The devastating injury - a 'twist' in tale

While batting in the short practice session before the match, I knew I was in good touch. I was able to hit the ball all around the field with great ease. I knew that this was going to be my day, and what more the hard surface would definitely aid my bowling style too. But what I didn't know that how special the day was going to be and in what sense... and I found that out an hour later.

We were playing a friendly match with the Hammers. It was a pseudo-360 degree ground and playing in such a ground was a definite plus for players like me. There are less fielders in front of the bat, more gaps to relish and gives room to play those delicate yet sneaky taps behind the wicket for runs. We lost the first wicket pretty early when an unlucky Amar found the bails dislodged by a ball that kept at ankle-height. Urged by team mates to take up the opportunity at number three, I went in beaming with confidence.

I had a ball in the field. An upper cut over the slip region for a couple, a paddle sweep behind the keeper... I was scoring a run every ball. Then came my proudest moment - an off drive bisecting the fielders to the boundary. It was my first boundary with HitNRun and it was exciting, even if it was just a practice match.

During break, the boys were all excited and I was confident of making this innings a big one. But I guess Lady Luck had left the field to enjoy the view elsewhere. I was tormented for an over by a spinner. I kept misreading the line. I felt that I was losing the momentum and the mind-game to the bowler. The next delivery I walked down a couple of steps and hoicked him in the mid-on region for a single. But four paces in, my right foot landed awkwardly and I felt it twist. I felt instant pain and fell down to the ground. A few bruises yes, but the misery was emanating from my ankle. I got up,  limped to the non-strikers and and sat down.

My ankle was twisted and it started swelling up. I was escorted out of the field and hope was that I would still be able to bowl. However, the way my ankle was puffing up, it wasn't to be. I called my friends over who took me to emergency care. The bitter truth was revealed. I had sustained ligament tears in my ankle and would be out for a some time.

And a long time it turned out to be. I am writing this post 9 months since my injury and am still not confident of getting back into the field. I miss cricket. I do other things in weekends but the game I grew with, pricks a memory cell once in a while to inject that enthusiasm to return.

A bad outing with the ball - save the final rebound

A few weeks back I tried my hand at bowling in a practice match after a long time. And man was that an outing to forget. I've had my ups and downs with the ball like anyone else. I have had my share of 2 wicket overs and getting thrashed for 9 runs in the next match. But this frankly, is the deepest trench I've hit in my bowling career.

We were playing with a team called Hawkes, not that it matters, and I was handed the ball to bowl the sixth over of the innings. It was a cold morning and it had been raining until 10 am. A delayed start followed by our dull batting display in the damp conditions and finally I found myself gripping the yellow ball in my stiff cold hands. The moment I delivered the first ball I winced holding my right wrist. I felt a piercing pain as if an electric pulse ran around my wrist.

I was bowling after a very long period including no form of exercise in the past 5 weeks. To add to my miseries, I believe my hands were still cold and were being rudely shoved and awoken during the delivery of the ball. The pain continued after every delivery and I was not quite concentrating on how I was bowling. But I managed to get in some wide balls outside the off-stump that were edged to no-man's land. It was an escape considering that I conceded just one wide and 3 runs in the over - an over consisting of wide and over-pitched deliveries.

I wanted to make amends in my second over. I had removed the wrist band, artificially turned up the temperature on my hands and more importantly allowed them to get used to the ball. Faced no pain this time around, but the bowling display was a farce. I followed a full toss with a short one and a no ball. And next, I attempted to repeat the pattern. Quite frankly nothing was running in my head and I was merely pressurizing myself to bowl better without a strategy or concentration. The fifth delivery, the best of my deliveries that beat the bat was wrongly called a wide. That annoyed me. Manipulated by anger I dug the next one too short to be hooked for two. With the same tempo, I bowled the final delivery and man... was that a beauty. The ball was a yorker - one that would've even impressed Waqar Younis. A fast one that literally squeezed past the bat and took down the leg stump. A final rebound, a bewildered batsman and an inanimate me summed it all up.

After all... what is a cherry on a burned cake?

Team India lacks the killer instinct

This write-up is in reference to the 5th Tri-Nation tournament in Bangladesh between India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka batted first and were restricted to 213. India chased it quite comfortably with 8 wickets and 104 balls to spare. However, the Indians lacked the killer instinct and displayed lack-lustre efforts in the field.

Articles on Cricinfo praised the improved fielding performance of the Indian team. I do agree that some of the fielding efforts were spectacular - the low catch by Gambhir at fine gully to dismiss the wonderful Dilshan, the diving catch at wide long-on by Yuvraj to dismiss Perera, the run out by Karthik to remove Kandamby to name a few. But at the same time, the Indian fielding was once again put to shame by some of the worse misfields - A wide yet slow throw by Yuvraj from fine leg to the keeper and a lethargic Dhoni signaling an absent cover point to collect the ball, when he could've moved a few inches to collect it thereby preventing an extra run; A charging Karthik at point failing to pick the ball and conceding a non-existent single; Tyagi conceding a second run at deep point. And I thought that this young team had the potential to steal the 2011 World Cup?

It is a known fact that the Indian team is a strong batting team. But should that strength let over-confidence sink in? The Lankans were limping at 84 for 6. Understandably Zaheer had bowled 7 continuous overs and was tired. I was hoping that Dhoni will bring his other speedsters Tyagi (bowled 5 overs) and Sreesanth (bowled 6 overs) into attack to ensure the Sri Lankan tail doesn't wag. But No. Dhoni did not go for the kill and instead tried to quickly finish his overs by bowling his spinners and part-time slow bowlers. The result... Suraj Randiv, SL's #8, bettered his previous ODI high score of 5 and ambled to 56. No doubt, a low target of 213 was a cake walk to the strong Indian batting side. But there was no display of a killer instinct, no attempt to restrict the opponents to possibly a two digit total. Traits like these make Team Australia more dominant in the field.

I wonder when the team will learn that however strong they are in batting, a strong show in all sectors is required to snap the pole position.

The scorecard for this match can be found here http://www.cricinfo.com/tri-bdesh2010/engine/current/match/434262.html