Never die wondering

Seven years ago, the man said he would do it.  Today, he did it.  The "he" is Virender Sehwag, the "it" is a double century.  In an ODI.  Which he achieved with 6 overs to spare.

Last night I was very tired and went to bed very early and slept a dreamless sleep till about 2:55am, when I woke up and was instantly as wide awake as I was going to be.  Call it premonition, call it luck, call it what you will - I turned on the PC and saw that India had won the toss (again!  Take lessons, MSD) and was going to bat.

For years, I played in a local league with a batsman whose appetite for gargantuan scores was seemingly limitless, except that he kept getting out.  We always wondered how much Sohail Chaudhry would score if he lasted the entire 25 overs.  And then one day we found out.  I have always had the same feeling about Sehwag.  He still hasn't ever batted for the entire 50 overs but on the day he does, I am pretty sure he will score more than the 219 runs he scored today.  What a player!

The sign of a truly great man is that he leaves room for improvement even when he accomplishes the unthinkable.  By not batting the entire 50 overs, Sehwag has left the door open for a few more dreams.

In parting, of all the comments I heard/read so far today, the best of them all was by someone named Jim Morrison on CricInfo's (outstanding) ball-by-ball coverage.  Reacting to Sehwag's double, he wrote:

"So, Sachin now holds the record for the SLOWEST double century in ODIs!"

Priceless!

A man apart

In the Pittsburgh Cricket Association league this year, there was a spectacular burst in the number of runs scored. Usually, 25 over matches are not conducive to big individual scores, but as many as 8 batsmen recorded centuries, and, incredibly, 48 batsman (in the 10 team league) made at least one score of 50 or more.

The shorter square boundaries and a completely benign pitch contributed to this run-glut and bowling on it was, truly, a nightmare. (The ICC would gleefully endorse the pitch for their ODI's, I am sure).

Even with all this run scoring, one person stood out. Not surprisingly, it was Sohail Chaudhry. On August 17th, he wrote a new chapter in his already PCA-legendary career. For years many of us have wondered what the ceiling would be for a Sohail inning where he batted the entire 25 overs. It turns out, we underestimated how potent he was. He finished on 232 not out, with 27 fours, and 13 sixes, against just 27 singles and 16 dot balls. It's not often that a batsman scores 80 runs in 31 balls and gets completely overshadowed, as Ajay Nayak was on that day. Check out the batting scorecard for this game against the Blitzers.


And, just for fun, check out the scorecard of the hapless bowlers. Sohail wasn't the only one to score a century that day!

Not surprisingly, he went through a mini-slump after that innings but recovered his mojo in the last game, where he scored 82 not out in just 28 balls, thereby locking up his third consecutive Champion Player of the League award, an honor he has achieved in every PCA season that he has been a part of!

Batting is indeed easy on the Edgebrook Field pitch but do note that Sohail's 232* is almost 60% higher (86 runs) than the next highest score (146*) ever made in the PCA league. To put that run differential into perspective, the corresponding highest score in Test cricket (as of today) would have to be 640 (to Brian Lara's 400*). No matter how weak the attack or how easy it is to score runs, this is truly a very remarkable feat.

And typical of the man, in the post-match huddle, the only topic he discussed was the fact that the bowlers gave up more than 200 runs to the Blitzers in their run-chase. To date, he has not spoken about the innings unless goaded by others to talk about it. Even then, the most you can get out of him are a couple of sentences.

Guns blazing

Last weekend, in the PCA League, two matches featured some astonishing hitting.

In the first match, the Blitzers hunted down a mammoth total put up by the Strikers. (Not that it quite works that way, but remember that these are 25 over matches, so if you extrapolate the scores to that of a regulation 50 over match...).

In the second match, my former team, WVUCC, managed to make mockery of a substantial total put up by the (then) league-leading PittPunters.

(In the scorecard, each player's name is a hyperlink that will take you to his stats for this and other seasons).

Cricket in the 'Burgh - part 23: Finishing touches

On October 18, 2007, I began a project on my blog that aimed at chronicling West Virginia University Cricket Club's historic 2007 season in the PCA. Today, it is finally done!



Here is the very same moment captured on video by Abishek! (Notice how Sohail, not surprisingly, slips away very quietly at the 1:27 mark)

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


The 13 members of the 2007 WVUCC playoff team are: Abishek Muralidharan, Venkata R. Sathi, Nishit Banuri, Avinaschander Manivannan, Sumanth Dommaraju, Arvind Thiruvengadam, Ajay Nayak, Abhijit Bhagavatula, Sohail Chaudhry, Ashok Varadarajan, C.S. Manish, Amol Bhavsar, Nikhil Burri

My blog has been on a hiatus for a long time. Now, I can move on and resume normal blogging. Thank you for your patience!

Captain's corner - Take 13 : Sohail Chaudhry

This post is being written with contributions from 4 of the 5 members of the 2007 WVUCC think tank. Over the past few posts, Sohail has evaluated all of his teammates, and now, it is our turn to return the favour...


Sohail Chaudhry
Right Hand Batsman/Bowler/Wicket-keeper (Captain)

Here is the first of 4 profiles:
by Arvind Thiruvengadam.

First Impression About Sohail: Prior to the start of 2005 season for WVUCC (my first), I heard a lot about the team and, in particular, about Sohail from WVUCC veterans. Interacting with him on the day of the first practice session, I was truly amazed by this character. It’s not often one gets to see that your team-mate is truly to international standards in the game, and I realized that fairly quickly with Sohail. The one thing that amazed me most was his ability to accurately judge the capability of a person. This is a very important characteristic that a captain should possess (especially one who is captaining a team in which everyone claims that he can bowl as well as bat!). The fact that Sohail is technically so strong on all aspects of the game makes it easy for him to figure out the weakness and strength of every player. And when I say every player, it includes himself. Not many of us realize the mistakes we make as a player, but Sohail is quick to notice his own mistakes, as well as those of his team-mates.

Favourite Innings: There are two innings of Sohail which are my favourite:

1) The first is the innings he played against PittsPunters in 2006, during which there was an opening wicket partnership of 150 runs, of which Sohail hit 91. This was a truly amazing batting performance by Sohail. It was a treat for me to stand on the other end and watch him rip apart the PittsPunters bowling attack. He was not only playing this great innings, but as it was my first game as an opener for WVUCC, I was receiving batting coaching from my captain throughout the entire 18 overs that I played! Thanks a lot to Sohail for that moment. It gave me great confidence as an opener after that game.

2) The second is the semifinals game against Hurricanes in 2007. While most of us find it impossible to bat without drinking water, Sohail played this innings of 82 not out off just 39 deliveries, in an important semi-final game, while fasting for Ramzan. As far as I am concerned that’s truly remarkable. That performance (in the game) was an excellent display of his strong mental abilities, coupled with his brilliant batting skills.

Favourite Shot: Front foot drive, with his bat blade tilted, towards backward point, which often results in a towering six over that region. Teams that have studied him well often place good catchers in that position, hoping to get him out there with a mistimed drive. But it happens only when he is in very, very, extremely bad batting form, which again is very, very, extremely rare.



Here is the second of 4 profiles:
by Abishek Muralidharan.

There are numerous wonderful things I’ve admired and envied in him not only as a cricketer but also as a human being. Seeing him play I used to wonder why on earth such a talented player, in his mid-twenties, was playing club cricket in a remote corner of the world instead of performing national duties. I learnt that circumstances can play games too with people’s lives.

Sohail the cricketer
When you look at him bat it becomes obvious that he’s someone who’s worked very hard on his game in his formative years. He has a very classical and methodical approach to batting. So much so that he was particular about being informed well in advance about his position in the batting order so that he could do his mental preparation. All the ingredients for perfect batsmanship can been seen in this man, starting from having a still head, watching the ball all the way to the release, to playing it late. Added to these he also is a wonderful timer of the ball, often sending balls that disappear into the trees surrounding the little Edgebrook Field effortlessly.

He has a very pronounced backlift wherein his bat goes perpendicular to the ground and then comes down as a rapid swish transferring good amount of power to the ball. This process, coupled with his timing, ensured the balls had enough momentum to race across the turf. Though high backlifts aren’t unusual the uniqueness that I saw in his backlift was that he achieved it with only his wrists and not with his entire arm which I thought gave him good balance and control while playing the ball. The shots that I saw him play most productively were the open bladed effortless slices over backward point for six. He was able to play this shot perfectly because he played the ball so late. He would open his blade at the last moment and give it an upward slice. In the first half of the 2007 season he was dismissed cheaply a couple of times. Probably it could be the swing that some bowlers achieved had caused him some discomfort. His leg-side play was also very good. Sometimes he chose to play the paddle to fine leg rather than the conventional approach of playing it square. He mentioned that for some reason he thought this shot had eaten up his flick. However, he did flick the ball on other times without falling over or losing balance. The paddle, I guess, was just a great batsman having some fun when he no longer felt challenged by the opposition. To sum it up, his batting had class written all over it and was such a treat to watch.

I’ve always been a strong believer in the fact that the most important thing to be a successful batsman is temperament, even above physical strength. Physical strength without mental strength will not help a batsman sustain at the crease. In Sohail’s case his mental strength was on par with his physical strength. His mind would never waver and he would calmly build his innings with singles and twos and not just boundaries. I don’t think I’ve seen him get a rush of blood leading to a rash stroke. He would go about his batting in a very structured fashion that it would resemble a skilled worker performing his daily duties in an organized manner without any fuss whatsoever. His mental calmness was also reflected in his captaincy. He never panicked and always emphasized enjoying the game more than anything else. He marshaled his resources very well and at the same time ensured that everyone got to exhibit their skill and did not feel left out.

As a bowler he was very accurate and controlled and never tried to do anything fancy. He was a thinking and smart bowler often setting up batsmen and dismissing them with perfection. For example I loved the way he would bowl a couple of quick balls outside the off-stump to frustrate the batsman and then slip in a slower one on the stumps inducing a rush of blood in the batsmen enticing him into a false stroke.

As a wicket-keeper, again, he was top class. It is said that you gauge a wicket-keeper by how much he doesn’t get noticed during a match and that’s exactly what he did. He hardly drew attention while keeping wickets because he rarely failed to gather the ball or drop a catch. People were astonished to see him keep up to the wickets for bowlers like Karthik Venkatasubramanian and even Hari Menon once. However my take was that this was just a testimony to the caliber of this cricketer. In international cricket there is hardly any fuss to keep up to the wickets for the seamers and it is considered normal and that’s where I believe Sohail belongs.

He was a very good fielder too, always attacking the ball, moving swiftly, running hard while chasing balls, and made catching look like a wonderful thing to do on the field.

Overall he is a complete cricketer fully equipped for top level cricket but has been pushed into oblivion by the dark forces of fate and destiny.

Sohail the person
As a person he is one of the most disciplined, modest, calm, and gentle person I’ve seen. Never once have I seen him get angry or lose his mind. Even when he wasn’t pleased with something he put it across in such a manner that the other person was not hurt in any way. The quality that I most admired in him was his patience and calmness. He never complained about the numerous duties he handled and did not use it as an excuse when he failed to deliver. The willpower in him was amazing. This was evident when during Ramadan he hardly had any strength in him due to the continuous fasting but still he summoned the last joule of energy in his body to drive to the games and perform without complaining. He always shied away when praised for his efforts and never talked about his performances or what he had done. I haven’t seen an iota of ego in him given his stature as a player and he never once hesitated to praise another individual’s efforts. In all he’s a wonderful human being. I’ve looked up to him and tried to change certain things in myself.

Other opinions
A very spiritual person who is extremely learned about other religious doctrines. You can speak to him about the Quran, Bhagavat Gita, as well as the Bible. I was very happy to see the feedback report about his team players, and wondered how keenly he has gauged every person on the field. I was very fortunate to have played with him and to know him as a great friend.


Here is the third of 4 profiles:
by Ashok Varadarajan.

First Impression of Sohail: During the summer of 2002, I happened to hear about cricket being played in WVU at the club level. That season, I was a happy bench warmer waiting to see someone score big or get tired while fielding because of nice hot and humid weather, so that I could get a chance to run onto the field. That year there were more than 11 players who would have been in any team's line up, hands down - Usman Omar, who was similar to Afridi as he could smash the ball all around the field; Usman Hashmi who was a left-arm fast bowler; Nandakishore Jalumuri, in typical VVS Laxman-style - when the opposition got tougher he got more tougher; Abishek Anjanappa, who could drop anchors at will; Sikkil Kaarthick, who as far as I know, was the fastest spinner ever to play for WVUCC; Karthik Mahadevan (leggie) who came with me and (I later realized) who adored Warne and copied all his tricks; Jayendran Srinivasan (Jayanth) who was always thinking about McGrath when he bowled; Venkatesh Parthasarathy, who was a good keeper, but never got the ball as the batsman in the opposition liked to hit it before it reached him; Michael Julius, who I am sure if you had seen field then you would have been surprised how quick Rhodes must really be; Santhosh Balla, who did everything in his own style, including talking to the opposition. Compared to all of them, one guy stood out – Sohail Chaudhry. He was tall but quiet, looked like a beast but was soft, and no one could ignore him on the field because of his merits as a pure cricketer.

I had heard that he was from Pakistan and instantly got scared because of his size. So I did not talk to him much and tried to avoid him all the time. After some net sessions, I realized that the impressions I had about this giant were nothing but wrong. During that time he wasn’t the team’s wicket keeper but when the keeper came to bat during practice, he just donned the keeper's role and did it to perfection. When the practice went into a lighter mood, he would try spin bowling apart from his regular pace bowling. Initially, we had a rule that if you got out twice in practice, you were done with batting and one guy I really hated to see batting was Sohail because getting him out once was hard enough, twice was almost impossible at times.

Favourite innings: It’s always easy to remember the matches which we won and most of the wins must have come with Sohail's contribution. One instance can show how good a team player he is. WVUCC needed something 218 to win and we were at 217 for no loss. Prasheel Chaganti had already scored the first century ever for WVUCC at that point and Sohail was on 96. We were all thinking that it was possible for Sohail to score a century. Prasheel didn't take a run off the last ball of an over so that Sohail could try for a boundary to get to a century. Sohail’s reply was, "Don’t worry about the century, we need to win" and insisted on taking just a safe single. Sohail ended up at 97 not out. That innings was the best innings I have seen him play, based on the class he showed (and by Prasheel, too), as most of the boundaries were all on the ground and timing of the ball was picture perfect.

Favourite shot: Not many would have thought about playing this shot in the international arena, till the T20 games. The favorite shots are always are the ones which others generally cannot do. When you watch videos that teach you how to pull a ball, they always insist that the head should be positioned inside the line of the ball, as you may get hit if you miss the ball. However, Sohail had a unique way of playing it, an upside-down paddle shot over the keeper which is something not too many pro's will even think of trying.

Sohail Chaudhry is a selfless competitor, true sportsman, and a team player. Simply put – “Sohail is a man who has more facets than a disco ball.”


Here is the fourth of 4 profiles:
by C.S. Manish.

First impression: In the summer of 2001, WVUCC had a formidable team with Sanjay Palakamshetty at the helm. Towards the latter half of the season, we heard about a student who would be coming to WVU from Pakistan. I clearly remember the first time Sohail came to practice. He was easily one of the bigger guys on the team (size-wise) but he did not say a single word, preferring to stand on the sidelines, awaiting his turn to show his skills. In those days, our practice field was on a baseball diamond that has since been converted into a parking lot for the WVU Recreational Center. Bala Balakrishnan, the manager-coach at that time, asked him to keep wickets and we immediately knew that we had found a good player. The first thing that struck us was the time he seemed to have to collect the ball. Breaking tradition, the think tank decided to play him in that weekend’s game itself as a wicket-keeper batting lower down the order. In the 7 years since then, Sohail has not missed a single game for WVUCC.

Role in the team: At the second practice, Sohail batted for the first time and I went from being the wicket-keeper/opening batsman to being the #11 batsman in the side in just two weeks! And I did not care one bit. Sohail was and is vastly superior to me in both regards and it was a pleasure just to be able to watch him from close quarters. We did have a really good batting partnership against OSU that season but, overall, Sohail never really clicked into the gear we were hoping he would. In hindsight, I would put it down to culture shock. He was an 18-year old boy, all alone in a foreign nation, trying to fit in. In the 2002 season, Usman Hashmi was named the captain and, in spite of having a good team, we fared badly. The only shining light were the performances of Sanjay and Sohail. When the 2003 season began, Bala and I had a decision to make about appointing a captain for the team. We discussed all the candidates we had and had absolutely no hesitation in wanting Sohail, still the youngest fellow on the team, to be the leader. Sohail was close to tears when we offered it to him and he humbly promised us that he would not let us down. Over the course of the next 5 years he has been true to his words. For years after that, Bala and I talked numerous times about that decision and consider it to be one of the best ones we ever took.

At the start of the 2003 season, we had a dearth of bowlers. Sohail approached me to take up keeping once again, while he began bowling. All his life he had just been a wicket-keeper batsman, but he had no problems shifting into being a bowling all-rounder. That year, he took the Midwest Cricket League (MCL) by storm with some inspirational batting and bowling, including the first hat-trick by a WVU player (see below for details). For his efforts he was rewarded with the Most Valuable Player award for the MCL in 2003. His fourth year, 2004, saw him go from strength to strength. During that season we had, arguably, the strongest batting line-up ever for a WVUCC team – Sohail, Prasheel Chaganti, Nandakishore Jalumuri, Usman Omar, Kaustubh Deshpande, and Tafazzul Khan – but the lynchpin was still Sohail, who still managed to consistently outshine all the others. Fittingly, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the entire league for the second year in a row.

At the MCL All-Star game that year, two former West Indian players, Larry Gomes and Faoud Bacchus, were invited to participate in the proceedings by playing for the All-Star teams. Sohail captained one of the sides that went on to win the festivities, with Bacchus and Gomes observing carefully while playing second fiddle to him. Sohail led the charge with an exhilarating 79 from 29 balls in the second match (after not batting at all in the first as he wanted all the other All-Stars to get some batting at his expense!). At the awards dinner that night, Gomes and Bacchus were asked to give their evaluation of the talent in the league. Gomes was polite and mentioned about 5 or 6 names. Bacchus, after asking us if we wanted an honest opinion, said that he saw a few okay players but just one with the talent to do well at the very highest level. No prizes for guessing who he named. What was special to us was that he addressed Sohail the whole time as “my cap’n”. During the game Sohail was constantly talking to Faoud and Larry about the strategies a captain adopts on the field and he regaled us on the 4 hour-drive back home with all the tips that Bacchus and Gomes had given him, tips that he has used numerous times in the years since then.

When Sohail became the only member of the famed line-up to return the following season, we knew the 2005 season would be a long one. In an agonizingly long season, where we lost 7 out of 8 games, the stress of driving to Cleveland and Columbus began to take its toll. The best thing that came out of that season was that we decided to look around for a league closer to home and found the Pittsburgh Cricket Association (PCA). The final season in the MCL was not a total loss as by the end of the campaign, Sohail became the first batsman in the history of the MCL to cross 1000 runs, and later on was the first bowler to cross the 50 wicket mark, too. In fact, two seasons have come and gone, but Sohail is still in the MCL's Top 10 all-time run-scorers list.

In 2006, Sohail took over a fairly new-look WVUCC squad into the PCA league that began to gel towards the latter half of the season. It took some time for Sohail to adjust his playing style to fit the new league, but once he hit his groove, he took his new opponents by storm. By the end of the season, Sohail was once again named the MVP of the regular season (called the Champion Player in the PCA) but a semi-final loss to the PittsPunters stung him very deeply. It is one of the few times in my association with him I can recall Sohail being unhappy with some of the members of the opposing squad.

Which brings us to 2007, and the rest, as they say, is history. Oh, by the way, at the PCA awards dinner, Sohail was named the Champion Player of the league one more time (the 4th time he has been the league MVP in the last 5 seasons, and, that too, across two different leagues).

Technical analysis: a) Wicket-keeping
At WVU, I have been fortunate to see two outstanding keepers – Sohail and Hari Prashanth. As a wicket-keeper I have rarely seen Sohail dive for the ball, while HP almost brought about situations that required a spectacular (but safe) dive. At around 6’1” Sohail is unusually tall for a keeper but he compensates for this with impeccable sideways movement that enables him get to balls while his hands are still low enough to the ground to help keep his balance. At times I have felt that he could have dived for a ball but maybe the ball seemed closer than it was because of his quickness in getting to its vicinity. Where Sohail is exceptional is when he stands up to the wicket. Time after time, I have seen Sohail stand up to the wicket from the first ball of the match. In terms of sheer speed of reflexes, I must say Hari Prashanth, who now plays for Cuyahoga Cricket Club, was superior but overall Sohail was better to the fast bowlers, while HP was spectacular to the spinners. In the PCA league, Sohail only kept wickets occasionally, when he saw an opposing batsman standing outside the crease. Sanjeev Singh was the victim of two spectacular leg-side stumpings off our opening bowlers and just hates it when Sohail dons the gloves.

Technical analysis: b) Bowling
Sohail began bowling serendipitously at practice one day, and was so good at controlling the swinging new ball that it became the second string in his bow at the expense of wicket-keeping. He has a long run-up that gathers momentum at it nears the wicket. He does not have much of a jump (except when he suddenly starts to imitate Imran Khan) and has a prominently chest-on action. He is not a big swinger of the ball. In fact, if anything, I have hardly seen him swing the ball. What he does have is incredible control over the length. He is not metronomic, in that he does not bowl the same line and length to all batsmen. Instead, he adjusts it depending upon the state of the game. During the end overs he bowls yorkers almost exclusively. In the last couple of years he unveiled a slower ball, which is actually quite easy to pick up, and has been smashed around the park. Maybe he ought to try bowling it with a split finger grip to be able to hide it better from the batsmen. Uniquely, his actions and run-ups change every year and can be traced back to which bowler he saw the most of during the off-season on the television/internet. He is best, however, when he imitates Waqar Younis’s style.

One year in the MCL, we were playing Cleveland 2 and they were romping along at 161 for 5. Sohail was in the Waqar phase of his bowling action and proceeded to take 5 wickets in 6 balls, all bowled by yorkers, including a hat-trick, to end the Cleveland innings! To top it, he then remained not out to win us the match when we chased down the target (more on that innings later).

One last thing about his bowling; one day at practice he was trying to show one of our left-arm spinners how to position his body at the wicket and proceeded to bowl a few overs of controlled left-arm spin, too! I have often asked him to try it out in a match as a variation, but he has resisted my suggestion to date. Maybe this year he will try it out once, just for the heck of it.

Technical analysis: b) Batting
As a batsman, he is not someone you will pay a significant amount to watch. That is, he is not aesthetically pleasing (Abishek, Raj Gopal, and Nandu in the off-side, are the ones you’d probably put some money for) but he is extremely effective. What he lacks in style, he makes up for with unmatched hand-eye coordination. When he is preparing for the bowler he prefers to look at the crease until the bowler is almost at the delivery stride. Many times I have seen umpires stop the bowler because they feel Sohail is not ready. It is actually a little unnerving bowling to him because of this. From his wicket-keeping background, he has developed the skill of watching the ball out of the bowler’s hand. At times, early on in his innings, Sohail plays the ball before it is bowled, meaning that he predetermines what he wants to do by anticipating what the bwler might bowl. This is when he is most vulnerable. Good swing bowling can get to him as he tends to overplay the swing, often inner-edging the ball onto the stumps. If you can draw him forward with the new ball, while making it swing in or out (Sanjeev Singh and Amit Raina are the two bowlers who can do this on a consistent basis in the PCA), you can get him out at the wicket (caught behind, LBW, or bowled). You will NOT get him out on the backfoot, unless the ball keeps really low and scoots through (a distinct possibility at Edgebrook Field).

When he is in good batting form, Sohail gets at least a single off every ball, at the bare minimum. Ironically, if you see him hit a lot of boundaries at the start of an innings, it means that he is struggling with something. At such times it is not uncommon to see him caught at the boundary, as he tries to hit his way out of the discomfort he is experiencing in his batting. When I opened the batting with him, his constant instruction to me would be to take the bulk of the strike and play out the swinging ball, shielding him from it. While I think that he was just trying to make me feel comfortable and not worry about about batting so slowly, I also think that it was influenced a little bit by his one weakness as a batsman.

There are so many Sohail innings I could write about, but I want to focus on two in particular. In the afore-mentioned game against Cleveland 2, we were chasing 162 to win and the opposing team figured that stopping Sohail from scoring boundaries would do the job. From the first ball, they spread the field and kept at least 5 fielders on the boundary, and waited for his patience to wear out. When it finally did, and Sohail got his first boundary, he had already scored 80 runs. He did not need to add a single run to that total – he had taken the liberty of attacking the boundary because we needed just 4 runs to win! This ability of his to take what the opposing team gives him sets him apart from the rest of the batsman in the PCA. The book on Sohail is not to stop the boundaries at the start of the innings; incredibly the best way to get him out is to force him to hit over the fielders!

The second innings I want to talk about took place in 2006. WVUCC cleaned up the Lumberjacks for just 81 runs in that game. The LJ’s correctly assumed that their best hope of winning the match was to take wickets. Fat chance! The first ball was carved over cover for a 6 and Sohail’s most brutal innings was on its way. In 19 balls, he hit 4 fours, and 7 sixes, reaching 69 not out from a total of 82 for no loss in just 5.3 overs. The 13th ball he faced was the only dot ball of his innings, and that itself was stopped just inside the cover boundary. By then his personal score was at 52!

Mental analysis:
Having played a lot of cricket, and at various skill levels, he has a very good understanding of strategies and is good at gauging the oppositions strategies. At the same time, he has a pragmatic approach and does not take too many risks if they are not warranted. Sohail once told me about an incident that took place in 2006, when we were playing the defending champions, Strikers, and had gone into the match with just 9 players. In the 20th over, we needed 12 runs to win and if we achieved it in that over we would get two bonus points. Sohail was informed of this by his teamamtes but preferred to settle for the win. He defended the first two balls bowled by Sanjeev Singh. The third ball was an attempted yorker that went down the leg-side and he instinctively flicked it over square-leg for a six. Before Sanjeev bowled the next ball, Sohail told me that he guessed what was to come. Since Sanjeev had just been flicked over square-leg, Sohail adjusted his stance, stood outside the leg-stump and did not shuffle across. As expected, the next ball was full but ouside the off-stump. A swish of the blade later the ball had cleared the cover boundary and the win had been achieved, with a bonus point to boot! And oh, by the way, Sohail was unbeaten on 104, meaning he had gone from 92 to 104 and did not even know his score.

In fact, whenever he batted he insisted that he not be told his individual score, and did not care much to "celebrate" the passing of the team's milestones (50, 100, 150, etc.). So much so that, in a trait that was unique to WVUCC in the PCA, we were the only team that never jumped up and down when the score passed those milestones. For the past few years, no batsmen has even been aware of his personal score until after the innings is done. Sohail always put the team ahead of the individual and all of us gladly followed suit.

Sohail’s inner calmness helps him stay above the water in situations where others would panic. In fact, he stresses more over his teammates’ failures than he does his own. He went through a prolonged batting slump in the middle of the 2007 season but it did not show in his attitude or demeanor. The one knock against him has been that, at times, he is willing to forego his success in order to see his teammates do better. In 2007 he batted down the order so that his teammates could get the best of the playing conditions, sacrificing his stats in the process. In the 7+ years I have known him, I have not heard him swear, I have never seen him admonish a teammate, and barring two incidents, I have never seen him angry. It is a testament that both times that I saw him get angry, he was upset at the treatment that a teammate had received and not at something that directly affected him.

What else:
Familial responsibilities cut short what had been a promising cricketing career in Pakistan, but he never brings it up as an excuse or explanation, and if he feels sad about it, he does not show it to us. He is quite shy and shirks individual publicity of any kind. He is quick with a word of praise for his teammates and, in all my years of association with him, has never ever referred even once to some feat of his on the playing field, unless repeatedly asked to talk about it. All the stories that involve Sohail, some legendary but all of them true, have been spread by us. If no record had been kept of his achievements, you would never have known how good a player he is simply from talking to him about it.

For the WVUCC think tank, it has been really easy having him at the helm. All we had to do was select a team and relax. He took care of the rest. Some men command respect by their actions, some men command respect with their words, but very few men command respect in both ways. Sohail is one of them. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to play alongside him and, more importantly, be considered by him as a friend.

In the team huddle at the start the 2007 final against the SteelZags (see below), he said, “I don’t care if we win or lose today. I only care that we go out there with a positive attitude from start to finish. If you can do that, the win will take care of itself.” We played hard in that game and I can safely say that all of us wanted to win the tournament mainly to give Sohail the richly deserved chance to lift the trophy. The rest was just icing on the cake.


This year he sets out again into Pittsburgh, with another refurbished side, trying to defend our title. We wish him all the best!!

Marks out of ten this season (10/10)

Captain's corner - Take 12 : C.S. Manish

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


C.S. Manish
Right Hand Batsman (Vice Captain)

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
Every team has a few individuals who form the pillars stabilizing the team. Manish was always that pillar for WVUCC. An all-round cricketer Manish could bat, roll his arm over with some intimidating off-spin, and take superb catches behind the stumps. No matter what role he was given in the team, Manish always came out as the winner. He showed all of us that it was the mind and not the body which makes you better than the rest. He is what we call back in Pakistan, "the street fighter" of WVUCC.

Manish was the only player to have had the honor of being the Captain, Vice Captain, Coach, and Manager of the team at some point during his long association with WVUCC. You can send him at any order in the batting and he would adapt his new role with perfect ease. I remember him opening for WVUCC earlier and in the very next game coming down the order at number 11. He was the most positive bloke you will ever come across, constantly encouraging the team and lifting the spirits of everyone around him.

Progress:
It always came as a surprise to me that Manish was not a big run-getter. He had all the ingredients for becoming a top order batsman. He was technically sound, mentally strong, and had the right temperament to stay at the crease for long periods of time. In fact, we always relied on him to block one end up while the scoring would occur at the other end. Statistics are not a very good reflection of his contributions purely as a batsman for the team.

Every great batting performance relies on building partnerships. Manish was an architect behind many match-winning and match-saving partnerships. For the last two years alone he was involved in nine 40-run partnerships or more which include four 50-run partnerships. Having adopted the role as the coach of the team Manish decided to return as a player for WVUCC once again in 2006 and 2007. His last outing for his team proved to be the most fruitful for himself and his team. In 2006, playing in the top-order Manish scored 143 runs with a highest score of 22 against the PittsPunters. In his last season for a team he so loved and a team he wanted to succeed Manish displayed his skills and potential to the fullest. Scoring 145 runs in just 9 innings, Manish scored his career-best 64 off just 60 balls hitting 6 fours and 1 mighty six. Simply the best I have seen him play.

The reason behind his success was his mental ability to come up with something new, something different, and disturb the bowler’s length. He would dance down the wicket as if challenging the faster bowlers of the league while they would still be in their run-ups. They had no idea whether to bowl up to him or bowl short. He was all over the best of them at times in the league.

Opening the innings, returning to his original spot, Manish ran well between the wickets and consumed the new swinging cherry on many occasions, making it easier for the middle order batsmen. He was involved in many partnerships again, stabilizing the top order and setting up the platform for the likes of Abhishek, Sumanth, and Ashok. He even had the honor of dismissing arguably the best batsman of the league, Naveen Peiris, with a smart ball down the legs.

Fittingly, Manish scored the winning runs for WVUCC taking them to their first ever championship in the history of WVUCC. All the hard work and years of effort had paid off. Apart from his batting and bowling Manish was a very tidy keeper as well. I still rate his diving catch off my own bowling against the Akron 11 as the best wicket keeper catch I have seen for WVUCC.

My favorite Manish Stroke: Pull shot for six!!
My favorite Manish Innings: 64 against PittsPunters.

Technical Analysis:
As a batsman, Manish is technically very sound. He has a good defense and his bat comes down straight. He is well balanced at the crease, even when he decides to take a walk in the park and attack you. He is primarily a back-foot player and a testament of that is the ease with which he pulls and cuts the ball. Very strong square of the wicket Manish struggles with his front foot play. Even though he compensates that by his quick footwork, Manish can improve his front foot play for better results. In my opinion the reason for his weak front foot play is his back-lift. For any good batsman to drive the ball on his front foot the back lift is very important. I remember in years gone by, Manish hardly had any back-lift. Apart from this, Manish has no flaws, technically, as a batsman.



Mental Analysis:
This is where he is the strongest among his team-mates. Not only is he calm and relaxed under pressure situations, he thrives in such testing moments, and they bring the best out of him. It was because of this ability of his that WVUCC was able to defeat the Punters. For anyone of us who has played against them, we know pretty well how they wear down the batsmen with their constant appealing and sledging. Manish played the best innings of his life against them, calmly doing his business and taking them on.

On the field as well, Manish is the loudest among the voices and constantly talks to fellow players and the opposition alike. He never lets the situation get to him and in my long friendship with him, I have hardly seen him give up and think negatively. All of these are signs of a good leader.

What Else:
With Manish as my Vice-Captain I always felt pity for the opposition. It was as if we had the strength of two captains. He was the smartest when it came to picking up the right team. From day one, Manish came down strongly against indiscipline and at times we would pick 7 or 8 players even when we had the liberty of playing a full squad just because of indiscipline. Wrong compromises were never made and in the end all of that paid off.

However, it is off the field where Manish truly contributes. Year in and year out, Manish organized the net sessions, represented the team in public gatherings, and kept up the spirits of everyone around him. It was Manish and Bala years ago, who appointed me as the Captain of the team and not a moment since then do I remember them not supporting me or backing me up. In times when the team is winning and doing well, everyone supports the captain and backs him up but it is times when the team is losing and things are not going as planned that the captain is looking for words of encouragement. Manish was always around when such times tested the team and myself. He always believed in me and I always trusted him. Thanks Manish for all that you have done for the team. Your name will always be taken with respect and love whenever someone will open up the annals of WVUCC history. Now that you have moved to other things in life, we wish you all the success and keep in touch!

Marks out of ten this season (8.5/10)

Captain's corner - Take 11 : Nikhil Burri

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Nikhil Burri
Righ Arm Medium

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
I have seen few cricketers who possess such commitment for the game as Nikhil. He reminds me very much of Ashok in his early days. If there was an award for sincerity, commitment, and perseverance, I would have given it to Nikhil.

Progress:
At first glance Nikhil seems to be a complete misfit for a game like cricket. He runs with difficulty and his bowling action is a mere walk to the stumps. He surprised me a lot of times with his athleticism on the field. It seems as if he is not going to make it but then somehow he always does. A very good fielder with safe hands is Nikhil's greatest technical strength. He played seven games for WVUCC in his very first season and that is a great achievement in itself. Playing with one of the most talented WVUCC team that I have ever witnessed, Nikhil was always pushing for a spot in the playing eleven. His commitment can be gauged by the number of times he volunteered to be the 12th man and travel with the team.

On the surface, it is the people who score a lot of runs or take a lot of wickets who emerge as the heroes of the team. It is people like Nikhil, standing in the background, who form the real strength of the team. Every team could have players who bat well or bowl with venom; few teams possess people like Nikhil who would be willing to support the team to any length and serve the team in any capacity. Standing for hours outside the leg-side boundaries and patrolling the dangerous borders of Edgebrook field is no easy job. Almost every time someone was needed for this difficult proposition, Nikhil was the one to stand up. Not only did he volunteer for these uneasy jobs in the team but he did it with a smile on his face. I salute him for his selfless struggles which went a long way in making this team a winning combination. He performed the scoring duties in many games and was always ready with a bottle of water for our tiring batsmen or panting fast bowlers. He was with the team in every battlefield with his moral support and gentle care.

Technical Evaluation:
In my humble opinion, Nikhil is a better batsman than a bowler. I don't think that he himself quite realizes it and if he spends more time and energy in improving his batting, I see him to be a very stable batsman in the future. His biggest asset as a batsman is his straight bat and solid defense. I always say this, 'If you can defend your stumps as a batsman, you can do anything.' His stroke range is limited but that will come with time. We have examples of people like Manish and Ashok in our team who always used to have a very good defense and now they are great stroke-makers. All you need is commitment and Nikhil has plenty of that.

As a bowler Nikhil can improve if he works on his run-up. The reality is that he has no run-up. He just walks in a hurried manner to the stumps and his eyes are glued to the bowling crease. This causes his head position to be wayward and his bowling arm to be inconsistent. He has reasonable pace and if he is able to correct some of these technical problems, he can be a very good all rounder.

Mental Analysis:
Since Nikhil suffers from a few technical problems in his bowling, he is inconsistent. This inconsistency takes away the confidence from him and he feels a lot of pressure when bowling to a good batsman in a real match situation. I think he will improve mentally once he figures out the fine details in his bowling action. As a batsman I think Nikhil is very stable and I saw him become better over the season batting in the practice sessions. If given more opportunities, he is bound to improve. I see him contributing more with his bat in the coming seasons for WVUCC.

What Else:
Nikhil is a great guy to have in the car while driving to and fro from the games. He constantly talks and keeps you up, especially if you are driving. He likes to talk about nearly any subject on Earth. He is a bit sarcastic at times, which I think is enjoyable. Like his fellow team mates he is a captain's dream since he is willing to fit in any role the captain has for him. I also think that Nikhil has a good cricketing brain and he understands what happens on the field pretty well. At the end if we all were to have even half the commitment Nikhil has for cricket and the team, no team would be ever able to challenge us. Keep it up guys!

Captain's corner - Take 10 : Nishit Banuri

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Nishit Banuri
Right Arm Medium Fast

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
Nishit is another one of those quiet, shy, hardworking, and immensely skilful players that WVUCC can proudly lay its claim over. I don't know whether it is the air of Morgantown or belonging to a club with a history of players with calm demeanors, but something definitely makes WVUCC players relaxed, composed, and elegantly lazy in the most demanding of times. Sumanth, Abhijeet, Venkat, and now Nishit, all do their jobs as if they didn't care; yet in all their inexplicable ways there lies a deeper, hardworking, thinking cricketer. I wonder if even they realize their inner-selves. If I were to pick a bowler from this current team to bowl for my life, it would be none other than Nishit Banuri. I would categorize him in the Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif category of players who bowl tight lines and tempting lengths with the slightest of seam movement and present magical performances repeatedly, match after match.

Progress:
At first glance Nishit seemed to me to be a very likeable cricketer. His body movements suggested that he is a very stable fielder and could cover a lot of ground with very little effort. This being his first season for WVUCC meant that it would take him some time to establish himself in the playing eleven competing with the likes of Amol Bhavsar and Venkat Sathi who had already proven their worth. Missing the early part of the season was not very helpful either. At one point during the season I had lost all hope of seeing Nishit return and be a part of the team.

Things however are not always as they seem. Nishit returned and what a return it was! Coming back close to the end of the season, Nishit became one of the most reliable bowling options in the middle overs when the slog was on. During the earlier part of the season WVUCC had lost the grip over most games in this very critical middle period where bowlers would go for plenty and lose line and direction. Nishit provided the team with much needed control over the run flow in that middle period and, not only this, but he picked up Naveen Peiris and Ram Paluri during the semifinal and final, respectively, which just proves how well he bowled in those last games.

His best bowling for me was definitely in the semis and finals of the tournament. Just look at these figures for someone bowling with an old ball in high pressure games, against the top batsmen of the league and that too in his first season:

Semifinals against Hurricanes: 6-0-27-1
Finals against Steelzags: 6-0-33-2

Outstanding!

Nishit ended the season with a total of 9 quality wickets. His other great contribution was his athletic fielding performance standing at square leg and saving boundaries at will. In my rough estimate, Nishit must have saved at least 40-50 runs standing at that position in the season for WVUCC. (Editor’s note: Nishit was also responsible for two critical runouts from the square-leg position in the finals against the SteelZags).

Technical Analysis:
Nishit, like many other WVUCC bowlers, does not have a measured run-up to the stumps. Yet I see no problem with his approach to the wicket. He hardly jumps at the crease and uses his quick arm action to hurl the ball towards the batsman. He is very slippery and it is hard to pick him up right away. His head position is good and he has a very high arm action. One thing where Nishit lets himself down technically is that he is very low to the ground when delivering the ball at the crease and does not use his entire height to extract more bounce. His front leg is not straight at the point of delivery and bends excessively, thus reducing the height from which he bowls. His seam position is very good and his command over line and length is excellent. He has the ability to bowl on a particular line and length all day long, thus making him an excellent bowler for the captain to set fields for, and work on getting a batsman out by bowling to his weakness.

Mental Analysis:
Nishit is too clever to show his emotions while bowling. He does not change his plans much after being hit and counts on the fact that if he bowls within the stumps, the batsman can't afford to miss the ball. He builds pressure by bowling the kinds of lines which only he can bowl and surprises the batsman with the slightest of seam movement which is just enough to trouble the batsmen. It was his pressure bowling which got rid of big guns like Naveen and Ram during the playoffs. I also think that Nishit is good at ignoring what the batsman wants to do and focuses instead on what he himself wants to do. This makes bowling simple and much effective. I think he is and will be an asset for any team he plays for.

What Else?
There are some people who earn respect through what they say and then there are others who earn respect though what they don't say. Nishit is among the latter group. Being a new member of the team, Nishit usually stays within himself and attracts attention through his performances. He is a low profile player with high effectiveness. He is easy to talk to and his wisdom is apparent in his limited speech.

Marks out of Ten: (8.5/10)

Captain's corner - Take 9 : Avinaschander Manivannan

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Avinaschander Manivannan
Left Arm Fast

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
Oh these left arm pace bowlers! No matter how much we right arm seamers try, it is these lefties who always steal the limelight. They just have that something different about them coming left arm over the stumps, angling the ball away from the right hand batsmen and occasionally bringing it back in. Cricket is certainly a game of angles and no one can beat these left arm pace bowlers when it comes to the grace and rawness of pace bowling. Avinas, being only one of three left arm pace bowlers for WVUCC (Usman Hashmi and Rajesh) in all the years I have played cricket for WVUCC, naturally is a surprise package full of youthful aggression and style. He could possibly be the youngest debutant of WVUCC (Manish can you confirm that? Editor's note: Only one other player - Kuntal Shah - was the same age as Avinas when he first played for WVUCC) even though I always thought that I would retain that honor for ever myself. Bowling over and around the wicket Avinas always gives me the impression of a young (Chaminda) Vaas, even though I find his mental approach to bowling more comparable to the great Wasim Akram himself. He is a true match winner because he bowls with only one purpose- taking wickets.

Progress:
My first impression of Avinas was that of a young boy who is crazy about cricket and just plays the game for the fun of it. Even though that initial impression has not changed much, I think that the pressure of being the spearhead of the bowling department did work in his favor making him use the faculties of his mind way more than his usual self, thus transforming him into a clever little bowler.

In 2006, when Avinas made his début for WVUCC, he remained for most part an understudy doing his bit when given the chance. Picking up 10 wickets at a strike rate of 13.2 is hardly an average performance considering that it is your first season as a bowler on a ground where the boundaries are short and batsmen are aggressive. This just goes on to tell you how blessed WVUCC has been in the last two years when it comes to strike bowlers.

The most obvious trait in Avinas as a player is his hunger for the game. He is one of those guys who would play a game of tennis ball cricket with the same enthusiasm and commitment as a hard ball league match. How many cricketers come back to play for their team after having undergone surgery on a knee in a season which hardly lasts a couple of months? Not only did Avinas come back from that injury but was quick to get back into the playing eleven at a time when there was extreme competition in the bowling department. At the end he raised his game, bowling with great pace and venom during the play-offs and announcing himself as the best bowler in the play-offs.

During the finals while Ashok was hammering the ball in all directions, it was Avinas with the new ball, and Nishit with the old ball, who kept up the pressure and did not allow any partnerships to form. I believe that we won the finals because of our bowling and fielding, restricting sides like Hurricanes and Steelzags to below-average totals when there were players like Ram, Neveen, and Anu among them. His best bowling spell was during the finals when he troubled all batsmen with some fierce pace and bounce picking up 2 wickets for only 9 runs in 4 overs. During the finals I was fasting and hardly had any fuel to bowl at the death end of the bowling innings. I was worried about it. Avinas, Nishit, and the others, made sure I was under no pressure when I came to bowl. They bowled the best spells of fast bowling I have witnessed a WVUCC team ever come up with. Simply brilliant bowling! What more can I say?

Avinas ended up taking 11 wickets for the season with a phenomenal average of 10.7 runs per wicket.

My Favorite Avinas delivery: Bouncer rising from good length whizzing past the batsman's throat.



My favorite Avinas spell: Match-winning 2 for 9 against Steelzags in the finals.



(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Technical Analysis:
Technically analyzing Avinas I was able to pick out some weak areas. The first one is his run up. He has a very haphazard approach to the bowling crease. I think he will do better with a measured, repeated, run up to the crease. Another thing where he can improve is his right arm. It goes down too quickly for my liking. If he is able to delay the decline of his right arm during his jump at the crease, he will get better direction and will add more pace to his armory. Avinas has the most natural bowling action you will ever see. His head is very stable at the point of delivery and his hip rotation is well balanced. He sometimes gets carried away with bowling yorkers and short deliveries. He needs to find the middle length more often using the short ball and the yorker as a surprise weapon. I think that Avinas has very good control over his swing bowling and his seam position is excellent.

Mental Analysis:
It is his mental strength which varies at times, making him an interesting and dangerous prospect. There are times when he is feeling very confident and displays the full range of his talent. At other times when his run up is not good and his injury bothers him, understandably so, he tends to just release the ball off his hands rather than bowling it. One good thing about his bowling is that he does not allow the batsman to dominate him. If a batsman shows intent to thrash him, Avinas puts his level best and it brings out the aggressor in him. There is one other quality which makes him better than the others as a fast bowler. I think he has a great ability of reading the batsman's intent. Just like a good batsman reads the ball off the bowler's hands and not after it has pitched, a good bowler is he who is able to read the batsman's stroke by reading his body movements. That being said, he is still young and will learn a lot in years to come.

What Else:
Avinas certainly needs to get fitter and improve his fielding. At times he is slow in the field and his athleticism is average, at best. Being the youngest fellow in the team, we all expect a little more energy from him. Avinas is probably the easiest bowler to set fields for as a captain. He bowls with a plan and his intent is to pick up wickets. I always keep attacking fields for him and he never fails to impress me.

Since Avinas is the youngest fellow in the team, he is the most obvious choice for others to tease and taunt. The great thing about Avinas is that he always has a smile on his face and never fails to enjoy the humor of the situation. Like most of his team mates, Avinas has an easy going personality and is a comfortable person to be with.

I think that he will do even better in the seasons to come now that he has two successful seasons under his belt. Another thing about him is that he is an expert in cleaning dishes at home since he never cooks yet wants to contribute in some way or another. All in all he is a very good person and an excellent bowler. Keep it up Avi!!

Marks Out of Ten this season (8.5/10)

Captain's corner - Take 8 : Venkata R. Sathi

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Venkata R. Sathi
Right Hand Medium Fast Bowler

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
WVUCC has always had problems finding a stable opening bowling partnership but for the last couple of seasons we have been blessed in this department. In 2006 it was Hari Menon and C.V. Karthik who ran through the top order with some fierce pace and swing. In 2007, it was the likes of Venkat, Avinaschander, and Harsheesh Patel who provided the team with early wickets almost every time. Out of the three, the most consistent was Venkat. He was the perfect replacement for C.V. Karthik, darting the new ball back in sharply from the off-stump channel and crashing into middle- and leg-stump on more than a few occasions.

At first look, Venkat doesn't look like a natural sportsman. He has large, rigid, body and seems to move slowly in the field. He sleeps for most of our trips to the ground and hardly talks in the ground. However, this is nothing more than deception. When he has the ball in his hand, he transforms into a force to be reckoned with. Once he got into his stride, he was comfortably my first choice for opening the bowling, even though his control over the extras was a bit problematic early in the season.

Progress:
Consistency in attitude is a trait that many cricketers lack. I have seen in my long years at WVU many cricketers with a lot of ability who came, didn't do well, and then gave up. This is the very trait (unwillingness to give up) which made Venkat grow from a misdirected, all-over-the-place, wild swinger of the new ball to a skillful, controlled, and effective swinger of the cricket ball. He was one of the few members along with his dear friend Nikhil, who never lost hope and kept turning up for the net-sessions, improving slowly but surely and becoming a match-winner for his team.

His first five games yielded only two wickets, not because he lacked the ability, but because he was not putting the ball in the right spot on a consistent basis. His frequent wides down the leg-side made sure that Ashok was always diving around towards his left and people like Harsheesh (standing at deep fine-leg) did not get bored. It was against the Lumberjacks (poor Lumberjacks always give our team members confidence) in his sixth game for WVUCC, that Venkat found the wicket-taking, dangerous line and length. The result, 5 wickets in 4 overs and only 11 runs given. A disaster for the Lumberjacks, but a turning point for Venkat. The mind of a fast bowler is a strange thing. A fast bowler may bowl the greatest spells of pace and swing in the nets, but until and unless he finds the right spot on a particular day on a given ground, he is like a silent storm. Once Venkat understood where his arm needs to be and how the ball needs to leave his hands on this particular pitch, his potent energy found a way out, troubling even the best batsmen in the league. 8 wickets in three matches meant that Venkat was another addition in the long list of matchwinners WVUCC had this season. Not only did his bowling performance improve, and he found out the right technique for his kind of bowling, but his attitude also changed. I think that every fast bowler who lacks in aggression is missing something major in his bowling. Venkat lacked this aggression in his earlier games but now he was firing all cylinders, staring at the batsmen and celebrating every wicket with emotion and passion.

Venkat took 10 wickets in the eight games he played for WVUCC this season with a brillian average of 16.11.

My favorite Venkat delivery: In-swinger from outside off-stump crashing into middle!!
My favorite Venkat spell: Match-winning 5 for 11 against Lumberjacks.

Technical Analysis:
Bowling:
Venkat is not the regular seam bowler who runs in, delivers the ball, and bowls a regular line-length stuff. Venkat is a natural inswinger of the new ball. He tries to ball full in order to extract maximum swing. His run-up to the stumps is not smooth and he bowls well when he runs in quick. Earlier in the season when he was struggling with his control, his head was falling away, and there was a degree of reluctance in his right arm which means that he was not allowing his arm to rotate fully at the point of delivery. His seam position is always great and he is a chest-on kind of a fast bowler. The area where he definitely needs to improve is his run-up. I think that if he runs a littler faster, it gives him a better finish at the crease and will also improve his line. One problem he has is that, like Harsheesh, he also looks at the crease when running in to bowl. This is not a good idea for any fast bowler. This completely takes away your focus from the batsman and where you want to bowl to him. If Venkat is able to change his bowling action to be a little more side-on, he can also develop his out-swinger.

Mental Analysis:
It is very difficult to say anything about the mental state of a player like Venkat. He hardly talks and his expressions stay the same. One thing I can say is that once he has the ball in his hand, he is very focused and there is Kumble-like determination written all over his face. Judging from the way he progressed in the season, we may say that Venkat has the mental strength to overcome situations where he has been hit around by the batsmen and come back strong in the next over or the next game.

What Else:
Venkat is a challenging bowler for any captain to set a field for. After the first two games, I had to come up with an innovated field set for his type of bowling. Fine leg, a leg gully, and a deep square leg is hardly a conventional field set. At times we even had to employ a leg slip. The regular gully and slip positions prove to be a total waste for him. Anyway, it was a unique experience for me. Venkat is easy to work with and he always tries his best to implement the team plans. Another thing which people hardly appreciate is that Venkat and Nikhil volunteered to stand on the leg side in almost all the games they were involved in, in order to fetch the balls from the trees. Thank you Venkat for all they you did.

Marks Out of Ten this season (8.0/10)

Captain's corner - Take 7 : Ajay Nayak

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Ajay Nayak
Right Hand Batsman
Right Arm Fast Bowler

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
God blessed WVUCC in 2007 with a bunch of quality all-rounders; none as bright and active as Ajay Nayak. Unlike the other all-rounders in the team, who are either batsmen who can bowl or bowlers who can bat, Ajay is equally talented in both. I always felt confident sending Ajay up the order or throwing the ball to him for a spell. Playing in his first season, Ajay made his place in the team as an experienced and mature cricketer. Known more for his acting talents, Ajay was the humorous part of this otherwise serious cricket bunch (Editor's note: scroll down to the bottom of this piece to see an example). He brought a smile on the faces of one and all. Ajay could be a first choice opener in any other PCA team with ease and if the team did not have quality players like Arvind and Manish at the opening spot, Ajay would have opened for the team for sure and scored many more runs than he did this season.

Progress:
For someone playing his first season, Ajay emerged as a seasoned campaigner and while other players in the team took years before they could come to grips with the playing conditions, Ajay started his account off with supreme self -confidence and ease.

My first impression of him was that of a comic character who would struggle making it in to the playing 11. All my doubts about his abilities were thrown out of the window when I saw him bat for the first time during the net sessions. He looked like someone very dangerous as a batsman. The thing which struck me about this new talent was his intent. Each and every stroke of Ajay had some purpose behind it. He is not one of those guys who will settle down, try to buy time and see how things shape up. He is one of those who will shape the things up and make things happen. This is the difference between a good player and a very, very good player.

He justified his selection in the team by scoring three scores above 20 in his very first season for the team. One of those was opening the batting for the team; a match-winning career-best 39 against the Lumberjacks. As a fast bowler Ajay generates a lot of pace and swings the ball away from the batsman. Like all the genuine swing bowlers in the team he suffers with his control of the swinging ball. Ajay raised his hand every time the team needed him for a specific role, whether it was opening the innings in the absence of Manish or Arvind, or taking the new ball. Usually I do not like people asking for things themselves but with Ajay it was different. I could see sincerity in his eyes every time he put his hand up. It was his self-confidence which enabled him to succeed in whatever role was given to him.

He scored 141 runs for the season with top scores of 39, 29, and 21. He also took 10 wickets with best figures of 2 for 23 against the Blitzers. 2 catches and 1 run out effort was the perfect icing on the cake to end a splendid first season. I am not sure about this but these could possibly be the best stats for any all-rounder in his first season for WVUCC (maybe Manish would know. Editors note: Yes, Sohail is right).

My favorite Ajay Nayak stroke: Straight drive for Six!!!
My favorite Ajay Nayak innings 39 against Lumberjacks with 3 fours and 1 six.



Technical Analysis:
Batting:
Ajay's batting strength lies in his back-lift and quick foot movement at the crease. He is a very active batsman at the crease, constantly moving his legs and making room for strokes both on his front foot and back foot. With a high back-lift Ajay is able to hit the ball with a lot of force but also times the ball to perfection. For those of you who have played at the PCA ground and know the conditions of the pitch, you know very well how dangerous a high back-lift could prove to be for the low bouncing balls aimed at the stumps. Surprisingly, Ajay hardly got troubled with this and I think it is because of how quickly he adjusts to the different lengths. Ajay favors the leg side over the offside primarily because he aims to score runs off boundaries and is not an accumulator of runs. He is a good runner between wickets and a good judge of the singles.

Bowling:
Ajay relies on pace more than control to get his wickets, and why not? He is one of the quick arms in WVUCC, along with Avinash and Amol. He can swing the new ball and bowl toe-crushing Yorkers at will. He too, is a rhythm bowler and he has to feel good about himself, his run-up and landing in order to bowl well. He started the season off by doing an excellent job bowling at the death end of the innings alongside me but then lost his rhythm after his return from his PhD qualifying exams. His weakness lies in his delivery and the follow-through. His natural length is right up to the batsman which works well for him as long as the ball swings but proves to be his downfall when the ball gets roughed up. When he is told to bend more at the point of delivery he does well and finds the short of good length on a regular basis. His wrist position is good and his head is well balanced at the point of delivery.

Mental Analysis:
The greatest gift that any sportsman has is confidence and Ajay is never found lacking in this. He believes in himself and applies his talents on the field with determination and a competitive spirit. He was always my number one choice when it came to choosing all-rounders in the team.

At one stage I remember the other senior members of the team telling me that he could be a bad option with the new ball in the end of the season when our new ball pair Venkat Sathi and Harsheesh Patel were not available. This was due to the fear of his lack of control over the new ball. Not only did Ajay control the flow of runs but proved to be a wicket-taker for the team almost always breaking the opening partnership early and putting pressure on the other teams. He took 8 wickets in his last 5 games including the playoffs and made me proud. I always support those who play for the team and back themselves up. Well done Ajay!

What Else:
Apart from all this Ajay is an excellent person to have when travelling to and from the ground. He constantly talks about everything in life and is very expressive. The same happens on the field. It is people like Manish, Arvind, and Ajay who play the sledging game on the field and contribute by applying pressure on the opposition. Being the social man Ajay is, he maintained very good communication with the senior and junior members of the squad and gave a nice balance to the overall shape of the team. If this is how Ajay played in his first season, I wonder about his performance next season being a senior member of the team and one who knows the conditions really well.

Marks Out of Ten this season (8.0/10)

(Editor's note: Anyone who has spent time with Ajay knows that he is a great impersonator of cricket commentators. Unfortunately, the only video that I have is this one where he does his take on Imran Khan. If anyone has access to some of his other impresonations, please do share them with me and I shall post them here.)

Captain's corner - Take 6: Abijit Bhagavatula

For the next few posts, I shall hand over the blog to Sohail and let him talk about each WVUCC player (along with player ratings for the 2007 season). Here is Sohail, in his own words...


Abhijit Bhagavatula
Right Hand Batsman
Right Arm Legspinner

(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)


Introduction:
WVUCC has had a rich history of quality spin bowlers. Abhijit is the latest addition to that long, talented list. Legspin is probably the most difficult art to master in limited overs cricket. With bats getting thicker and the boundaries getting shorter, legspinners are becoming a rare species, which saddens me a lot. The PCA ground being the way it is proves to be a suicide spot for legspinners as even the most obvious mis-hits and edges carry the potential of landing out of the ground. In the entire PCA league you can hardly find a good legspinner. Not only do you need supreme control over the ball but also the heart of a lion to bounce back after being hit for boundaries. Had Abhijit played for WVUCC when we played in Ohio, he would have had more cushion with larger grounds and thus more success. Despite the disadvantage, Abhijit did not fail to make an impression in his very first season playing for WVUCC.

It is his allround ability as a batsman, bowler and fielder which makes him yet another quality product and one who could easily make it in the playing eleven of any side in the PCA. He started off as a legspinner but was quick to prove how good a batsman he is in the net sessions and capitalizing on the chances he got playing in the middle order. He sealed the point fielding position for himself as well telling you that he was arguably the best fielder we had this season. I also think that he has potential as a captain due to his mature thinking and fighting abilities.

Progress:
Abhijit started off bowling his gentle legspinners during the net sessions waiting for opportunities to prove his worth. The most obvious, first good impression he gave was that of a very good athelete and swift runner between the wickets. Being a fit individual overall, Abhijit was able to register himself in the good books of the selectors right away. He had a good bowling action and reasonable control over the ball during the nets. It was his batting, though, which was a revelation. I usually do not rate a batsman unless I have bowled to him myself during the net sessions testing him with different lengths, lines and slower deliveries. The first time I bowled to him, I could see right away a batsman with a good, tight defensive technique and the mind of an accumulator; a perfect candidate for the middle order along with Sumanth and Ajay.

Net sessions are there to get into shape and rhythm. The real test for any player is out there in the ground when the pressure is on and you only have limited chances. There are few players who succeed in their very first game the way Abhijeet did. In the only over he bowled, Abhijit took a record 4 wickets giving away only 1 run and becoming only the second bowler in WVUCC history to register a hat-trick. What a start! Much was expected of his bowling for the rest of the season. Apart from another quick spell when he took 3 wickets against the Lumberjacks, Abhijit failed to capitalize on the exceptional start he had. Perhaps the blame lies with the captain for not giving him many opportunities. However, in a twenty five over game if a bowler goes for above 6 an over for a couple of overs, it is very difficult for any captain to persevere with him. Anyway, this was his first season and picking up seven wickets which includes a hat-trick cannot be called a poor start. I hope that Abhijit will emerge as a more consistent bowling option for the team in the future.

Now, the batting. In days gone by, a WVUCC side relied heavily on the shoulders of their captain. Especially while chasing, if I would get out early, the team would crumble and loose. This was probably the first year when I felt that we could win without personally contributing with the bat or ball. I knew that people like Abhijit were there in the middle order to lift the team in times of crises and bat with confidence to take the team to any possible target. Batting down the order Abijit formed more than useful partnerships and ensured that the batting would not collapse. To illustrate this point further, he was involved in five partnerships of 25 runs or more including two 50-run partnerships with Amol and Ashok. He had three scores of above 25 including his matchwinning career best of 43 against the Lumberjacks. His most important innings though came when the team really needed him. Chasing a modest total of 108 against the Strikers, Abhijit walked in when the score was only 23 and we had lost the top five wickets. The pressure was immense and Sanjiv Singh was hurling the ball at enormous pace. The pitch was at its worst and the Strikers were sensing their first ever victory against the WVUCC. Abhijit raised his game scoring a 50 run partnership with Amol and guiding the team to victory with an unbeaten 28 off 42 balls.

In total, Abhijit scored 133 runs in the nine innings he played, taking 7 wickets, 2 catches and was also involed in a run-out effort. A fabulous first season for him!

My Favorite Abhijit stroke: Cut stroke for 4!!
My favorite Abhijit innings: 28 against Strikers including four boundaries.

Technical Analysis:
Batting:
Abhijit is a very stable batsman at the crease. He has a simple technique and one that works best for his style of batting. With a moderate back-lift Abhijit is able to angle his bat towards the third-man region and rotates the strike at will. He likes to cut the ball behind point and his backfoot moves well across to get closer to the ball. He does not like to drive straight and is a little reluctant to force the ball when on his front foot. He has a very good defense and his bat and pad are tightly together when blocking the ball. A Steve Waugh-like batsman, Abhijit is also a good flicker of the ball off his pads. He does need to develop his pull and hook stroke though which will help him on more bouncier tracks if needed.

Bowling:
There is nothing wrong in his bowling action as a leg-spinner. He is swift and his arm is at the right angle at the point of delivery. I cannot comment on his bowling grip since I have not investigated much of that. The problem lies with the pace with which he delivers the ball. In the start of the season he bowled very slow and flighted the ball a lot bowling full tosses and going away for runs. He increased his pace then and improved his control over the ball but then became too predictable, hardly turning the ball. If he is able to find that middle-range bowling speed he is very difficult to play and can pick up more wickets.

Mental Analysis:
As a batsman Abhijit is very strong mentally and this is because he keeps things very simple. He plays the ball on its merit and does not try to experiment too much, waiting for the bad ball. He is an accumulator of runs and picks up singles at will running hard between the stumps. He can come under pressure at times by the opposition but does not allow that to interfere with his plans for too long. He has a good cricketing brain and can prove to be a very good captain in my assessment.

As a bowler, Abhijit was not able to stay strong enough at times in order to pose a great threat for the opposition. Much of that has to do with the limited opportunities a slow bowler like him received in such bowling conditions. This being said, he can learn how to adjust is such bowling conditions by looking at other spinners in the league such as the Steelzags spinners. Once he learns how to manipulate the lengths and pace at which to bowl, he can turn out to be a great bowling asset for his team.

What Else:
Abjijit like Sumanth is a quiet, shy character (what's up with these middle-order batsmen?!). He focuses on his game and concentrates on his performance more than thinking about what the opposition is up to. He remains calm under pressure and does not lose the initiative after getting it. He too prefers to play in the local tennis ball tournament than coming for the practice sessions at times (like the rest of the team) which is understandable. I have high hopes of him in the coming season for WVUCC both with the bat and the ball.

Marks Out of Ten this season (8.0/10)

(Editor's note: Lest all the praise gets to his head, here is Abhijit losing his cool and his wicket. WVUCC needed 1 run to win and Abhijit tried to finish it off in grand style and failed spectacularly, to the great amusement of the cameraperson).