Delivery 0.2

 Me: “Amma when I get back home let’s not talk cricket for a few days.”

Amma: “Okay beta! Get back home quickly. I have prepared your favourite dal chawal and tomato dahi curry.”

This was my conversation with my mother as soon as I landed at the Goa airport.  I reached home at approximately 11 PM and was greeted by my parents from afar. I made my way to my room with all my luggage. My parents are both 60+ and we, as a family, have been being extremely careful due to Covid. 

As I made my way through the drawing room my mother shouts and asks me to come and sit and watch a T20 game. A team batting second needed six from four balls. I turned to the TV screen, let out a deep sigh and carried on walking to my room. By the time I got ready for bed the game was over and I just checked the scorecards online. 

Cricket has been such a big part of my life… Sorry, my entire family‘s life. Studying for exams with the cricket commentary in the background was just a normal thing for me growing up. I would completely forget about learning phylum classification for my biology test the next day if I sat down and watched an over or two of a cricket match. I guess cricket always helped me get away from the present into a world faraway which was certainly very enjoyable.

Through my professional career I have had my fair share of ups and downs. There have been days that I have been fit and raring to get onto the field. But the next thing I am doing is running in with the drinks as fast as I can, racing against broadcasters and their desire to quickly cut to ads just so that my parents back home can see me on the screen and know that I am fine. 🙃 I have learnt so much sitting on the sidelines.

I take a lot of pride in representing my country and have never taken my place for granted. My parents understand what it means to me to be wearing that cap and have supported me through my good and bad times. They have travelled and come down at 8 am for a 10 am start so that they could watch me play the warm up game at least even if I was not in the playing eleven for the major part of one series.

From the moment I returned home from abroad I have seen loads of screenshots of all the comments on delivery number 0.2 from the second T20I  on my family WhatsApp group which has my three biggest supporters in the world - my father, sister and mother. They wish to see every single of them, it gives them immense joy.

For every video of the ball being forwarded on the WhatsApp group I go back and watch the video my sister made for me just before the second T20i. I must have seen it 100 times before I got off the team bus for the game. Maybe it gave me that little extra push that day… 

As I sit in my room and write this I hope I’ve done my society’s watchman Bhaiya proud. We recently moved into a new flat and when I was leaving for the tour he said, “Madam achcha karna. Abhi tak toh nahi liya but Australia se aane ke baad selfie loonga.”( I have not taken a selfie with you till now, but shall for sure take one when you return back from Australia)

Yesterday, I happened to meet a course-mate of mine after ages. He said he couldn’t believe what happened in that delivery and went on to add that it would had been even better if it had hit the top of off. I mean- seriously?! 😒 Everyone is a cricket pandit in India, aren’t they? But then friends like these keep me humble and  grounded..always. 😁

There are a fair few deliveries of mine that I take a lot of pride in but the timing of this one makes it special. I fully understand that this is a materialistic world and that’s why delivery 2.4 to Mooney didn’t receive the attention it deserved. 

At the end of it all, I most certainly believe ‘THAT’ inswinger was how something/ someone up there told me rather reminded me to NOT lose hope and have faith in my hard work.There is still so much more to dream and to achieve because I am a heavy dreamer…..