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What would Sunny say... (Jacob Kurien - Aug 2nd, 2007) |
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As kids we took to games like an obsession. Ever nook and cranny of the ISB grounds used to be crowded with kids playing away at a variety of games. Soccer was the king of sports and many a class wars were waged over it. Other sports abounded as well but to a lesser degree - Lagori, aba dhubi....even marbles were pretty popular.
Which is not the same I can say of cricket. For strange reasons, it didn't carry as much charm as the others. Was it because, not everyone got to bat or bowl? Was difficult to say. So one fine summer day when a group of us lads who had nothing better to do got invited to swing the willow with another bunch of lads who were equally aimless, we consented.
One of the boys playing was the elder brother of a much beloved batchmate of ours - Sunil Chandran. Sunil was one of the nicest guys you'll meet. Anil, a senior by a couple of years, was the older of the two siblings. He was also the guy in the batting crosshairs when a most amusing incident unfolded.
The green tennis ball version of the red cherry came down the pitch of sand, aimed for the stumps (which was a section of the school boundary wall that projected out at intervals). Anil connected with the bat and took off running towards the other end to try and complete the run. Meanwhile, the fielder, who had a strong arm, collected the ball and dispatched it hastily back to the bowler who was crouched at the bowling crease.
It was soon becoming apparent to Anil that the ball was travelling several notches faster than his own velocity. And every passing millisecond was making it more obvious. About mid pitch Anil’s impending doom of being run out was all too imminent. Without warning, he flung just his bat all the way to the crease he was heading for. The ball made it to the bowler with Anil still way short of his ground. We jumped gleefully in delight and went off to celebrate the dismissal.
That was it...Anil was out. Or was he? Anil launched his own protest on why his demise did not count- his bat (Anil not connected to it) made it to the crease. I scratched my head for a minute but even with whatever miniscule cricketing knowledge I had it was easy to tell that he made no sense. So, you could hurl your bat across the pitch in case you didn't feel like wanting to run? Wow, no wonder this game is so unpopular in school!! Then came the statement that was supposed to be his justification for it - "Even Sunil Gavaskar throws his bat when he has to make a run that he can't complete".
None of us bought that argument and unanimously passed the verdict against him much to his chagrin. Anil was totally flabbergasted and disgusted with our apparent "ignorance" of his version of the game and declared he wasn't going to play anymore. And that was the end of it because as Anil walked away, the bat, which was his possession, trailed limply behind him. Just because you bring the bat doesn't mean you can redefine the rules.
Really...What would Sunny say?....
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