(By: Ravi Suri, Commonwealth C.C)

The long weekend in September was an ideal opportunity to conduct an attractive cricket tournament. In NJ we had planned to conduct a tournament and even christened it the “ MAYORS CUP” unfortunately all we could complete was the naming ceremony. For one reason or the other teams who committed to participate pulled out and we were left with no option but to scrap the idea. I had planned well in advance to play on the long weekend and even contrived to ensure my wife would be away traveling. She had plans to go to TX to be with her sister. I convinced her to travel during the long weekend, giving one good reason after another. Having made her reservations, I was all set for 3 days of cricket in NJ. Thanks to the non event “ Mayors cup” I was left with the sad option of spending the long weekend, all by myself, my wife going to TX and cricket being called off.

Just as I was brooding over the prospect of a drab long week end Fazal came online (chat MSN) and asked if some of us could come over to MA to participate in a Two day TEST game. It was like asking a guy who was starving for three days “ are you free to come over for dinner “ I did not need a second invitation. DJ, Nanda, Arvind and I drove to MA for the game. The drive to MA was pretty tiresome, traffic being the killer. Once we reached Fazal’s home, all the tiresomeness was thrown out of the window as after exchanging a few pleasantries, we indulged in some HUGE EATING. Last season too we had come over to MA to play a regular league game, an unforgettable match that!! Fazal treated us to a traditional Hyderabadi meal last year and this year was just as good or even better. Authentic Chicken Biryani, Veg Biryani, Chicken Curry, Daal and two vegetable dishes were laid out on the dinner table. We had Vikram, Ali, Vasu, Ramas join in for dinner. Every dish was delicious and I was informed Fazal cooked few of the dishes. The Mutton Biryani was so inviting, but I am off Non Veg for the next 8 months or so and missed out on a Fazal special. I did dig into the desserts though, three desserts in all, and one out beating the other, with the Double Ka Mitha taking the crown. It was a great get together and we had a wonderful time, great food, great HOSTS in Fazal and his wife. I have to add here a line about Ridha, Faz’s wonderful daughter, who was the LIGHT of the dinner that night. She was smiling all through and kept every guest in good cheer with her charming pranks.

The next morning we turned up for the first of the two-day TEST game. The game was to be 55 overs duration on the first day. Friendly games have been in vogue from time in memorial now and add a charm to the game of cricket. These friendly games are played in spirit of the word and everything but for the action in middle is friendly. The action itself is as competitive as any league game. Players don’t give an inch or take an inch, wanting to play for pride. Fazal won the toss and opted to bat, Nanda and I opened the innings. Both of us openers were greedy for as much batting as possible and spent the first 5 to 6 overs in gauging the wicket and bowling. Just as I thought I got a hang of the wicket, I played a lose shot to be caught and bowled. Arvind came in #3 and smashed the bowling around. He hardly needed any time to settle down and on a slow wicket, delayed his pull shots to ensure he got his timing right. Nanda got out in trying to speed up things, was well caught in the deep. Ganesh bowled a tight line and showed tremendous stamina in bowling 9 consecutive overs. Fazal replaced Nanda and went about batting like Ridha would go about playing with her toys. Fazal does make batting look easy, his big strength coming from judging length early. A batsman who can judge length early has more time to play his shots. If you add power to this ability, pour a bit of confidence to that mix, you get a match winner. Fazal as everyone in MA league knows is a match winner; he does pick length early and packs a lot of power in his shots. If Fazal can work on picking line too, he will be an unstoppable player. The really great players are those who pick length and line earlier than normal batsman. The way Fazal got out elucidates my point on picking line, he tried to pull a ball from Sundar, which pitched on off stumps, came slowly off the wicket and did not turn at all. In fact Sundar exclaimed Oh my god!!! after delivering the ball, expecting it to be seen in the parking lot. Instead the ball disturbed the wickets and sent Faz back into the hut. The reason Faz missed his shot was he was trying to pull a ball on the off stump, which did not turn a bit. He would have connected either if the ball turned or was pitched on middle and leg. Once Fazal got out, Dave and Arvind ground the Gymkhana bowling into dust. Arvind was murderous on anything short, Dave ran like a Hare. Dave after settling down played some big shots with effortless ease. Arvind cut, drove, pulled with ease, Dave played a lot of shots down the ground and to mid wicket region. Thanks to some big hitting by these two and the tail we reached 256 in 55 overs, the good part being we lasted the full quota of overs. Mahesh, Sundar and Ganesh impressed with their bowling. Mahesh is a very good cricketer who has a classical off spinners action, bowls with a lot of guile, very good flight and loop. He comes across as a Gentle cricketer who knows this game is called Gentleman’s game and is to be played in that fashion. He bowled very well as did Sundar. The guy who caught my eye was venky, about whom I had heard a lot from Fazal. But what met my eye was more than what I expected to see. Venky played for a short while before getting out LBW missing out on a juicy full toss, but his short stay at the wicket, showed what a tremendous player he is. Venky has great sight, very good shot selection and an enviable sense of timing and awesome power to boot. Now that’s a heady mix for any batsman to have. The cover driven six from venky had class written all over it. Sunil Gavaskar says a cricketer should first look one and then play like one. Venky looks a cricketer from head to toe; he is another match winner in commonwealth’s wealthy pool.

In pursuit of 256 Gymkhana was bundled out for 130 runs, only Joe Buffong threatening to make a meal of our bowling. DJ opened the bowling with Sai and the two of them bowled a deadly spell of seam and swing bowling. Sai in particular was impressive moving the ball all over the place. The Gymkhana batsmen were caught like rabbits faced with bright neon lights in the night. Only Buffong had some answers to Sai and DJ, executing some breath taking shots in the process of scoring a quick 30. Sai had the better of Buffong though as he had him play a bit early on a slower ball, which was skied for Sanjay to take a good catch. Once Buffong got out, the wind was out of Gymkhana’s sail and they folded up. Sanjay bowled a good spell in which he varied his pace and length. Ashish led for the rest of the innings with Faz missing the rest of the day. Ashish varied his bowlers in an effort to get every one involved. Arvind bowled brilliantly turning the ball from leg stump to outside off stump ala Shane Warne. The Gymkhana batsman could not figure out which way the ball turned as Arvind mixed his leg spin with some off spin too. With a mix of this magic Arvind got 5 wickets, Mahesh being the only batsman to fight it out with a patient knock of 48 runs. The day ended with a 120 run lead for Commonwealth.

Next day a few changes were made to make the match more competitive, Arvind played for Gymkhana, as did Ramas. James was also roped in. Tariq and I opened the batting, Tariq was unfortunate to be caught on the fence of a good pull shot. Ali joined me and we played pretty well for a while. After seeing the new ball off, I got out to Vikram playing all over a full length ball. Vikram bowled a terrific spell of 16 consecutive overs. That calls for some stamina. He also got Ali to mistime a pull and had him caught. Fazal ensured he did not fail a second time. Getting Faz out cheaply twice in two days is asking for too much too soon. Fazal and Nafiz played very good cricket, Faz being the destroyer and Nafiz played the feeder. I thoroughly enjoyed this phase of the game umpiring at that stage of the game. I like cricketers who know their role and execute it, Nafiz knew what his role was and played it to perfection. He had Fazal at the other end and all Nafiz was keen on doing was rotate the strike, keep out the good balls and hammer the really bad ones. Fazal at the other end, played as very few are capable of. Good ball or bad Fazal is capable of converting it to a boundary ball and Faz was in no mood to give in easily. He played with more determination and whacked the ball around. He drove with aplomb, cut fiercely and pulled savagely. The partnership between Faz and Nafiz ensured the game was almost out of reach of Gymkhana, by the time Commonwealth finished their innings Gymkhana was left with a daunting task of getting 282 in 50 overs. On a bowler friendly wicket and on an outfield which resembled a cornfield in parts, this was a big ask.

With Ramas getting out quickly and arvind having tired from his efforts, Gymkhana were bundled out for 142. arvind stamped his class on the game getting 86 in the first innings and also grabbing 5 wickets, in the second innings he took 4 wickets, executed a brilliant run out while picking and throwing in one action and then came back to score 48 runs. At the end of the game arvind was one tired man. We drove back to NJ, to pull down the curtain on a lovely weekend full of drama.

Playing again in MA after last years great game was fun. Catching up with ashish, Ali, faz, mark, tariq and other commonwealth players was a pleasant experience. I look forward to more games in MA. Commonwealth is a terrific team to be part of. The team has the look of a CHAMPION.