know a bit bout tennis though:))..ok..so what do you think separated team australia from other teams like india,south africa,pakistan ......considering india and south africa in particular..hmm..any answers..u wud hav got it..:)

team south africa had very gud fitness levels..i mean no other team could beat them when it came to ground fielding n physical fitness on the whole..

then v had our very own team india which ,was(and traditionally is) supposed to have some of the best talented and skillfull players that the world cricket sees every year..

so on the whole team SA lagged cricketing skills ( by using the word lag i mean they werent what they are now..they were comparatively new to world cricket then and had jus stepped into the international arena after facing a boycott for 30 years...so they were excellent as a new team but way behind teams like india and aus in terms of cricketing skills)

n the situation with team india was just the opposite..they had some very good players but the fitness levels were not there:(..just to say the seniors had all the skills but no fitness levels to match teams like south africa and australia (point to note here is..the whole mind set here in india is like that..or rather was like that..now we do have good fitness programs to boost the physical strengths of our players and then the young guns entering the arena have a totally different outlook..good for us:))

lastly team australia..they had it all..superb physical strengths..great cricketing skills and talented individuals..n hence they won..i mean they had to ...

Coming back to the present scenario..i somehow feel..team india is climbing the ladder..where the fitness and physical strengths are concerned..(i mean it all shows on the field..,UV(hey doesnt he use the same initials on his bat:D),raina,rohit,yusuf..they all are osum on the field and mind u they have the skills too..team australia with so many key players retiring from international cricket does seem low on that skills scale..they have the talent though..who knows in a year or two..they might be well on top again..

team SA seems to have it all..lightening quick fielders who are just too osum to describe( com'on u cant blame a batsmen if he cant score:)..wth AB , Botha, Gibbs,Duminy guarding the point,extra covers,covers and mid wicket area..he can only think of arial shots)....n they have the talent n skills anyways...(remember that test 4rth innings win agnst oz in oz..)..

so the point is cricket is not just about skills but about physical strength( dont u ever forget matt hayden just dancing down the pitch hitting the bowler for 6s..it looks effortless ..really), conditioning and good fitnesslevels as well..

hmm...now i know it for myself ..i sure do....:)